MSL Services

The MSL offers a rich set of benefits to help you engage in evidence-based practice. Schools have used MSL results to:

• Design new programs and services ranging from leadership minors and certification programs to reorganizing departments to better meet learning needs
• Justify and increase human and financial resources including new professional staff positions and additional funding
• Provide evidence of student learning for accreditation and institutional assessment purposes
• Educate the campus community on unique learning needs and how to positively influence student development

MSL offers a number of core services to support school’s translation of results into practice and maximize the relative impact of their involvement with the study

MSL Final Report

Each school receives a comprehensive, custom-tailored final report detailing results for their campus. Your report is designed to help benchmark your students’ learning outcomes against national norms as well as up to four unique peer reference groups (e.g., Carnegie types, selectivity, size).

We provide statistical analyses of the relationships between:

• student characteristics (e.g., race, socio-economic status, gender)
• collegiate experiences (e.g., mentoring relationships, student involvement, perceptions of campus climate)
• educational outcomes

Consultation Call

After receiving your MSL Final Report, you may call the Center for Student Studies to review the findings. This consultation will help you to read and interpret their results and to learn about additional resources.

Putting Your Data into Practice

You will receive a set of resources to enhance their ability to apply results from the study into educational practice. This includes:

• “Tip Sheets” detailing implications for practice and how to use the report
• A PowerPoint presentation template with information about MSL to help you share your findings on campus
• Campus data files so you can conduct additional analyses of your data
• Templates for press releases to publicize your school’s results
• Consultation with  Center for Student Studies on conducting further research with your findings, integrating the data set with those from other studies, or conducting follow-up studies
• Access to webinars and special sessions at professional association conferences where you can meet with the study researchers, learn more about the national findings, and tap into additional resources

Latest News

Enrollment Still Open Through October!

October 2011 Enrollment for MSL 2012 is still open! Schools may enroll through the month of October. To learn more about the benefits of participating, please go HERE. To enroll now, please fill out our Enrollment Survey.

STEM School Coalition Started for MSL 2012

Summer 2011 The STEM Coalition will allow for powerful benchmarking of learning outcomes and critical college experiences. Participating campuses will be provided direct comparisons between an individual school, the set of coalition schools, and national normative data..

Catholic Schools Coalition Expands Significantly for 2012 MSL

Summer 2011 Registration for the 2012 MSL is currently underway and 16 Catholic schools have already registered with another 14 institutions actively considering participation. The MSL Catholic Schools coalition formed in 2009 and collects data together every three years. This provides a rich, shared dataset that allows for benchmarking with other Catholic institutions as well as the ability to differentiate results based on affiliation (e.g., Jesuit, Dominican).

MSL Announces New Three Year Research Cycle

6.8.2011 MSL research advisory board has committed to a new strategic plan for the future of this study - a three year research cycle - 2012/2015/2018.

Recent Publication

March/April 2011 Article based on MSL data now available examining leadership across US and Mexican cultures published in the Journal of College Student Development.

Recent Publication

March/April 2011 Article based on MSL data now available! Published in the Journal of College Student Development.

Recent Publication

Spring 2011 The 2nd edition of The Handbook For Student Leadership Development, is published.

Measuring Quality Inventory

4.28.2010 MSL has been included in the Measuring Quality Inventory, an online inventory of resources designed to assist higher education faculty and staff in the challenging task of assessing academic and support programs as well as institutional effectiveness, more broadly.

MSL Co-PI Honored by NASPA

3.11.2010 NASPA announced an award named in honor of MSL's Co-PI. The Susan R. Komives Student Leadership Researcher Award will be awarded annually by the Student Leadership Programs Knowledge Community.

MSL Receives NASPA Award

3.11.2010 MSL received the 2010 Spotlight of the Year Award from the NASPA Student Leadership Programs Knowledge Community at the 2010 annual conference in Chicago.

Student Leadership Research Award

1.28.2010 John P. Dugan is the first recipient of the "Student Leadership Research Award" presented by the NASPA Student Leadership Programs Knowledge Community.

ILA Board Appointment

10.13.2009 Susan R. Komives has recently been appointed to the Board of the International Leadership Association (ILA).

Example Custom Report

8.10.2009 An example of the complete MSL custom report is now available for download.

Recent Publication

7.1.2009 NCLP partner Jossey-Bass has recently published a book on leadership by MSL PI Susan Komives and research team member Wendy Wagner. Leadership for a Better World: Understanding the Social Change Model of Leadership Development is available to NCLP members at a 20% discount.

MSL 2012 Timeline

May 31 and June 30, 2011

Early enrollment and payment deadlines

October, 2011

Final enrollment deadline

July - December, 2011

Schools prepare for data collection

January - April, 2012

Data collection

Summer, 2012

School reports distributed