North Carolina State University
2003-2004 Graduating Senior Survey:
All Respondents

This report presents findings from the 2003-2004 Graduating Senior Survey. It describes the overall responses to each survey question within the following topics: student goals and intentions, academic environment and faculty contributions, campus climate, evaluation of student services, knowledge, skills and personal development, and employment and extracurricular activities. For a full discussion of the survey�s methodology, see "2003-2004 Graduating Senior Survey: Introduction, Methods, and Student Demographic Profile." Responses broken down by gender, race/ethnicity, and college, as well as a copy of the survey instrument with exact question wording, are available on the web.

Table of Contents:

Student Goals and Intentions

• Educational Goals
• Post-Graduate Plans
• Time to Graduate
• Withdrawal/Transfer from NCSU

Academic Environment and Faculty Contributions

• Satisfaction with Education
• Evaluation of Education
• Faculty Contributions

Campus Climate

Services for Students

• Academic Services
• Non-academic Services
• Financial Aid

Knowledge, Skills, and Personal Development

• General Growth and Training
• Knowledge, Skills, and Personal Growth

Employment and Extracurricular Activities

• On- and Off-Campus Employment
• Number of Hours Worked
• Job Relationship to Major
• Co-op Experience
• Research with NCSU Faculty
• Extracurricular Involvement

Student Goals and Intentions

Educational Goals (Table 1)

Students were asked questions regarding their primary goal or objective in attending NC State and to what degree that goal or objective was accomplished. Table 1 shows goals/objectives and accomplishment. The majority of respondents� primary goal in attending NC State was either to prepare for a career (41.6%) or to prepare for graduate or professional school (36.5%). Almost three-fourths (73.2%) of all respondents said they "fully accomplished" their goal.

Respondents who said their primary goal was to earn a bachelor�s degree or certificate were most likely to fully accomplish that objective (85.7%). Over 70 percent (72.3%) of the 977 seniors who said their primary goal was to prepare for a new career said they "fully accomplished" their goal. Slightly fewer of those whose primary objective was to prepare for graduate or professional school said they "fully accomplished" their goal (68.9%).

Table 1: Goals and Objectives at NC State

Comparisons and Frequencies: Gender/Ethnicity, College
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Time to Graduate (Table 2)

Slightly more than half of the respondents (51.8%) reported that it took them longer than four years to graduate. When offered a list of 8 possible reasons for their delayed graduation, roughly one-third of them chose only one of the reasons, one third chose two, and another third chose three or more. The most commonly chosen reason for taking more than four years to graduate was changing majors (53.1%), followed by personal reasons (48.9%). Financial reasons were least likely to be reported as a reason for taking longer than four years to graduate (22.0%). Of the 41.5 percent who selected other reasons for taking longer than four years to graduate, a plurality stated that having multiple majors and minors played a role in their taking longer to graduate. Other reasons given included issues related to working while in school, academic or scheduling difficulties, poor advising, time off from school, and participating in study abroad programs.

Table 2: Time to Graduate

Withdrawal/Transfer from NCSU (Table 3)

About one-fourth of respondents (22.3%) reported that they had considered withdrawing or transferring from NC State before graduation, although most had not seriously considered doing so. A relatively small number of students reported they had actually left NC State at some point and later returned and went on to graduate.

Table 3: Withdrawal/Transfer from NCSU

Comparisons and Frequencies: Gender/Ethnicity, College
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Reasons for staying at NCSU (Table 4)

Respondents who considered withdrawing or transferring were asked to describe their reasons for staying at or returning to NC State. The most frequently reported reasons related to academic programs offered at NC State (40.7%). Examples include program or degree availability, and prestige or quality of instruction within an academic department at NC State. Thirty percent of respondents reported that their decision to stay at NC State or return to NC State was based on personal reasons, such as accomplishment of a personal goal or to be close to friends.

Table 4: Reasons for staying at NC State or returning to NC State (N=587)

Post-Graduation Plans (Table 5)

At the time they completed the survey, about 40 percent of respondents (38.6%) reported that they were still seeking employment. About 11 percent said that they had already accepted a job for after graduation (8.3%) or would continue in their current position (2.9%). One-fourth said that they plan to go on to graduate or professional school either full-time (20.5%) or part-time (4.4%).
 
Given that about two-thirds of respondents completed the survey 4 or more months prior to graduation, it is important to note that reports on post-graduation plans are somewhat related to how close to graduation the respondent completed the survey. For example, about 42 percent of those who said they were still seeking employment completed the survey 4 or more months before graduation. This figure dropped slightly to 39 percent among those completing the survey 2 to 3 months before graduation, and to 33 percent among those doing so less than 2 months prior to graduation. In contrast, 16 percent of those completing the survey within 2 months of graduation had accepted a new job, as did 7 percent of those completing it 2 to 3 months prior to graduation, and 5 percent of those doing so 4 or more months before graduating.

Table 5: Plans Following Graduation

Comparisons and Frequencies: Gender/Ethnicity, College
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Off-Campus Degree Program (Table 6)

Respondents who were pursuing their degree through an off-campus degree program were asked the likelihood of obtaining a degree at a UNC campus had the off-campus degree program been unavailable. While a slight majority of respondents reported that they "very likely" (25.9%) or "probably" (26.9%) would have obtained a degree at a UNC campus, more than one-fourth said it was "not likely" (26.7%) they would have done so.

Table 6: Off-Campus Degree Program

Comparisons and Frequencies: Gender/Ethnicity, College
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Academic Environment and Faculty Contributions

Satisfaction with Education (Table 7)

The majority of students appeared to be satisfied with their education at NC State. Almost 90 percent (87.7%) reported that they would recommend NC State to a friend. Three-fourths (75.4%) said if they could start over, they would choose NC State again. About 60 percent (60.8%) said they would choose the same major again. Less than 10 percent said they would not choose NC State again (7.3%), and 15.4 percent would not choose the same major again.

Table 7: Satisfaction with Education

Comparisons and Frequencies: Gender/Ethnicity, College
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Evaluation of Education (Tables 8 and 9)

Students were asked to give their opinions of the academic environment at NC State. Specifically, they rated the overall education they received, instruction in their major and overall, and the intellectual environment on campus.

The vast majority of respondents (92.1%) gave positive ratings to the overall education they had received at NC State. Most were also happy with the quality of instruction they had received, although ratings were higher for instruction within their major than overall. Close to half of the respondents said instruction in their major was "excellent" (49.4%) and another 42.7 percent said it was "good." In comparison, about one-fourth (24.6%) rated their overall instruction as "excellent," while 63.3 percent said it was "good." Finally, over 90 percent of respondents agreed that the intellectual environment on campus was "strong" (65.4%) or "very strong" (26.3%).

Table 8: Evaluation of Education

Comparisons and Frequencies: Gender/Ethnicity, College
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Table 9: Intellectual Environment

Comparisons and Frequencies: Gender/Ethnicity, College
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Faculty Contributions (Table 10)

Students were asked to evaluate various aspects of the teaching styles of faculty members in their major department, using a scale from 1 ("poor") to 4 ("excellent"). "Don�t know" responses were not included in calculations of average ratings. Overall, students were very positive about the contributions faculty in their major department make toward their education. Highest ratings were given to faculty setting high expectations to learn and to encouraging that time and energy be devoted to coursework, with over 90 percent of respondents rating these as "excellent" or "good." Although still rated as "excellent" or "good" by a majority of respondents, factors related to faculty involvement with students on a more individual basis received somewhat lower ratings.

Table 10: Faculty Contributions

Comparisons and Frequencies: Gender/Ethnicity, College
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Campus Climate (Tables 11 and 12)

Students were asked to rate what they perceived to be the general attitude on campus toward various groups of people (e.g., Women, African American students, students with disabilities, etc). A majority of respondents felt the campus climate was at least "mildly supportive" toward each of the groups asked about, with one exception. Less than 40 percent of respondents (39.2%) felt the campus climate was at least "mildly supportive" towards gay and lesbian students, while about 15 percent thought it was either "mildly" (10.0%) or "strongly nonsupportive" (5.2%) towards them.

Most respondents agreed either "strongly" (47.3%) or "somewhat" (47.1%) that NC State is committed to helping minority students succeed. They were less likely to agree that NC State has visible leadership from the Chancellor and other administrators to foster diversity on campus (30.7% "agree strongly," 49.3% "agree somewhat").

Table 11: Campus Climate

Comparisons and Frequencies: Gender/Ethnicity, College
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Table 12: Support for Diversity

Comparisons and Frequencies: Gender/Ethnicity, College
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Services for Students

Survey respondents were instructed to evaluate various academic and non-academic services provided by NC State, based on their experiences within the last two years on campus. Ratings ranged from 1 ("poor") to 4 ("excellent"). The "don�t know/did not use" option available for those students with insufficient experience to evaluate a service area was excluded from analyses.

Academic Services (Table 13)

Academic services encompassed six primary areas: academic advising, research support, technology services, library services, career-related services, and employment search assistance. Overall, students are pleased with virtually all 28 specific services asked about, with each getting a positive rating of "good" or "excellent" by a large majority of respondents. In general respondents gave highest ratings to technology and library services and lowest ratings to research support. Among the individual items the highest rating was given to access to the Internet, followed by library hours of operation. Only 2 items had ratings of "fair" or "poor" by more than 25 percent of respondents: access to trained technology staff and interview preparation skills.

Academic Advising: Four of the five aspects of academic advising asked about were rated as "excellent" by at least 40 percent of respondents. Highest ratings went to access to advisor, with 46.3 percent rating it as "excellent." While still rated positively by a majority of respondents, slightly fewer respondents reported advisors' knowledge of policies/procedures to be "excellent" (36.7%).

Research Support: Overall, the three areas of research support asked about received slightly lower ratings than other academic services. Majorities, however, rated each aspect of research support as at least "good," with about one-third rating each as "excellent."

Technology Services: Ratings for the various technology services were widely skewed, with several receiving among the highest ratings for all individual services asked about, and others receiving among the lowest. Specifically, 75 percent rated access to the internet as "excellent," and over 50 percent rated hours of operation of computer labs (54.1%) and access to up-to-date facilities (51.5%) as "excellent." In comparison, less than one-third gave such high ratings to technology training classes (31.1%) and access to trained staff for help (29.0%).

Library Services: About 50 percent or more respondents rated four of the five library services asked about as "excellent," with highest ratings given to hours of operation (60.8%). Ratings for training to use the library were slightly less positive, with about one-third saying "excellent" (34.8%).

Career-related Services: The various aspects of career services asked about received generally similar ratings, with one-third or more of respondents rating each of the career-related services as "excellent."

Employment Services: More than one-third of respondents rated resume preparation (35.3%) and access to career fairs, job listings, etc. (34.5%) as "excellent." Interview preparation skills, on the other hand, was rated as "excellent" by just over one-fourth of respondents (26.9%), giving it the lowest rating of all 28 services asked about.

Table 13: Academic Service Areas

Comparisons and Frequencies: Gender/Ethnicity, College
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Non-academic Services (Tables 14 and 15)

Students were also asked to evaluate a range of non-academic services. For those services involving interaction with staff members (secretaries, tutors, counselors, office workers, etc.), students were also instructed to evaluate the responsiveness of the staff.

Non-academic services tended to receive slightly lower ratings than academic services. However, all but one of the non-academic services asked about was rated as at least "good" by two-thirds or more respondents. Library services (43.5%), opportunities for recreational activities (41.0%), and registration process (39.9%) were most likely to be rated as "excellent." Campus food services was least likely to be rated as "excellent" (9.9%), followed by university planning and placement services (14.8%).

Staff associated with campus food services and university planning and placement services, along with campus health services received slightly higher ratings than their respective services. In contrast, staff associated with financial aid application/award process, financial aid disbursement process, registration process, and business services/cashier/student accounts received notably lower ratings than their respective services.

Table 14: Non-Academic Services

Comparisons and Frequencies: Gender/Ethnicity, College
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Table 15: Staff Responsiveness

Comparisons and Frequencies: Gender/Ethnicity, College
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Financial Aid (Tables 16 and 17)

Close to 60 percent of respondents (59.6%) said they received some sort of financial aid. The vast majority of these respondents said they were either "very" (47.8%) or "moderately satisfied" (43.9%) with the aid package received. Majorities of those receiving aid gave positive ratings to financial aid staff. Financial aid advisor staff were most likely to be rated as "excellent" (37.9%). About one-fourth of the respondents receiving aid rated reception staff (26.1%) and phone staff (26.7%) as "excellent."

Table 16: Financial Aid Received

Comparisons and Frequencies: Gender/Ethnicity, College

Table 17: Satisfaction with Financial Aid Staff (among those receiving financial aid, N=1,401)

Comparisons and Frequencies: Gender/Ethnicity, College
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Knowledge, Skills, and Personal Development

General Growth and Training (Table 18)

Half or more respondents said NC State contributed "very well" to their intellectual growth (57.7%) and to their personal growth (50.2%). Respondents were less positive about the university�s contribution to their career training needs (30.7%). One-fourth of respondents said that NC State contributed only "somewhat adequately" (19.4%) or "poorly" (6.5%) to their career training.

Table 18: NC State's Ability to Meet Needs

Comparisons and Frequencies: Gender/Ethnicity, College
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Knowledge, Skills, and Personal Growth (Table 19)

Graduating seniors rated the extent to which NC State contributed to a wide range of factors related to their general education, world views, and personal development, using a scale of 1 ("not at all") to 4 ("very much"). The majority of respondents said NC State contributed "very much" to 29 of the 36 factors listed. Respondents were more likely to say NC State contributed "very much" to their development of general education and personal growth goals than to their development of world view goals.

Respondents were most likely to report that NC State contributed very much to the general education goal enhancing analytic skills (70.9%), closely followed by the general education goals of ability to plan and carry out projects independently (69.3%) and ability to critically analyze ideas and information (66.6%), and the personal development goals of independence and self-reliance (68.5%), personal growth (67.9%), potential for success (67.7%), and valuing learning as a life-long process (67.4%). While still rated as at least "good" by majorities of respondents, the goals NC State was least likely to have contributed "very much" were developing a sense of public responsibility/community service (32.6%), developing an appreciation of the arts (34.2%), and development a commitment to personal health and fitness (38.2%).

Table 19: Contribution to Knowledge, Skills, and Personal Growth

Comparisons and Frequencies: Gender/Ethnicity, College
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Employment and Extracurricular Activities

On- and Off-Campus Employment (Table 20)

More than three-fourths (77.3%) of respondents indicated that they were employed during their graduation year. The majority of employed respondents worked off-campus.

Table 20: On- and Off-Campus Employment

Comparisons and Frequencies: Gender/Ethnicity, College
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Why Worked for Pay (Table 21)

Table 21: Reasons for Working for Pay During Academic Year (among employed respondents, N=1,748)

Hours Worked (Table 22)

Respondents who worked on campus only generally reported working fewer hours per week (14.0), on average, than respondents who worked off campus (21.5) and respondents who worked both on and off campus (29.2).

Table 22: Number of Hours Worked (among employed respondents, N=1,820)

Comparisons and Frequencies: Gender/Ethnicity, College
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Job Relationship to Major (Table 23)

About one-third (33.6%) of respondents who were employed on campus were working in jobs directly related to their major. This percentage is lower among respondents who were employed off campus (26.3%). In either case, when the job was unrelated to the respondent's major, it was likely to be by choice.

Table 23: Job Relation to Academic Major

Comparisons and Frequencies: Gender/Ethnicity, College
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Co-op Experience (Table 24)

Forty percent of respondents had a co-op, internship, practicum, or field experience while at NC State. More than two-thirds (67.5%) of those said the experience made an "excellent" contribution to their personal or professional growth, and one-fourth (24.8%) said they received a job offer from their employer.

Table 24: Co-op Experience

Comparisons and Frequencies: Gender/Ethnicity, College
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Research Involvement (Table 25)

Close to twenty percent of respondents (19.1%) reported that they participated in research (not as a subject) with an NC State faculty member. A majority of those respondents (61.9%) said it was an "excellent" experience in terms of their personal and professional growth.

Table 25: Research Involvement

Comparisons and Frequencies: Gender/Ethnicity, College
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Extracurricular Involvement (Table 26)

Students were asked to indicate all school-related groups in which they had been involved while at NC State. More than half of respondents reported participating in organizations/clubs related to your major (51.8%). A large number of students also participated in intramural/recreational sports/club teams (39.0%), academic programs (honors, etc.) (36.7%), and honor/service/professional fraternities or sororities (27.3%).

Table 26: Extracurricular Involvement at NCSU

Comparisons and Frequencies: Gender/Ethnicity, College
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For more information on the 2003-2004 Graduating Senior Survey reports contact:
Dr. Nancy Whelchel, Associate Director for Survey Research
Office of Institutional Planning and Research
Campus Box 7002
North Carolina State University
Raleigh, NC 27965-7002
Phone: (919) 515-4184
Email: Nancy_Whelchel@ncsu.edu

Posted: September, 2004

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