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Senior Survey, 1998

Highlights by college over time

• 88% of 1998 A&P seniors would recommend UCB to a friend with "no" or "some" reservations. After increasing from 1994 to 1996, the proportion of seniors saying they would recommend UCB to a friend "with no reservations" decreased in 1998 to 16%.
• Slightly over half of 1998 A&P seniors believe course difficulty and course orientation are "about right" and close to half think program structure is about right. However, almost half of the 1998 seniors rate course emphasis as "too broad," the first time since 1995 that a majority of seniors did not rate course emphasis as "about right."
• Managing time/tasks, synthesizing knowledge, and analyzing real-world problems are rated highest in importance and achievement by 1998 A&P seniors. Writing achievement is also rated highly. Importance of ethical/moral issues reached an all-time low in 1998 and achievement in analyzing real-world problems is at an all-time high in 1998. In addition, achievement in working with people from different cultures, public speaking, leadership, and foreign language all registered their lowest levels in 1998.
• 1998 A&P seniors are most satisfied with their overall social experience, their overall UCB experience, and their overall recreational experience and least satisfied with career advising in their major. 1998 seniors’ ratings of opportunities to interact with faculty fell considerably in 1998, and in fact, reached an all-time low. Also, after showing an increasing trend, ratings of clarity of degree requirements dropped in 1998.
• 1998 A&P seniors report most often discussing with others something learned in class. Other frequent activities include using Chinook or other computer indices and reading a newspaper or magazine about a national/international issue. Several important academic activities reached all-time low ratings in 1998. These include giving an oral presentation, spending 5 or more hours writing a paper, and doing suggested or extra readings. Only integrating coursework with other knowledge reached its highest level in 1998. Use of the library to research a paper decreased for A&P seniors in 1998.
• Nearly two-thirds of the 1998 A&P seniors indicate that they would spend more time interacting with faculty if they could start over at UCB. Nearly half said they would devote more time/effort to extracurricular clubs/activities.
• Use of services has remained fairly constant over time among A&P seniors. One notable exception is the continued growth in e-mail use among seniors. Nearly all seniors in 1998 (94%) had used e-mail, up from 77% in 1996.
• 43% of 1998 A&P seniors say it is "highly likely" they will be employed full-time after graduation and 30% say they intend to be a full-time graduate student after graduation from UCB.
• 1998 A&P seniors are most likely to mention faculty (performance, interaction, etc.) as the one best thing about their major program. A sizeable number also cite the availability of hands-on, practical experiences and course size as best. While still fairly high, the percent indicating the need for more hands-on, practical experiences reached its lowest level in 1998.

• 84% of 1998 A&S seniors would recommend UCB to a friend with "no" or "some" reservations. The proportion of seniors saying they would recommend UCB to a friend "with no reservations" has changed little since 1995.
• The majority of 1998 A&S seniors believe course difficulty, course orientation, program emphasis, and program structure are "about right," though one-third rate course emphasis as "too broad."
• Managing time/tasks and interpersonal relations are rated highest in importance and in achievement by 1998 A&S seniors. Seniors also rate their achievement in writing quite high. Importance ratings have remained fairly consistent since 1993. Achievement ratings for general computing and understanding and applying scientific findings, concepts, and methods have increased since 1993 and reached their highest levels in 1998.
• 1998 A&S seniors are most satisfied with upper division instruction, course quality for general education, and their academic experience in their major and are least satisfied with career and academic advising in the major, as well as opportunities for hands-on experiences. Satisfaction with services has changed little over time, with the exception of clarity of degree requirements, faculty concern for students, and availability of desired course, each of which indicates a positive trend toward more satisfaction over time. Career advising continues to be rated lowest each year.
• 1998 A&S seniors report most often discussing with others something learned in class, reading a newspaper or magazine about a national/international issue, and expressing views/opinions in class. The reported frequency of several academic activities has increased, including integrating coursework with other knowledge, reading a scientific journal article, working on a small group project, and giving an oral presentation.
• Nearly two-thirds of A&S seniors say they would spend more time or devote more effort to interacting with faculty if they could repeat their academic career at UCB. 45% say they would participate in more campus-related research projects, internships, or other applied experiences.
• The proportion of A&S seniors using e-mail and PC/Mac labs has continued to increase, with both services reaching an all-time high among 1998 seniors. Seniors use of the Financial Aid office has also increased over time. However, use of CU World Wide Web listings is down since 1995, and use of Wardenburg Health Center is at an all-time low.
• About one-half of 1998 A&S seniors say it is "highly likely" they will be employed full-time after graduation; about one-third say they intend to be full-time graduate students.
• Nearly half the 1998 A&S seniors rated faculty (performance, interaction, etc.) as the best aspect of their major program; nearly a quarter rated course curriculum and requirements as the area most in need of change. In addition, dissatisfaction with academic advising appears to be on the rise since 1995.

• 90% of 1998 Business seniors would recommend UCB to a friend with "no" or "some" reservations. The proportion of seniors saying they would recommend UCB to a friend "with no reservations" dipped in 1994, but has remained relatively unchanged since 1995.
• The majority of 1998 Business seniors believe course difficulty, course orientation, program emphasis, and program structure are "about right," though nearly one-third believe the courses are too difficult.
• Managing time/tasks, general computing, and interpersonal relations are rated highest in importance and achievement by 1998 Business seniors. Many skills recorded their lowest importance levels in 1998, including public speaking, writing, synthesizing knowledge, and skills related to international affairs (i.e., working with people from different cultures, world affairs, foreign language, and non-western culture/ thought). Achievement in general computing received its highest ranking ever in 1998.
• 1998 Business seniors are most satisfied with their overall social experience, UCB experience, recreational experience, and instruction in upper-division courses and are least satisfied with academic and career advising in the major. 1998 seniors are more satisfied than seniors in prior years with the availability of research/practica opportunities and instruction in lower division courses. 1998 seniors are less satisfied than prior years’ seniors with their overall recreational experience, availability of clubs/organizations, and availability of required and desired courses.
• 1998 Business seniors report most often reading a newspaper or magazine about a national/international issue, discussing with others something learned in class, and working on small group projects. The reported frequency of several academic activities has increased since 1993, including working on small group projects, integrating coursework with other knowledge, applying course work to practical problems, giving an oral presentation, spending five or more hours writing a paper, and doing suggested or extra course readings. In addition, participation in career-planning activities increased in 1998. Use of the library to research a paper continued to decrease and reached its lowest level in 1998, perhaps as a direct result of the increase in information available on-line.
• 56% of the 1998 Business seniors said they would spend more time interacting with faculty if they could start over at UCB. Nearly half said they would devote more effort toward academics/studying.
• Virtually all 1998 Business seniors use e-mail, and the percent of users is unchanged from 1996. A record three out of every four 1998 seniors used career services. Use of PC/Mac labs decreased among 1998 seniors to its lowest level.
• 85% of 1998 Business seniors say it is "highly likely" they will be employed full-time after graduation, whereas only 11% say they intend to be full-time graduate students.
• While the most frequently cited "one best thing" among 1998 Business seniors is faculty (performance, interaction, etc.), the percent of students citing this as the best aspect decreased in 1998 compared to prior years. The percent of seniors mentioning aspects related to the general academic experience increased over the years. Many fewer 1998 seniors mentioned the availability of hands-on, practical experiences and curriculum/requirements as areas in need of improvement; however, an increasing percentage report that academic advising needs improvement.

• 84% of 1998 Engineering seniors would recommend UCB to a friend with "no" or "some" reservations. The proportion of seniors saying they would recommend UCB to a friend "with no reservations" has increased dramatically over time from 16% in 1993 to 31% in 1998.
• Over half of the 1998 Engineering seniors say that course emphasis, course orientation, and program structure are "about right." However, 60% find their engineering courses to be too difficult. In addition, a large subset of 1998 seniors (41%) say program structure is too rigid. Difficulty ratings are up substantially since 1993, while the percent who say course orientation is "too theoretical" reached an all-time low in 1998. It is interesting to note that ratings of course difficulty are not related to seniors’ recommendation of UCB to a friend; even seniors who think their courses are too difficult say they would recommend UCB.
• Managing time/tasks, general computing, analyzing real-world problems, and math/quantitative reasoning are rated as most important; math/quantitative reasoning, general computing, and scientific findings/methods are rated highest in achievement by 1998 Engineering seniors. Achievement ratings have increased over time for math/quantitative reasoning, general computing, and applying theories practically; achievement in American history, world history, and non-western culture/thought has declined over time.
• 1998 Engineering seniors are most satisfied with their academic experience in their major, upper division instruction, and their overall UCB experience and least satisfied with lower division instruction, texts and instructional material, and career advising in the major. Aspects of the undergraduate experience reaching an all-time high rating include the academic experience (overall and in the major), overall UCB experience, course quality (for general education and employment/graduate school), opportunities for faculty interaction, and availability of research opportunities/practica. Academic and career advising show some improvement over time, though ratings for these services remain quite low.
• 1998 Engineering seniors report most often discussing with others something learned in class, reading a newspaper or magazine about a national/international issue, and working on small group projects. The reported frequency of working on small group projects and giving an oral presentation has increased since 1993. In addition, after declining for several years, participation in career activities increased in 1998 (participation in career-planning and faculty/TA interaction to discuss career issues). Engineering seniors’ use of the library to research a paper reached its lowest level in 1998.
• Half of the 1998 Engineering seniors indicate that they would spend more time interacting with faculty if they could repeat their academic career at UCB. 40% would devote more time to academics/studying.
• E-mail use among Engineering seniors continues to be high, with 93% of the 1998 seniors indicating they used e-mail. Nearly all report using PC/Mac labs. However, after increasing for a number of years, seniors’ use of the CU World Wide Web listings decreased fairly substantially in 1998.
• Nearly three out of every four 1998 Engineering seniors say it is "highly likely" they will be employed full-time after graduation; less than 20% say they intend to be a full-time graduate student.
• 1998 Engineering seniors most often cite faculty (performance, interaction, etc.) as the one best thing about their major program. The percentage of seniors reporting academic or career advising as best increased substantially in 1998. There was a corresponding drop in the percentage reporting that career advising needed improvement, though there was no similar drop in the number of comments about academic advising.

• 92% of 1998 Journalism seniors would recommend UCB to a friend with "no" or "some" reservations. The proportion of seniors saying they would recommend UCB to a friend "with no reservations" increased dramatically since 1993 from 15% to 37%.
• The majority of 1998 Journalism seniors believe course difficulty, course orientation, and program structure are "about right." However, in rating course emphasis, seniors are about equally likely to say course emphasis is "too broad," "about right," and "too specialized." This is a dramatic change from 1996 when 78% of seniors said course emphasis was "about right."
• Writing, managing time/tasks, and interpersonal relations are rated highest in importance and in achievement by 1998 Journalism seniors. Importance ratings for some skills/knowledge areas declined in 1998, including ethical/moral issues, applying theories practically, math/quantitative reasoning, and understanding scientific concepts. Importance ratings also decreased for American history/culture, non-western culture/thought, foreign language, and fine arts. Achievement ratings for ethical/moral issues, American history/culture, and understanding of scientific concepts also declined to their lowest levels since 1993.
• 1998 Journalism seniors are most satisfied with their overall recreational experience, availability of research opportunties and practica, and opportunities for hands-on, applied experiences and least satisfied with career and academic advising in the major. In general, 1998 seniors are somewhat less satisfied than 1996 seniors. Some aspects received their lowest rating in 1998 including the overall UCB experience, upper-division instruction, overall academic and social experiences, and opportunities for faculty interaction.
• 1998 Journalism seniors report most often reading a newspaper or magazine about a national/international issue, expressing their views and opinions in class, and discussing with others something learned in class. Relative to earlier years, the reported frequency of using Chinook or other computer indices decreased in 1998. Journalism seniors’ use of the library to research a paper declined fairly substantially in 1998 (perhaps due to an increase in on-line research activities). Several important academic activities decreased in 1998, including integrating coursework with other knowledge, applying course material to practical problems, reading a scientific journal article, and doing suggested or extra readings.
• Perhaps 1998 Journalism seniors don’t get out enough! Over half said they would spend more time on social activities if they could start over at UCB.
• The proportion of Journalism seniors using e-mail continued to increase in 1998; however, after increasing from 1993 to 1995, the proportion using the CU World Wide Web dropped in 1996 and again in 1998. Use of career services increased to its highest level in 1998, with 52% reporting they used this service.
• Virtually all (92%) of the 1998 Journalism seniors say it is "highly likely" they will be employed full-time after graduation, and few (8%) say they intend to be a full-time graduate student.
• 1998 Journalism majors are most likely to cite the availability of hands-on, practical experiences as the best aspect of their major program. A record 40% mentioned it as best, and a record low 17% mentioned it as the area most in need of improvement. Seniors continue to be dissatisfied with academic advising; nearly one-quarter mentioned it as the one thing about their major program they’d like to see changed.

• 84% of 1998 Music seniors would recommend UCB to a friend with "no" or "some" reservations.
• Close to, or more than, two-thirds of 1998 Music seniors believe course difficulty, emphasis, orientation and program emphasis and structure are "about right."
• Fine arts, interpersonal relations, and managing time/tasks are rated highly in importance and achievement by 1998 Music seniors. The importance of working with people from different cultures increased from 1995 to 1998; however, self-rated achievement in this area decreased over the same time period.
• 1998 Music seniors are most satisfied with upper-division course instruction, faculty concern for students, and their overall UCB experience and are least satisfied with their overall cultural experience and career advising in their major. 1998 seniors are generally more satisfied than seniors from the two prior time periods.
• 1998 seniors report most often expressing views and opinions in class, reading a newspaper or a magazine about national/international issues, and discussing with others something learned in class. After increasing from 1995 to 1996, 1998 seniors reported less frequent use of the library to research papers.
• Slightly over one-third of the 1998 Music seniors would devote more time toward social activities if they could repeat their academic career at UCB; one-third say they would do nothing differently.
• Nearly all of the 1998 Music seniors (89%) report using e-mail, and as expected, use has increased relative to prior years. As with the other colleges, seniors use of CU World Wide Web listings declined in 1998.
• A little over one-third of the 1998 Music seniors say it is "highly likely" they will be employed full-time after graduation; over half say they intend to be a full-time graduate student.
• Over half (56%) of the comments by 1998 Music seniors regarding the one best thing about the major program mentioned faculty (performance, interaction). This percentage was comparable to prior years. There has been a fairly substantial increase in the negative comments regarding course curriculum/requirements (though note that only 16 music seniors provided comments in 1998).
  
  

Last revision 07/30/03