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1997 Graduating Senior Survey

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Tables for NC State Respondents

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Office of Institutional Planning and Research, December 1997
Mark Lindblad, Graduate Research Assistant
Denise Gardner, Coordinator of Survey Research


North Carolina State University
1997 Graduating Senior Survey

Summary

This report presents the results of NC State's 1997 Graduating Senior Survey, administered to all seniors who graduated in the spring of 1997. It provides descriptive information on the respondents and summarizes results concerning general educational outcomes, satisfaction with services, and campus climate.

No significant differences were found between the respondents and the total population of graduating seniors in the areas of gender or ethnicity. However, significant differences were found by academic unit, so caution should be used when interpreting any comparisons by college/school because the results may not generalize to the graduating senior class.

Many of the issues in the senior survey address the university's strategic planning goals.

NC State has ten long-range strategic planning goals which are used in part to measure program and performance effectiveness. Where appropriate, survey results are discussed in terms of these goals.

Goal #1: NC State will improve success and satisfaction of undergraduate and graduate students, staff, and faculty.

Success

Respondents generally made career-oriented plans following graduation, and most seniors planned to join the labor force immediately or continue with further study. Roughly 80% of respondents reported being employed while attending NC State, with nearly half working primarily to meet basic survival needs (food and shelter) and over half working in jobs that were at least somewhat related to their academic major.

Graduating seniors felt their experiences at NC State contributed highly to their technical skills and in meeting university-established general education goals. Contribution to personal development and attitudes / values was seen as positive but not as high. NC State was rated as meeting intellectual growth and personal growth needs better than career training needs.

Satisfaction

Survey seniors reported being generally satisfied with the quality of services at NC State. Over 3/4 of respondents were moderately or very satisfied with 14 academic areas rated, most particularly with library services. Additionally, 2/3 of respondents were moderately or very satisfied with their academic advising overall. However, while seniors provided satisfactory ratings of their advisors' skill in required academic planning and knowledge of university policies and procedures, they were less satisfied with advisors' career advising abilities.

For those non-academic services rated by most respondents, Registration and Records received the highest satisfaction. Over half of the 16 non-academic services were not used by at least 20% of the respondents, and among this group the lowest ratings were received for food service on campus, services for commuter students, and residence halls.

Students were asked for recommendations for improving the quality of undergraduate education at NC State. The most responses concerned teaching. Students recommended improving professors' instructional skills (including spoken English), and encouraged university administration to seriously consider and act on teacher evaluations. Improving advising was the next most-mentioned issue. Recommendations included ensuring that academic advisors are trained and can answer students' questions, and stressing that they devote sufficient time to advising.

Goal #6: NC State will expand multicultural and global awareness among the members of the university community, in its curricula, and through international partnerships.

Goal #7: NC State will achieve a diverse student body, faculty and staff that better reflect contemporary society.

Campus Climate and Diversity Issues

A majority of respondents said they had never experienced discrimination while on NC State's campus on the basis of race, gender, age, religion, sexual orientation, physical disabilities, or other disabilities. However, more females than males indicated that they had experienced gender-based discrimination, and more minorities than whites had experienced race-based discrimination. The campus climate was largely seen as supportive for all sub-groups rated, with the most support for men and the least support for gays and lesbians. In general, African-Americans provided the lowest ratings of campus climate.

Females, when compared to males, tended to provide higher ratings of NC State's contribution to many skills and knowledge. The data revealed no differences by ethnicity on NC State's contribution to student development. Three-fourths of respondents indicated that they had made new friends with people from different countries or cultural backgrounds at NC State. Although only a small number of seniors had secured employment at the time of the survey (March), more males than females had full-time, permanent jobs, at higher salaries.

Introduction and Methodology

Purpose

The purpose of the 1997 Graduating Senior Survey was to gather information on the undergraduate experience at NC State from seniors graduating in the spring of 1997. Questions on general education outcomes, satisfaction with services, and other areas are summarized in this report. Detailed reports and supporting tables are also available.

Individual academic departments as well as schools or colleges were given the opportunity to insert discipline-specific items such that distinct information about unit-level institutional effectiveness could be provided. The inclusion of these inserts offered academic units the chance to collect valuable information on student outcomes and student opinions. Results from the inserts are presented in separate reports to the specific colleges, schools, and/or departments.

Description of the Sample

This report presents a profile of the spring 1997 graduating seniors at NC State. The survey was administered in March 1997 to students who were planning to graduate in the spring 1997 semester. Instruments were either mailed or handed out to each student by their department. In April, a follow-up was conducted by either a reminder memo to the departments or with a follow-up mailing.

Completed surveys were received from 1,045 of the 1,947 seniors who had registered to graduate as of March, but 43 of those students did not actually graduate. Therefore, a total of 1,002 usable surveys were analyzed, representing 53.4% of the spring 1997 graduating senior class of 1,875 (see Table 1). Results of Chi-Square tests (at the 0.01 significance level) revealed no significant differences from the total population of graduating seniors in the areas of gender (Chi-sq. 0.29; df=1) or ethnicity (Chi-sq. 6.98, df=2). However, significant differences were found by academic unit (Chi-sq. 32.52, df=8), so caution should be used when interpreting any comparisons by academic unit because the results may not generalize to the graduating senior class.

Methodology

The data obtained from the 1997 Graduating Senior Survey were analyzed according to standard statistical methods and practices. Forced-choice responses were tested to determine whether there were any significant differences according to students' gender, ethnicity, and academic unit. Questions with categorical responses (questions 3 - 5, 10 - 12, 16 - 23 and 25 - 34) were analyzed using Chi-Square tests, while questions with numerically coded responses (questions 2, 6 - 9, 13 - 15 and 24) were analyzed using either T-tests or one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with Duncan's multiple comparison procedure. The significance level for all analyses was p<0.01.

Analyses were calculated omitting responses of "don't know", "did not use", and "not applicable" (for appropriate questions) to portray the most accurate picture of students' attitudes and opinions. Items in which a large number of respondents marked these categories are noted.

Responses to two broad, open-ended questions were transcribed verbatim, and then examined for relevant themes. To represent and illustrate themes, student quotes are included throughout the reports. Both open-ended and forced-choice responses are discussed in conjunction with each other.

Profile of Respondents

This section provides a profile of respondents to NC State's 1997 Graduating Senior Survey by comparing the demographic composition of respondents and the graduating senior class, and reporting information on respondents' employment while attending NC State and plans after graduation. Graduating seniors were mostly white (86%) and male (58%), with over half of seniors (52%) both white and male.

Table 1: Demographics of Graduating Senior Class and Survey Respondents

Graduating Senior Class
Survey Respondents
Ethnicity
Female
Male
Total
Female
Male
Total
African-American
70

3.7%
51

2.7%
121

6.4%
30

3.0%
26

2.6%
56

5.6%
Other Minorities
63

3.4%
73

3.9%
136

7.3%
28

2.8%
26

2.6%
54

5.4%
White
647

34.5%
971

51.8%
1618

86.3%
366

36.6%
523

52.3%
889

88.9%
Total:
780

41.6%
1095

58.4%
1875

100.0%
424

42.4%
575

57.5%
999

100.0%

Note: Demographic information only available for 999 of the 1,002 survey respondents.

Roughly 80% of survey respondents reported being employed while attending NC State.

Of the 16% of respondents who participated in NC State's co-op program, over half of the participants indicated that the experience helped in getting post-graduation employment. Moreover, about one-third of participants received job offers directly from their co-op employer.

Seniors were also asked about the extent to which they felt they had accomplished their primary objective for attending NC State. Assuming they were to graduate at semester's end, 76% of seniors said they fully accomplished their goals while 23% said they partially accomplished their goals.

If graduating seniors could begin their undergraduate education again, would they choose NC State? A large majority (88%) said they would choose NC State again. However, 25% indicated that they would not choose the same major field of study.

Respondents generally made career-oriented plans following graduation, and most seniors planned to join the labor force immediately. As of the time of the survey (March), 25% of respondents indicated that they had already secured employment, 3% said they would continue in their current jobs, and 2% planned to enter the military. However, 35% were still seeking employment. Seventeen percent of respondents planned to attend graduate or professional school full-time and 3% part-time, and more females than males planned further study.

Chart 1: Plans After Graduation (as of March)


Of those respondents who had already secured post-graduate employment:

Link to NC State Tables Link to Detailed Profile Report


Outcomes of General Education

Outcomes of general education were assessed by NC State's spring 1997 seniors. This section provides descriptive information about several general educational activities, and ratings of NC State's contribution to the knowledge, skills and personal development of graduating seniors.

Graduating seniors were asked to rate the extent to which NC State had contributed to their development in terms of four areas:

Chart 2: Contribution of NC State to Established Goals for Undergraduate Education

Chart 3: Contribution of NC State to Technical Skills

Chart 4: Contribution of NC State to Personal Development

Chart 5: Contribution of NC State to Attitudes and Values

The large majority of respondents indicated positive impacts from their coursework on finding and accessing information and increasing their ability to solve problems creatively. Three-fourths of respondents indicated that while attending NC State they had made new friends with people from different countries or cultural backgrounds. NC State was rated as meeting intellectual growth and personal growth needs better than career training needs.

Students were asked for recommendations toward improving the quality of undergraduate education at NC State. One of the more salient general education issues involved the merits of educational requirements. The most contentious requirements were those of physical education and the humanities. Some students suggested having more electives and less requirements. Underlying such responses was a common view that "increased humanities requirements mean graduates in technical fields know less about their jobs and more about things they don't need." This may reflect the perspective that the humanities requirements are at odds with students' perception of the mission of NC State and undergraduates' interpretations of what is needed to succeed in the workplace.

Link to NC State Tables Link to Detailed General Education Report


Satisfaction with Services

NC State offers a wide variety of university services to students, including curriculum and instruction, academic advising, campus resources, and extracurricular opportunities. Spring 1997 graduating seniors were asked to assess these services in terms of satisfaction with the quality of services and staff responsiveness.

Survey seniors reported being generally satisfied with the quality of services at NC State. There were very few differences in satisfaction by gender or ethnicity.

Chart 6: Academic Areas

For those non-academic services rated by most respondents, Registration and Records received the highest satisfaction rating. Females were less satisfied with campus safety than were males, and a handful of students recommended increasing the lighting on campus after dark.

Respondents also rated most campus staff as at least moderately responsive to their needs. For those staff rated by more than 50% of the respondents, library staff and campus-sponsored recreational staff received the highest satisfaction ratings.

Link to NC State Tables Link to Detailed Satisfaction Report


Campus Climate

NC State's 1997 Graduating Senior Survey asked respondents to describe the campus climate in terms of their ratings of the discriminatory or supportive nature of NC State's campus. A majority of respondents said they had never experienced discrimination while on NC State's campus on the basis of race, gender, age, religion, sexual orientation, physical disabilities, or other disabilities. However, more females than males indicated that they had experienced gender-based discrimination, and more minorities than whites had experienced race-based discrimination.

The campus climate was largely seen as supportive for all sub-groups rated, with the most support for men and the least support for gays and lesbians. In general, African-Americans provided the lowest ratings of campus climate.


Chart 7: Campus Climate Means by Student Group

(1=strongly discriminatory ... 5=strongly supportive)


Discrimination and campus climate issues also appeared in responses to the open-ended questions. One student recommended that the university "strive towards making people comfortable about not being a white southern male." Others suggested that NC State "get serious about promoting diversity" and "work to improve the campus climate." Although comments for improving campus climate included various kinds of discrimination, twenty-five comments recommended improving racial relations, and ten comments suggested improving the campus climate for women. However, ten comments indicated a desire to de-emphasize campus diversity issues and instead promote the well-being of all students.

Link to NC State Tables Link to Detailed Climate Report




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