1997 Summary

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

John C. Ory, Center for Teaching Excellence

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 survey was administered again in 1997. The 1997 Senior Survey was sent in March 1997 to all seniors on the May graduation list. Of these 4,257 seniors, 1,552, or approximately 37%, responded. Similar to past years, the respondents were roughly representative of the graduating class by gender, ethnic origin, and academic affiliation as indicated below.

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 76% Caucasian and

93 % Illinois residents. Approximately 15% more females than males responded to the survey.

Academically, 73% of the respondents self-assessed their grade-point average as between 2.75 and 3.75. Two-thirds of the respondents believed their final GPA was “about right,” whereas 30% thought it was too low. Approximately 57% of the students had only one major at UIUC, while another 33% had two majors (or changed majors once). Approximately 40% of the respondents reported working each semester part-time while another 40% reported working “occasionally” part-time. Approximately 64% of the respondents worked during the summer. For post-graduate plans, about 30% had already acquired full-time employment and 23% had been accepted to graduate/professional school.

First enrolled at UIUC as:

Number of different majors you had while at UIUC:

Number of semesters it took to complete your degree:

Current age:

Gender:

Ethnic origin:

Approximate GPA:

Accuracy of GPA:

Citizenship:

Employment while undergraduate*:

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

Post-graduation plans:

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 existing 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

Frequency%

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.

3.9: 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

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

3.9: The classroom environment was free from racist behavior.

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

3.8: You felt that you were welcome at UIUC.

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

3.7: It was easy to meet and get to know other students.

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

2.5: The “University” cared about you.

2.8: 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 (3.9) and if the campus was free from racism (2.9). 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 1,252 Caucasian,  187 Asian-American, 42 African-American, 38 Hispanic/Latino, and three Native American.)

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 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.

Self-assessment of entering and exiting abilities

The respondents reported increases in their entering competency levels for all of the abilities listed. The abilities with the greatest difference between entering and exiting competency levels were:

+1.5 Effectively use technology (e.g., computers, high tech equipment)

+.8 Speak effectively

+.8 Locate, screen, and organize information

+.8 Understand and appreciate cultural and ethnic differences

+.8 Draw conclusions after weighing evidence, facts, and ideas

+.8 Learn on my own

Overall undergraduate experience

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 TOTAL experience at UIUC:

51. Your overall educational experience at UIUC:

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

attend UIUC again? (percent indicating yes):

attend another institution? (percent indicating yes):

take same major? (percent indicating yes):

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

Of the 1,552 graduating seniors responding to the Senior Survey, 1,199 (77%) responded to this item. A summary of their responses is provided below. (One percent represents approximately 12 students.)

Other comments were made by fewer than 2% of those responding to this item.

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

Of the 1,552 graduating seniors responding to the Senior Survey, 1,186 (76%) responded to this item. A summary of their responses is provided below. (One percent represents approximately 12 students.)

Other comments were made by fewer than 2% of those responding to this item.

COMPARISON TO PREVIOUS YEAR - Demographics of Respondents

This section of the report will compare 1997 Senior Survey results to responses recorded in 1990, 1993, and 1996. The 37% response rate in 1997 was higher than the average (approximately 30%) for all previous years. This year there were more African-American and slightly fewer Asian-American and Latino/Hispanic respondents than in past years. Following are some additional differences among respondents in 1990, 1993, 1996 and 1997.

Post-graduate plans:

Satisfaction with broad aspects of the undergraduate experience

Following is a listing of item mean scores for common items administered in 1990, 1993, 1996, and 1997. Overall, there is consistency of student responses over time. However, the upward trend for many of the items in 1996 continued in the 1997 data. Eleven of the 28 common items had higher mean ratings in 1997 than in 1996, whereas only five items had lower ratings in 1997. Items with increases are marked with a (+) and items with decreases are marked with a (-).

Student Ratings of Entering and Exiting Abilities

The students' ratings of their exiting abilities are significantly higher than their entering ratings in both years the items were used. The average rating increase across abilities was .7 in both years. The greatest difference in ratings was reported for the ability to “effectively use technology.”