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Senior Survey, 1998

Encouraging trends and areas that need improvement

Encouraging trends
1998 seniors report some of the highest overall satisfaction scores ever. A record percentage of seniors (28%) said they would definitely recommend UCB to a friend.

Seniors are generally very satisfied with their major program, and some aspects of the major program show a positive time trend. These include ratings for required course availability, faculty concern, availability of practica, internships, and research experiences, and career advising (however, note that while increasing, ratings for availability of practica/research experiences and career advising remain low relative to other aspects of the major program). The data imply that seniors are more satisfied than in previous years with their opportunities in their major program for job-related experiences.

Seniors are using computers both inside and outside the classroom in record numbers. Email use and satisfaction with email has increased substantially since 1993. In addition, 1998 seniors rate the importance of general computing skills and their level of achievement higher than seniors in prior years.

1998 seniors are more likely than previous senior classes to give oral presentations and to work on small-group projects. These findings reflect the university’s move away from a focus on lecture-based classes to experiences that more closely mirror the university’s emphasis on the total learning environment.

Areas that need improvement
Seniors’ satisfaction with their cultural experience at UCB remains low. One in four seniors are dissatisfied with their cultural experience while attending UCB. The 1998 rating matches a consistently low rating for seniors surveyed in prior years.

After increasing for a number of years, satisfaction with academic advising in the student’s major program has been flat since 1995. Additionally, satisfaction ratings for both academic and career advising in the major program remain low. Nearly half (49%) of all seniors are dissatisfied with career advising and 38% are dissatisfied with academic advising. Nearly one-third (31%) of seniors are dissatisfied with the opportunity for hands-on, applied experiences in courses in their major program.

Seniors are using the PC/Macintosh labs in record numbers. Ninety percent have used the campus labs sometime during their academic career at CU-Boulder. However, while use has increased, satisfaction with the labs has decreased dramatically.

For the most part, seniors’ use of services has remained fairly consistent across the years; however, there are two noteworthy exceptions. After increasing dramatically from 1993 to 1995 (from 42% to 72%), self-reported use of CU listings on the web has seen a substantial decrease to 68% in 1996 and 62% in 1998. In addition, Wardenburg Health Center has also seen a decrease in use. In previous years, about three quarters of seniors used Wardenburg while at UCB; in 1998, the percentage dropped to 64%. Staff at the health center have noted this drop and are conducting their own survey to determine the factors that have contributed to decreased use.

Last revision 07/29/03