SnapshotAnalysisofUniversityStudiesSurveyResults:
Quantitative&QualitativeSummaries
Afterafewquestionsmeanttoestablishparticipants’rolesatUNCW,thesurvey
posedthefollowingqueries,someofwhichprovidedopportunityforadditional
commentary;weincluderespondentrate:
5. PleasecharacterizeyourgeneralsatisfactionwithUS’abilitytoprovide
studentswithabroadunderstandingofmultipledisciplinesandthe
opportunitytodevelopskillsincommunication,criticalthinking,reasoning,
andinformationliteracy.(205)
6 PleaserateyourperspectiveoftheeasewithwhichstudentscanfulfillUS
requirements.(220+184addedcomments)
7 TowhatextentdoyouthinkUShelpsstudentsachieveUNCW’s8Learning
Goals(http://uncw.edu/assessment/goals.html)?(221)
8. Pleaserateyourperspectiveoftheeasewithwhichadvisorscanunderstand
andexplainthecurriculum.(217+165addedcomments)
9. Pleaseindicationyourperspectiveonthenumberofcourseoptionsstudents
haveinUS.(204+145addedcomments)
10. IndicatewhetheranyofthefollowingpossibleadjustmentstoUSwouldbe
likelytoimprovethecurriculum.(214+107addedcomments)
a. reviewoverallnumberofcomponents
b. addanoralcommunicationcompetencyrequirement
c. furtherlimitnumberofcomponentsinwhichasinglecoursecanappear
d. furtherlimitnumberofUShoursthatcanbefulfilledinastudent’smajor
e. limitpresenceofcourseswithpre‐requisitesinatleastsomecomponents
11. USconsistsof17components.Whichcomponents(ifany)wouldbenefit
fromarevisionorclarificationofStudentLearningOutcomes(SLOs)or
rationale?(215+106addedcomments)
12. Pleaseshareanyadditionalcommentsorsuggestions.(80addedcomments)
QuantitativeSummary
TheUniversityStudiesAdvisoryCommittee(USAC)usedSurveyMonkeytodeploy
itsfacultyandstaffsurvey.Thatplatformprovidedthefollowingquantitative
summariesoftherelevantquestionsarticulatedabove:
Q6:perspectiveoneaseoffulfillment
1
Q7:viewofstudentachievementofUNCW’sLearningGoals
Q8:perspectiveoneaseofadvising
2
Q9:perspectiveon#ofcourseoptionsinUS
Q10:possibleadjustmentstoimprovecurriculum
3
Q11:componentclarificationorrevision
4
QualitativeSummary
TheUSACengagedDr.VicMalo,AssistantProfessorofEnglish,toconducta
qualitativeanalysisofthesurveyresults.Dr.Maloprefacedhisfindingswiththe
followingstatement:
Althougheachopen‐endedshortansweriteminquiredintodifferentaspects
ofUniversityStudies(US),thereweresomemajorthemesthatappeared
acrossthesevenitems.Themajorityoftheresponsesinthe[shortanswer
sections]wereverynegativeandcriticalofUS.[T]herewere[also]many
positivecomments[.][M]ostofthemwereshortinnature,suchas“goodjob,”
and,becausetheyusuallyonlyreflectedrespondentschoicesintheLikert
styleoptionswithoutgivinganyneworuniqueinformation,theywerenot
codedintothemes.Thus,[withrespectto]negativeorpositiveattitudes
towardUS,intermsofquantity,qualitativeresponsesgenerallymirroredthe
dataprovidedbytheLikertstylequestions.SeeTable1foracomplete
breakdownofthemesrankedforeachitem[includedbelow].
Themajorthemesinthesurvey’scommentsectionsare(unrankedorder):
 USisaburden;
 TheUSACshouldsimplifyorscrapcurriculum;
 BasicStudieswasbetter;
 Departments/Programsaregamingthesystem;
 Clustersaren’tworking;
 Transferstudentsexperiencedifficulties;
 USdelaysgraduation;
Thefollowingminorthemesalsoemerged(unrankedorder):
 FirstYearSeminarisnotsufficientlyacademicand,thus,ofquestionable
value;
 Prerequisitesinterferewithstudentfulfillmentofreqs;
 QualityofWritingIntensivecoursesvariestoaworryingdegree;
 Secondlanguagerequirementconcernsovercourseavailabilityand
confusionofsatisfactoryproficiency;
 Irregularityofcourseofferingsimpedesfulfillmentofreqs;
 Auditsaredifficulttodecipher,toolong;
 Advisingistootime‐consuming
5
Table1
RankingofThemesbyQuestion
5
Negative
5
All
Other
6
Question #
8
9
10
11
12
6
1
1
2
Theme
Burden
1
1
Simplify/Scrap
1
3
11
Gen Ed Better
4
Game System
2
Clusters
1
9
3
12
8
1
3
3
7
1
Transfers
3
2
6
5
Delays Graduation
5
4
7
6
FYS
2
9
6
7
6
2
4
5
4
Prerequisites
Writing Intensive
4
3
3
2
7
2
8
5
Foreign Language
5
4
Course Offerings
6
Audits
10
2
Advising
7
5
4
Dr.Malo’snoteonitem5:
Thisstandaloneopen‐endedquestionyielded205responses.Thefirstround
ofaprioricodingidentifiedeachresponseaspositive,mixed,neutral,ornegative.
Initialanalysisyielded201responsesthatcouldbecategorizedinthe
aforementionedcategorieswith48.3%negative,30.8%positive,14.4%mixed,and
6.5%neutral.Afterthesecondroundofcoding,itwasdeterminedthepredominant
themeofthosecategorizedas“mixed”wasthatUSwasgoodintheory,butnotin
application,andthereforeamoreaccuraterepresentationofresponseswouldbe:
62.7%negative,30.8%positive,and6.5%neutral.
Inordertogetamorenuancedviewofrespondents’beliefs,separatecoding
wasconductedofnegativeresponsesandthenofresponsesthatwereinitially
identifiedasmixed,positive,andneutral.UnitsthatmerelyrepeatedLikertchoices,
suchas“UniversityStudiesisanabsolutedisaster”or“goodjob,”werenotcoded.
6