Students rank St. Andrews highly in
National Survey of Student Engagement
From: Staff Reports
Findings from a national survey show
that taking part in certain activities during
college boosts students’ performance in many
areas, such as thinking critically, solving real
world problems, and working effectively with
others These “high-impact” activities include
learning communities, undergraduate research,
study abroad, internships and capstone projects.
These findings in the 2007 National Sur
vey of Student Engagement (NSSE) support the
learning environment created by St. Andrews
Presbyterian College. According to the survey
results, by their senior year, 72 percent of
students have participated in some form of
practicum, internship, field experience, co-op
or clinical assignment Community service or
volunteer work is also completed by 61 percent
of seniors.
“We are intentionally committed to
developing the entire student, intellectually,
socially, and spiritually, and we have a special
emphasis on teaching our students how to think
critically and analytically,” said President Paul
Baldasare Jr. “We are pleased to note from the
results of the survey that our achievements with
our students are exceptionally good.”
In fact, 82 percent of seniors and 85
percent of first-year students credit St. Andrews
with helping them think critically and analyti
cally on a frequent basis.
The 2007 report from the National Sur
vey of Student Engagement (NSSE) is based on
information from about 313,000 randomly
selected first-year and senior students at 610
four-year colleges and universities in the U.S.
and Canada. The NSSE study, titled “Experi
ences That Matter . Enhancing Student Learning
and Success,” gives schools art idea of how well
their students are learning and what they put
into and get out of their undergraduate experi
ence.
Now in its eighth year, the survey find
ings annually provide comparative standards for
determining how effectively colleges are con
tributing to learning. Five key areas of educa
tional performance are measured; 1) level of
academic challenge, 2) active and collaborative
lejiming, 3) student-faculty interaction, 4) en
riching educational experiences, and 5) support
ive campus environment. This is the fourth year
St. Andrews has participated in the survey.
“These national surveys are important to
St. Andrews because they show how highly our
students value their educational experience and
they allow us to compare our performance with
other institutions,” Baldasare said.
For St. Andrews, the educational experi
ence marks are high. In ranking the quality of
academic advising, 88 percent of first-year
students and 93 percent of seniors responded
with a rating of good or excellent. The entire
educational experience was rated good or excel
lent by 84 percent of first-year students and 86
percent of seniors.
Additional positive ratings include:
076 percent of seniors said the institution sub
stantially encourages contacts among
diverse peers while 68 percent of first-year stu
dents said the same.
P72 percent of seniors tried to better under
stand someone else’s views by imagining
how an issue looks from his/her perspective
often.
072 percent of seniors learned something that
changed the way they understand an
issue or concept on a frequent basis.
071 percent of seniors and 66 percent of first-
year students said the institution
emphasized studying and academic work.
□ 84 percent of first-year students report a fa
vorable image of the college while 66
percent of seniors would choose thi4 'school
again if they could start their college
career over.
“NSSE is an institution’s most trust
worthy lens for seeing deeply into the quality
of students’ experiences because its results can
translate directly into plans for action and re
form and transformative strategies,” says Lee S.
Shulman, president of The Carnegie Foundation
for the Advancement of Teaching.
St. Andrews has also received recogni
tion from U.S. News & World Report as one of
the nation’s top liberal arts colleges. The Princ
eton Review included St. Andrews in its list of
top ranked colleges. St. Andrews was one of
201 liberal arts colleges named to The Washing
ton
Monthly list of outstanding schools.
About NSSE:
The National Survey of Student Engage
ment documents dimensions of quality in
undergraduate education and provides informa
tion and assistance to colleges, universities and
other organizations to improve student learning.
Its primary activity is annually surveying col
lege students to assess the extent to which they
engage in educational practices associated
with high levels of learning and development.
The NSSE 2007 Report is sponsored by
The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement
of Teaching
St. Andrews students walking across the lake. Photo
courtesy of Rooney Coffman.
Vardell Gallery to host landscape artist Andy Jones’ exhibit
Feb. 12 - March 17
From: Staff Reports
Laurinburg, N.C. - Raleigh native and
St. Andrews Presbyterian College graduate
Andy Jones will return to his alma mater with
the “Selected Works” exhibit beginning Feb. 12
in the Vardell Gallery.
“The paintings are studio and field
works in oil and watercolor based on my re
sponse to the landscape,” said Jones. “The
studio allows for size and details while the field
demands simplicity. One serves the other for me
in these two different approaches.”
A review published of his “New Eng
land Paintings 1990-2005” exhibit at the Atrium
Gallery in Danielson, Conn., praises that re
sponse to landscape.
“Jones has a southerner’s propensity for
the land and the landscape, and love for
narrative,” said Marion M. Callis, coordinator
of gallery and museum services at Eastern
Connecticut State University. “With an outdoor-
sman’s instincts, enviable patience, and subtle
command, he carves out and defines the space:
within that space, he tells a new, old story. The
traditional, informal, southern vernacular is per
haps compulsory. One senses the presence of
humans, but does not see them.”
Such high praise of his work has not
prevented Jones from continuing to evolve in
his artistic methods.
“Until recently, I used about the same
approach for fieldwork that I used in studio
painting,” he said. “Whether done inside,
outside, or a combination of the two, I wanted
all the paintings to be naturalistic, have strong
compositions, involved textures, a range of col
ors, good paint quality, solid form, subtle value
changes, space, everything, all of the elements
of visual art used in every piece. I came to real
ize, out of exhaustion, that I could work on lo
cation with a limited palette, minimal supplies,
simplified subject matter and produce consistent
paintings. It was a revelation to me that the two
ways of working did not have to look the same
in style. I now think of these two approaches as
separate and have a much better time with both
of them.”
With 28 years of art show experience,
Jones returns for his second show at St. An
drews.
His exhibitions have been held in Con
necticut, California, Maine, North Carolina,
New York, Louisiana, Texas and Indiana.
In 2001, Jones received an Award in
Recognition of Excellence in Creative and
Scholarly Activity at Eastern Connecticut State
University He received a Connecticut General
Assembly
Official Citation for winning the com
petition to design the New Commemorative
Quarter for the State of Connecticut in 1998.
He earned back-to-back First Place Purchase
Awards at the Annual Maine Maritime Exhibi
tion on Presque Isle in 1993 and 1994.
Jones graduated from St. Andrews in
1980 with a degree in studio art painting and
printmaking. He continued his education at
Louisiana Tech University, Ruston. La., where
he received his MFA in studio art painting and
print making. Currently an assistant professor
of art at Eastern Connecticut State University
in Willimantic, Conn., his previous teaching
experience includes time at Quinebaug Valley
Community ^ollege, Danielson, Three Rivers
Community College, Fayetteville Museum of
Art, St. Andrews and Louisiana Tech Univer
sity. He also spent time as a graphic/industrial
designer at Ingraham Time Products, Toast
master, Inc.
An elected member of the Connecti
cut Plein Air Society and the Connecticut
Academy of Fine Arts, he also serves on the
College Art Association, Windham Regional
Arts Council, Quiet Comer Artist’s Group, and
several other art related boards.
“Selected Works” will run through
March 17, ending with a closing reception in
the Vardell Gallery from 7-8 p.m. The Gal
lery is open Monday through Friday from 9
a.m. to 5 p.m. There is no cost to view the
exhibit.