Student opinion survey aims to improve college services
By Tony LeTigre
The Guardsman
The City College Office of Research and Planning is currently compiling and analyzing the results of an in-depth survey that will show what a broad cross section of City College students think of the college and its services, which could have a significant impact on the way classes and facilities are run.
Pamela Mery of the Office of Research and Planning sent an email late last semester to all fall City College credit students asking them to complete the 78 question survey. More than 4,000 students responded.
Students were questioned about their overall experience at City College and asked to indicate their level of satisfaction with a range of services the college provides.
One set of questions asked if students feel a sense of belonging and support at City College, and whether their studies have been affected by a variety of factors including work schedule conflict or financial difficulties.
A section on demographics collected information on the age, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation and length of attendance of City College students. The survey also asked students to name the highest figure they had paid for a textbook, and whether they had ever been forced to drop a class because they couldn’t get access to the required text. At the conclusion of the survey, students were invited to provide written comments.
Mery classified the survey as a longitudinal study, meaning its purpose is to monitor change over time.
“We want the questions on the survey to remain stable for that reason, but also to be current and relevant,” Mery said. “So there is a balancing act that takes place between those two things.”
Lindy McKnight, dean of counseling and student support, reviewed the survey with Mery and gave her thoughts on the counseling section.
“I wanted the counseling departments listed separately with their locations, so that each department could look at their rating and respond individually,” McKnight said.
Academic Senate President Karen Saginor co-chaired the steering committee that approved the survey questions.
“One change I recommended was in the demographics section, where information on ethnicity was collected,” Saginor said. “I suggested a write-in option where people could choose their own identification because I don’t think anyone wants their ethnicity to be labeled as ‘Other.’”
Mery said the results of the survey will be used as the basis for several important projects at the college and to inform planning and assessment processes. She said she expects initial results to be available by the end of February.
“The initial results will include percents, averages and content and analysis of open-ended responses with particular attention to common themes,” Mery said. She added that the full report, which will include a more in-depth analysis of all the aggregated data, could be available by May.
While the Office of Research and Planning hoped for more responses, Mery said the 4,000 they received represented more than 10 percent of credit students enrolled last semester.
She added that a similar survey for non-credit students will be disseminated during the spring 2011 semester.
Saginor said it will not be clear how statistically viable the survey results are until they are fully analyzed, and that those results will point the way for further research.
“When we have the data we can scan it to see if things are skewed in particular ways, for instance in regard to ethnicity,” Saginor said. “Or with regard to age, we can ask ‘Did one age group not respond to the survey?’”
McKnight said she anticipates that each college department will hold discussions on ways to improve services, as indicated by the survey results.
“I expect the department chairs to look very seriously at all student comments and at the overall rating,” McKnight said. “I hope the surveys will give us an indication of what we in counseling are doing well, and what we could do better.”
The last opinion survey of City College credit students took place during the 2004-05 school year. It analyzed the responses of 3,095 credit students.
According to the 2004-05 report, “The overwhelming finding … is that students appreciate City College.” The report also found that students aged 16-19 expressed the lowest percentage of positive responses, while students aged 50+ were the most positive. Across ethnic groups, African-American students appeared to be the most satisfied with the services and facilities of City College.
The full published results from this and other past surveys can be found at http://www.City College.edu/Offices/Research_Planning/reports_satisfaction.htm.