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Senior Survey, 1998

Final 2 opens, codes and themes

These questions were brand new this year, so a new coding system was developed.  
Emergent themes were over-coded, so that we would not miss anything this first 
time, then they were grouped under super-categories as shown below.  
We also coded for positive and negative values attached to each theme.  This 
was not so important for the first question (most significant learning 
experience), but did prove quite valuable for the second (what you tell others).

*  What was the most significant learning experience during your time at CU-Boulder?

*  What did you find yourself telling your parents, other students, or potential employers
   about your experiences at CU-Boulder?

ADVISING
A0: Academic advising experiences
A1: I should have sought out more/better academic advising

CAREER: 
C0: Career advising/ career enhancing experiences/ interviewing skills
C1: I should have sought out career advising

DIVERSITY
D0: General mention of "diversity" (so don't know what it refers to)
D1: learning about cultures in a class (ethnic studies/women's studies)
D2: liberalism, diverse experiences, diversity of ideas/acceptance
D3: diversity of people (gender/ethnic), respect for others cultures/different 
    people, learning  appreciation/respect for other cultures/people different 
    from oneself;  being respected and supported as a minority
D4: anti-diversity; too much attention to this issue

ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE
E0: broad, liberal, new challenges, interesting, good/excellent education
E1: Critical thinking
E2: Research/labs/independent study, including art studios, senior 
    project/recital
E3: Group projects/team work/study groups
E4: Academic programs (eg. Honors thesis, Farrand residential program, 
    President's Leadership Class (PLC), ROTC, etc.) --  NOTE: for particular 
    classes -- still use a Y (see under last block of "standard codes")
E5: Writing skills
E6: TA-ships, being a student teacher, class advisor/grader
E7: Integrating, synthesizing theory & practice, relevance to current issues 
    (eg political), useful for prep for Grad school
E8: Academic School or Major Program REPUTATION
E9: Takes hard work/applying oneself to get a good education; learning how to 
    study; improving ones grades (for most part, this is a neutral category: 
    no + or -)

FACULTY
F0- Faculty (including teaching quality, and  "more emphasis on research than 
    teaching" comment)
F1- TAs
F2- GPTIS/student teachers

REAL LIFE SKILLS (Hands-on)
H0: general real world learning experience (including in COURSES)
H1: leadership/ autonomy in jobs and tasks
H2: public speaking/communication skills
H3: time management
H4: balance (social/academic/work) - dealing with stress/pressure
H5: Study abroad, Semester at Sea
H6: love of learning; learning how to learn; learning a specific topic (later)
H7: technical skills for major area (including computer skills)
H8: management (including people management)

INTERNSHIPS/WORK EXPERIENCE
I0:General internship, general work/job experience
I1: RAs (resident advisors)
I2: Service learning, volunteer experiences, student teaching
I3: Work study
I4: Off-campus internship

GENRAL LIKE/DISLIKE
J0: Neutral (it's okay") or "no comment"  (no + or -)
J1: += "Loved CU", great experience
      -= "Hated CU", awful experience

PARKING
K: same theme as used in other years - but different code - (usu. negative)

LOCATION:
L0: Geographic, environmental location (beauty of mountains, weather)
L1: The Campus, building, architecture, the grounds
L2: Boulder town itself, including atmosphere, bars, restaurants, police town 
    politics, cost of housing
L3: (negative) elitist attitude of CU (faculty/staff)

MAJOR PROGRAM
M0: Major Program structure, policies, funding
M1: += Glad chose that particular major, really like major/major dept./process 
    of choosing major
       -=  Wish had chosen different major
M2: += Enjoyed freedom to explore majors of interest (e.g. started as Open 
    Option), changing major
        -=  Should have decided on one major and stuck with it¼

RESOURCES
N  : specific unit, like Rec Center, Wardenburg, dorms, CU Police dept - other 
     than in N3
N0: CU has lots of resources, things to do...
N1: Wish I'd taken advantage of CU's resources OR it takes effort to seek out 
    CU's resources
N2: participation in campus activities, clubs, student organizations, campus 
    ministry, guest lecturers, etc.
N3: library, computer labs, ITL labs
N4: intramural sports, music/theatrical/dance performances

PERSONAL GROWTH
P+: Personal growth, maturing, responsibility, independence, 'life skills' 
    (incl. religious experiences)
P-: Personal problems (drugs, depressed, etc.); wish had taken more initiative 
    in certain things

RECREATION (Outdoor)
R : outdoor recreational activities - includes hiking, skiing, etc.

SOCIAL EXPERIENCE
S0: + = Personally had a "fun" time 
       - = Personally had "too much fun" (drinking, partying)
S1: learning to get along with others; interacting with others;  Note: a - S1 
    means spent too much time on academics/too little on socializing
S2: + = CU students in general: serious students, focussed (relationship with 
    other students)
       - = CU students in general: not serious, party too much, elitist attitude
S3: relationships with fellow students involved in student clubs/orgs like 
    "campus ministries", Cultural Unity Student Center (CUSC), etc.
S4: support of internal staff
S5: Fraternities/Sororities experience

SIZE
Z0 += University size provides many activities/resources, although big-has 
      small-town feel/atmosphere
     -= University too big, impersonal, feel like a #, get lost in it
Z1: Class size -- provided good (or bad) teacher-student interaction
Z3: Department size --  (as in Z1 above)    

OTHER standard codes from Q15 (worst of major) and Q16 (best of major):  
O:  for OTHER themes not categorized with these codes
Y : when talking about courses in general or a specific course
U : core curriculum
X : athletics (big sports, the athletics dept., football, athletic fees)
T : tuition/fees, cost of college, BUT ALSO - loans, financial aid received

Last revision 07/30/03