1998 Summary

The Chancellor’s Senior Survey on the Undergraduate Experience at UIUC

by John C. Ory

For a printed, bound copy of this report, please contact the
Center for Teaching Excellence, 249 Armory Bldg.

In 1989, a task force appointed by the Chancellor created a questionnaire to be administered to all graduating seniors at UIUC. The results of the survey, the Chancellor said, "will be useful in responding to requests for information on how our students feel about the educational experience they have had as undergraduates here and in identifying problems on campus which need our attention." The survey was administered each year from 1990 to 1993. Due to the consistency of results the survey was not administered again until 1996.

The 1996 survey was modified to include a section of items asking students to assess their entering and exiting abilities. Due to the usefulness of this new section for campus initiatives involved in the assessment of student outcomes, the campus decided to restart annual administrations of the survey.

For the first time the Senior Survey was administered electronically in 1998. In March 1998 an e-mail message regarding the Senior Survey was sent to all seniors on the May graduation list. The e-mail message from the Chancellor asked students to complete the survey posted on a university Web-site. Ten days following the initial e-mail message a follow-up message was sent reminding students to complete the survey. Survey respondents were entered into a lottery with a single prize of two free airline tickets valued at $500 each. Of these 4,200 seniors, 1,683, or approximately 40%, responded. Similar to past years, the respondents were roughly representative of the graduating class by gender, ethnic origin, and academic affiliation as indicated below.

Percentage of Respondents All Seniors

Care should be taken in interpreting the results of the survey because the small number of respondents in some sub-categories makes the results statistically unreliable. This summary presents highlights of the data following the general order of the survey, a copy of which is attached to this report. A "Comparison to Previous Years" section at the end of the summary presents yearly comparisons of survey results.

Demographics

Survey respondents present a picture of a very traditional student body, with large majorities enrolling as freshmen and completing a bachelor’s degree in eight semesters at age 21 or 22. The respondents were 79% Caucasian and

92% Illinois residents. Approximately 4% more females than males responded to the survey.

Academically, 70% of the respondents self-assessed their grade-point average as between 2.75 and 3.75. Approximately 50% of the students never changed their major, while another 38% changed majors once. Approximately 40% of the respondents reported working each semester part-time while another 40% reported working "occasionally" part-time. Approximately 70% of the respondents worked during the summer.

First enrolled at UIUC as:

Number of times you changed major while at UIUC:

Did you change your career choice?

Did you participate in volunteer or community service work?

Did you seek personal counseling?

Do you have a disability?

Number of semesters it took to complete your degree:

Current age:

Gender:

Ethnic origin:

Approximate GPA:

Citizenship:

Employment while undergraduate*:

* Totals more than 100% because some students worked both summers and part- or full-time during school year.

Satisfaction with broad aspects of the undergraduate experience

The survey asked about senior satisfaction in three broad categories, and then, in a brief fourth section, about the overall experience at UIUC. Students were asked to choose from a five-point Likert scale, ranging from one for lowest satisfaction to five for highest satisfaction. The broad categories were:

• Teaching and educational environment included 18 questions on the quality of teaching and facilities, access to courses and faculty, class size, and teachers’ evaluation of students.

• Campus environment included 13 questions on racism, sexism, welcome, help, and atmosphere.

• Self-assessment of entering and exiting abilities required students to assess their entering and exiting competency levels in 20 abilities, including writing, speaking, organizing time, and using technology.

• Overall undergraduate experience included four questions: satisfaction with the overall educational experience at UIUC, current attitude toward UIUC, attitude toward the respondent’s major, and what the respondent would do given the chance to start all over again.

The categories were an organizational device, making it inadvisable to seek generalizations, such as "students were satisfied overall with the campus environment." Instead, the summary will attempt to point out noteworthy responses to individual questions. Before going into the categories individually, a

graphic overview of the average ratings for all teaching, educational, and campus items is presented below.

Teaching and educational environment

Mean Frequency %

Low                                                         High

For all respondents, the items with the highest satisfaction ratings in this section were:

4.1: Class size at the 300 course level.

4.0: Access to courses and course sections in major.

4.0: Faculty members’ presence during posted office hours.

3.9: Quality of teaching by faculty in your major.

For all respondents, the items with the lowest satisfaction ratings in this section were:

3.0: Quality of academic program advising and information.

3.0: Quality of career advising and information.

3.1: Class size at the 100 and 200 course level.

3.1: Process of student evaluation of teaching.

 

Campus environment

                                                                                            Mean Frequency %

Low          High

For all respondents, the items with the highest satisfaction ratings in this section were:

4.1: The classroom environment was free from racist behavior.

4.1: You felt that you were welcome at UIUC.

4.0: It was easy to get involved in student groups and activities.

3.9: The classroom environment was free from sexist behavior.

3.9: There was exposure to different student backgrounds and cultures.

For all respondents, the items with the lowest satisfaction ratings in this section were:

2.6: The "University" cared about you.

3.0: The campus environment was free from racism.

There was a noticeable difference between the ratings on the items asking if the classroom was free from racist behavior (4.1) and if the campus was free from racism (3.0). The graphs below show some of the variation by ethnic background on these questions. (Please note, as previously indicated, that survey respondents underrepresented African-American and Hispanic/Latino respondents. The number of respondents by ethnic origin is 1,313 Caucasian, 229 Asian-American, 67 African-American, 57 Hispanic/Latino, and one Native American.)

22a. The classroom environment was free from racist behavior.

**No average provided due to having only one respondent.

23a. The campus environment was free from racism.

24a. The University appropriately addressed problems of racism.

Men and women disagreed about the extent of sexism on campus and the university’s attempt to address the problem.

22b. The classroom environment was free from sexist behavior.

23b. The campus environment was free from sexism.

24b. The University appropriately addressed problems of sexism.

Comparison of Entering and Exiting Abilities

The respondents reported increases in their entering competency levels for all but one ("Communicate in a language other than English") of the abilities listed. The abilities with the greatest difference between entering and exiting competency levels were:

+1.6 Effectively use technology (e.g., computers, high tech equipment)

+1.1 Draw conclusions after weighing evidence, facts, and ideas

+1.0 Locate, screen, and organize information

+.9 Speak effectively

+.9 Understand and appreciate cultural and ethnic differences

+.9 Problem solving skills

Overall undergraduate experience

                                                                                                                                                Mean Frequency %

                                                                                                                                                        Low High

                                                                                                                                1              2              3              4                  5

All of the overall experience items received high satisfaction ratings in this section. There were some variations in the overall quality ratings by ethnic background, as shown in the graphs below. Asian-American and African-American respondents gave slightly lower overall ratings than did other students.

49. Please rate your major at UIUC:

50. Your overall educational experience at UIUC:

51. Your TOTAL experience at UIUC:

52. If you could start all over again, would you ...

attend UIUC again? (percent indicating yes):

Aspects of the University that were most helpful to your pursuit of an education at UIUC

Of the 1,683 graduating seniors responding to the Senior Survey, 1,067 (64%) responded to this item. A summary of their responses is provided below. (One percent represents approximately 11 students.)

Aspects of the university that were obstacles to your pursuit of an education at UIUC

Of the 1,683 graduating seniors responding to the Senior Survey, 994 (59%) responded to this item. A summary of their responses is provided below. (One percent represents approximately 10 students.)

How has the university changed since your freshman year?

Of the 1,683 graduating seniors responding to the Senior Survey, 981 (58%) responded to this item. A summary of their responses is provided below. (One percent represents approximately 10 students.)

COMPARISON TO PREVIOUS YEAR - Demographics of Respondents

This section of the report will compare 1998 Senior Survey results to responses recorded in 1990, 1993, 1996, and 1997. The 40% response rate in 1998 was highest ever for the survey. This year there were slightly fewer African-American and Latino/Hispanic respondents and slightly more Asian-American respondents than in past years. Following are some additional differences among respondents over time.

Satisfaction with broad aspects of the undergraduate experience

Following is a listing of item mean scores for common items administered in 1990, 1993, 1996, 1997, and 1998. Overall, there is consistency of student responses over time. However, the upward trend for many of the items in 1996 and 1997 continued in the 1998 data. No single item mean score was lower in 1998 than in 1997 and 18 were higher. Items with increases are marked with a (+) and items with decreases are marked with a (-). Four item means increased by +.2 of a point and three means increased by +.3. These seven items are printed in bold typeface.

Student Ratings of Entering and Exiting Abilities

The students’ ratings of their exiting abilities are significantly higher than their entering ratings in all three years the items were used. The average rating increase across abilities was +.8 in 1998, which is higher than the average of +.7 in the two previous years. Three abilities (printed in bold typeface) reported entering/exiting gains of at least one rating point.

Satisfaction with the campus environment

The tables below show response pattern changes for respondents with different ethnic backgrounds to several questions regarding racism on campus and in the classroom. The most noticeable differences from past years were the slightly higher ratings given by Caucasian, Hispanic/Latino, and Asian-American respondents, and the slightly lower ratings given by the African-Americans respondents.

22a. The classroom environment was free from racist behavior:

23a. The campus environment was free from racism

24a. The University appropriately addressed problems of racism:

Men and women students continue to differ in their responses to the questions regarding sexism and sexist behavior on campus and in the classroom. Women respondents are less satisfied than men respondents. Both groups reported slightly higher ratings in 1998 than in the past.

22b. The classroom environment was free from sexist behavior: