Our students are well satisfied with ETSU. Academics and academic services available to students should be a university’s number one priority. According to ETSU students, the majority of the areas they are most satisfied with lie within the category of academics and academic support services.

Campus life turned out to be the category in which students were least satisfied. This may seem disappointing at first, but if you take into consideration that students did not rate the quality of campus life as highly important to them, then it is not so bad.

During spring semester 2000, 630 undergraduate students responded to the Student Satisfaction Inventory. This instrument is a new Noel-Levitz product. The advantage of this inventory is that students indicate both their satisfaction with each item listed and its importance to them personally. This information provides a more rounded picture of student satisfaction.

Most Satisfaction

Again, students indicated they were most satisfied with items related to academics and academic services. Simultaneously these items also received very high scores for importance.

This is good news because the core mission of the university is to educate students. It is encouraging to know that our students value and are satisfied with their academic instruction. For the top ten most satisfied items, the importance means were all above a 6.0 mean on a 7-point scale.

Ten Most Satisfied Items

Satisfaction

Item Mean

Attendance in class is an important part of success.	5.78
Coursework is challenging.	5.59
Academic Advisors are knowledgeable about requirements in the majors.*	5.53
Nearly all faculty are knowledgeable in their field.	5.49
On the whole, the campus is well-maintained.	5.47
My academic advisor is knowledgeable about the general education core requirements.	5.46
This institution has a good reputation within the community.	5.38
Tutoring services are readily available.*	5.37
Faculty are usually available after class and during office hours.	5.36
Library resources and services are adequate.*	5.34
Class change (drop/add) policies are reasonable.*	5.34

* Four of the top ten satisfaction items were significantly higher than the peer institution satisfaction.

Least Satisfaction

In contrast, of the ten items our students indicated the least satisfaction with, six are in the category of campus life. However, all of these but one, have low importance to our students as well.

The lowest satisfaction score (2.9 mean on a 7-point scale) was related to parking on campus. This item also had one of the highest importance means, a 6.41.

Also for items rated low in satisfaction, we found statistically significant differences in the mean satisfaction scores between ETSU and our peer institutions. Four items had ETSU’s satisfaction being significantly lower than the peer score. However, ETSU’s parking satisfaction score (ironically) and food availability satisfaction score were above the peer score.

Even though these are items that students say they are least satisfied with, some items such as weekend activities and increasing school spirit do not necessarily need to be addressed. Although students are unsatisfied with these items, they also rated them of very little importance.

Ten Least Satisfied Items

Satisfaction

Item Mean

The amount of student parking on campus is adequate.*	2.9
I seldom get the "runaround" when seeking information on this campus.**	3.86
Residence hall regulations are reasonable.**	3.95
The intercollegiate athletic programs contribute to a strong sense of school spirit.**	3.97
There are a sufficient number of weekend activities for students.	3.99
Living conditions in the residence halls are comfortable (adequate space, lighting, heat, air, etc).	4.08
Financial aid counselors are helpful.**	4.13
Students activities fees are put to good use.	4.17
Channels for expressing student complaints are readily available.	4.38
There is an adequate selection of food available in the cafeteria.*	4.39

* Two of the lowest ten satisfaction items were significantly higher than the peer institution satisfaction.

** Four of the lowest ten satisfaction items were significantly lower than the peer institution satisfaction.

Residence hall regulations may be considered unsatisfactory to students because ETSU’s residence hall rules are more restrictive than those at other institutions.

For example, ETSU currently does not allow co-ed housing or 24-hour visitation rights. As will be highlighted later, residence halls are of relatively high importance to our students.

Parking has been an ongoing problem with students. Students think ETSU does not have a sufficient number of parking spaces. Students come to ETSU because of its convenience. When they can’t find a parking space, their satisfaction level goes down.

The other item students are least satisfied with is the “runaround.” Any time students don’t receive an answer or problem resolution from the first office they approach, they think they are getting the “run-around.” This item points to an area for improvement.

Most Importance

The top items most important to ETSU students (in descending order) are:

The content of the courses within the majors is valuable. (Tied)

Experience at this college is preparing students for a career. (Tied)

Registering for classes with few conflicts.

Academic advisors are knowledgeable about requirements in the majors.

Instruction in major fields is excellent. (Tied)

Nearly all the faculty are knowledgeable in their field. (Tied)

Academic advisors are knowledgeable about the general education core requirements.

It is noteworthy that two of the most important items for students relate directly to academics: course content in major and instruction. Career preparation is a key factor for students as well. They are also telling us that registering with few conflicts is important, as is the quality of advisement within their major. These issues are related to each other. Students want quality instruction, relevant course content that prepares them for a career, good advisement, and minimal problems getting the courses they need.

Importance and Satisfaction

The top five items in which the performance gap between importance and satisfaction is the largest are:

The amount of student parking space on campus is adequate.

Getting the “runaround” when seeking information on this campus.

Activities fees are put to good use.

Financial aid counselors are helpful.

Adequate financial aid is available for most students.

When students feel something is important and they are not satisfied, this points to areas for improvement.

Least Importance

The top five items least important to ETSU students (in descending order) are:

Personalized attention prior to enrollment as a factor in decision to enroll.

The intercollegiate athletic programs contribute to a strong sense of school spirit.

Recommendations from family/friends are a factor in the decision to enroll.

A variety of intramural activities are offered.

Opportunity to play sports is a factor in the decision to enroll.

Student Satisfaction; ETSU vs. Peers

Our peers for this survey include:

· University of Arkansas

· California State University

· Central Connecticut State University

· Eastern Illinois University

· Oakland University

· Louisiana Tech University

· Towson State University

· Youngstown State University

· Marshall University

· Northern Kentucky University

These peers were selected in consultation with Noel-Levitz from the schools that had administered this survey. They have similar enrollment fees, accreditation, public four-year status, and classification to ETSU.

So, What does this mean?

The advantage of this satisfaction survey is that it provides both the level of satisfaction and importance that students attach to each item. This allows us to focus on areas that are important to students but unsatisfactory. Improvement efforts need to be directed to service areas where students indicated low levels of satisfaction:

· Residence halls

· Individual treatment of students

· Financial aid

· Increased selection of food

· Billing process

· Channel for student complaints

· Communication about what’s happening

· Student activities fees usage

· Well-lighted and secure parking lots

· Adequate parking

At the same time recently improved areas such as the library, computer labs, and tutoring need to be maintained in order to retain high satisfaction scores.

Special Populations

When looking at how satisfied students are with ETSU’s commitment to special populations, our students indicate a higher level of satisfaction than peer institutions. Special populations include part time, evening, older returning students, underrepresented populations, commuters, and students with disabilities.

Would You Enroll Here Again?

When asked, “All in all, if you had to do it over, would you enroll here again?” our students responded with a mean of 4.91 on a 7.0 scale. This is significantly (at the .01 level) below the peer group.

Focus

The focus chart that follows breaks down student responses into a format that helps define areas for improvement. This chart portrays student responses addressing high and low satisfaction and high and low importance.

The lower right hand quadrant is where we should focus attention; it is the area where students place high importance, yet express low satisfaction.

FOCUS

(Increase emphasis on high importance/low satisfaction)

(Importance mean/Satisfaction Mean)

High Satisfaction

	My experience at this college is preparing me for a career. (6.56/5.24)
	The content of the courses within my major is valuable. (6.56/5.26)
	My academic advisor is knowledgeable about requirements in my major. (6.53/5.53)
	The instruction in my major field is excellent. (6.52/5.26)
	Nearly all of the faculty are knowledgeable in their field. (6.52/5.49)
	My academic advisor is knowledgeable about the general education core requirements. (6.51/5.46)
	The campus is safe and secure for all students. (6.50/5.17)
	My academic advisor is approachable. (6.45/5.3)
There are no items in this category.	There is a good variety of courses provided on this campus. (6.42/5.33)
	I am able to experience intellectual growth here. (6.39/5.29)
	Faculty are usually available after class and during office hours. (6.36/5.36)
	Computer labs are adequate and accessible. (6.28/5.16)
	Library resources and services are adequate. (6.25/5.34)
	I feel my attendance in class is an important part of my success. (6.24/5.78)
	On the whole, the campus is well-maintained. (6.20/5.47)
	Class change (drop/add) policies are reasonable. (6.13/5.34)
	Coursework is challenging and demands my best effort. (6.13/5.59)
Low Importance	High Importance

	The amount of student parking on campus is adequate. (6.41/2.90)
	I seldom get the "runaround" when seeking information on this campus. (6.29/3.86)
	Adequate financial aid is available for most students. (6.29/4.41)
	This institution shows concern for students as individuals. (6.29/4.63)
	Parking lots are well-lighted and secure. (6.28/4.60)
There are a sufficient number of weekend activities for students. (5.25/3.99)	Financial aid awards are announced to students in time to be helpful in college planning. (6.19/4.49)
The campus provides adequate day care for my needs. (5.18/4.59)	Student activities fees are put to good use. (6.16/4.17)
The intercollegiate athletic programs contribute to a strong sense of school spirit. (4.98/3.99)	Faculty care about me as an individual. (6.12/4.63)
	Financial aid counselors are helpful. (6.09/4.13)
	Faculty take into consideration student differences as they teach a course. (6.07/4.57)
	Billing policies are reasonable. (6.06/4.57)
	Channels for expressing student complaints are readily available. (6.04/4.38)
	Living conditions in the residence halls are comfortable (adequate space, lighting, heat, air, etc). (5.76/4.08)
	There is an adequate selection of food available in the cafeteria. (5.63/4.39)

Low Satisfaction

“Focusing on one area, such as performance gaps, is likely to result in overlooking areas of the campus experience that [ETSU] students value most. [The above matrix] helps pinpoint areas where resources can be redirected from areas of low expectations to areas of high expectations.”

The items in “high satisfaction/low importance suggest areas where it might be beneficial to redirect institutional resources to areas of higher importance.” However, we did not have any items in this category. The next area is high satisfaction/high importance. This area “showcases [ETSU’s] areas of strength that should be highlighted in promotional materials.” The bottom left is low satisfaction/low importance, which “presents an opportunity for [ETSU] to examine those areas that have low status with students.” The last section is low satisfaction/high importance. This pinpoints areas in need of immediate attention. (Noel-Levitz, 1999)

Students rated each item on the survey on a 7-point scale for both importance and satisfaction. The following shows the average rating used in determining high/low importance and satisfaction:

*Low Satisfaction-Equal to or below a 4.67 (lower quartile) average

*Low Importance-Equal to or below a 5.27 (median) average

*High Satisfaction-Equal to or above a 5.15 (upper quartile) average

*High Importance-Equal to or above a 5.27 (median) average

Some further considerations

We need to acknowledge that there may be problems with one or more of the survey questions. For example, a negative response to the question related to financial aid, “Financial aid awards are announced to students in time to be helpful in college planning” could be interpreted to mean that students don’t think we process financial aid awards in a timely manner. On the other hand, students have to submit information in a timely manner in order for this to happen. Because we have a sizeable number of students who apply late for financial aid, a low satisfaction score may be a reflection of their behavior rather than institutional effectiveness. Likewise, a negative response to the question, “Adequate financial aid is available for most students” could mean students don’t think that we are awarding enough financial aid money, when it actually might be a reflection of the limited number of scholarships available. One would also want to know whether we were adequately staffed in the financial aid office during the period of time prior to the administration of the survey. In fact, during fall of 1999, there were four unfilled positions in Financial Aid and this office has not been fully staffed since 1997. This response may be a reflection of the effect of low staffing in this service area.

Another concern about the financial aid questions is the fact that 70% of our students receive some form of financial aid, but all students responded to these questions. Because the instrument did not allow for the identification of financial aid recipients, a portion of the response has to be based on other than personal experience.

A reasoned response to this survey will be to examine the results in more detail with the individuals responsible for the areas ranked low to see what improvements are called for based on an assessment of the survey items, the student response and the unit’s operations. Other surveys done at the unit level should be included in the assessment. For example, ETSU participates in an assessment project sponsored by the Association of College and University Housing Officers – International. It is called the Educational Benchmarking Incorporated (EBI) Project. ETSU administers this survey to residents regularly and compares their response with national norm data. Six peer institutions were chosen for comparison. A second survey is completed by resident assistants to provide a complete view of residence life. These surveys and the comparison data provide specific information about how our students perceive the quality of our residence halls. The results of these studies need to be factored in to the analysis of this more general survey.

Finally we need to look at the actual means and determine if they are pointing to a need for change. The scale includes 7.0 as the highest score possible and 1.0 as very unsatisfactory or very unimportant. A score of 4.0 is mid scale. The item on the student perceptions chart, “Residence hall staff are concerned about me as an individual” has a mean score of 5.32 on the importance scale and a 4.56 on the satisfaction scale. This means it is between somewhat important and important to the student and falls between neutral and somewhat satisfied on the satisfaction scale. One may or may not deem this as indicating a need for improvement.

A Summary View

When you look at the totality of the response from students we fared well. Our students are well satisfied with ETSU. We should feel good that we are not overemphasizing areas that are unimportant to our students. The areas targeted for improvement are ones where improvements can be made but not ones in extreme need of attention.

The areas we need to stress and emphasize are obvious.

· All of us need to be aware that our students point to quality service as an important issue. They tend to be less satisfied with how they are treated by service providers at ETSU than other aspects of the university. Anything we can do individually or collectively to improve in this area is warranted. Pledge to never send a student to another office unless it is definitely where he/she needs to go.

· Issues related to residence life, financial aid, and the billing process should be addressed. If improvements in these areas can be made, make them.

· Improve communication to students about what’s happening on campus, how student activities fees are used and the channel for student complaints.

· Continue to maintain well-lighted and secure parking lots; make improvements as feasible.

· Remember that parking continues to be the major irritant for our students regardless of the merits of their case.

· Continue to emphasize recognized areas of strength and satisfaction i.e., computer labs, the library, advisement and tutoring services.

Reference:

Noel-Levitz, Inc. Student Satisfaction Inventory and Institutional Priorities Survey, 1999.

More Detail Available

As with all studies produced by the Division of Student Affairs, we invite questions and comments. We would be pleased to present specific data of interest in your area upon request. Contact Dr. Sally Lee at 439-4210 or lees@etsu.edu for more detail.

Special Request

If you use information contained in this newsletter or any of the previous newsletters (all issues are available on the web at www.etsu.edu/students/central/rsrch.htm) when making decisions or planning, please let Dr. Sally Lee know. Send her an email at lees@etsu.edu. This will help her know how this information is being used. Thank you.

A special thanks for assistance with this newsletter goes to Allison Kyzer, Graduate Assistant in the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs.

Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs

Vol. IV No. 2

Fall 2001