Consortium Purposes, Definition and Benefits
A consortium is a group of six or more participating LSSSE law schools that wish to share comparative, aggregated data among their institutions. All of the participating institutions must be registered and confirmed for LSSSE 2009. A list of confirmed institutions will appear on the LSSSE website and will be updated on a regular basis.
Consortium law schools may also ask up to 20 additional questions (per consortium) that address unique characteristics of the member schools. Alternatively, consortium participants may be interested in exploring a particular theme or program area in depth. The consortia option will be helpful in exploring issues particular to urban law schools, schools with high commuter populations, or schools with specific areas of curricular focus. Consortium results will not be made public except by agreement between the LSSSE project and the consortium coordinator. In addition to sharing aggregated data, consortium members may also request an additional analysis for a nominal fee of each consortium institution’s mean responses to items on The Law School Survey of Student Engagement provided each school agrees to do so.
How to Form a Consortium
To form a consortium, a law school should first identify peer law schools. It may make sense to contact colleagues at a peer law school and talk to them about participating in LSSSE. Each consortium participant will need to be independently registered for LSSSE 2009. Consortium registration will occur once all consortium participants have been confirmed for LSSSE 2009. Registration for LSSSE opens in mid-November 2008 and will continue through January 23, 2009. However if you are interested in forming a consortium, getting started early is advisable. Consortium participants should nominate one contact person to act as the Consortium Coordinator, and we ask that the Coordinator be in touch with Lindsay Watkins early on in the registration process. If your school is interested in forming a consortium but has not identified peer institutions, LSSSE staff may be able to assist you by telling you what consortiums have already been formed and which schools have registered for the upcoming survey administration.
Role of Consortium Coordinator
The Consortium Coordinator is responsible for: • Coordinating communication between participating institutions. • Facilitating the drafting of additional consortium questions and submitting these questions to LSSSE prior to the deadline. • Coordinating any additional data sharing agreements between these institutions and LSSSE.
Drafting Additional Consortium Questions
Each consortium may add as many as 20 consortium-specific questions. Asking more questions is not necessarily preferable, however. Many consortia members have found asking 5-10 well-written and appropriate consortium questions to meet their needs.
In drafting additional questions, it may be wise to involve the LSSSE project staff. Both LSSSE and Indiana University’s Center for Survey Research staff will review potential questions and make recommendations based on best practices in survey administration and compatibility with items in The Law School of Student Engagement.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the timeline for registration for consortiums?
| November 2 , 2008 | Registration for LSSSE opens on the LSSSE website |
| January 23, 2009 | LSSSE 2009 registration deadline |
| February 6, 2009 | Deadline for consortia formation |
| February 13, 2009 | Deadline for submitting additional questions |
Can my institution belong to more than one consortium?
No, you may only ask additional questions as part of one consortium. However, this does not preclude you from requesting comparative analyses with other groups of institutions post hoc. LSSSE staff can provide additional comparison group analysis for a nominal fee.
Is there an additional fee for joining a consortium?
Yes, the fee for each participating institution is as follows:
| Enrollment | Fee (per institution) |
| Fewer than 500 | $300 |
| 500-900 | $400 |
| More than 900 | $500 |
How many schools are needed to form a consortium?
There must be a minimum of six participating institutions to form a consortium.