Table of Contents

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.

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.

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

• Of these students, 38% reported working more than 20 hours a week, with 8% having worked 35 or more hours per week.
• Nearly half of respondents indicated working primarily to meet basic survival needs (food and shelter).
• Sixty percent of working students indicated that that their jobs while attending NC State were directly or somewhat related to their academic major.

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.

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

• Most had jobs that were full-time and permanent in nature, and more males than females had obtained jobs.
• More males and those with technical degrees anticipated annual salaries over $30,000.
  

• More than 80% of respondents rated NC State as contributing "moderately" or "very much" to their technical skills.
  

• Over 90% of respondents thought that NC State contributed "moderately" or "very much" to their potential for success. In contrast, less than 80% indicated that NC State contributed "moderately" or "very much" to their ability to handle stress, and all other personal development items were rated between these two.
  

• Compared to the other areas of knowledge, skills, and personal development, fewer respondents marked the "very much" option to describe NC State's contribution to their attitudes and values. For most items in this section, respondents provided a lower rating of NC State's contribution than items in the other three areas.
  

• Females, when compared to males, provided higher ratings of NC State's contribution to many skills and knowledge.
• Compared to respondents in the hard sciences, those in the liberal arts areas generally had higher ratings of NC State's contribution to their knowledge, skills, and personal development.

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.

• Students were slightly less satisfied with their academic advising experiences.
  • Although 2/3 of respondents were moderately or very satisfied with their academic advising overall, advisors' abilities in required academic planning was rated best, followed by knowledge of university policies/procedures and advice/discussion of academic matters. Career advising abilities were rated lowest.
  • Although the majority of students expressed satisfaction with academic advising, 22% of the open-ended comments for improving undergraduate education concerned improving advising. Recommendations included ensuring that academic advisors are trained and can answer students' questions, and stressing that they devote sufficient time to advising.
• Several other academic concerns were raised in the open-ended comments. Students recommended improving professors' instructional skills (including spoken English), and encouraged university administration to seriously consider and act on teacher evaluations and make the evaluations available to all students. Finally, although the large majority of responses did not question NC State's dual emphasis on teaching and research, some comments suggested that research was valued more highly that effective classroom instruction.

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.

• 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.
• Several students commented that NC State should do a better job of increasing students' awareness of opportunities and services.

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.

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.