Religion Student Survey Results – Spring 2014
Student Concerns Summery
Listed in order of importance with suggestions for improvement below each.
1. More Teaching Opportunities
a. Offer more TA positions.
b. Announce adjunct job opportunities for colleges in a 60-mile radius of CGU.
2. Clear Guidelines
a. Increase the amount of information available to students about degree completion,
while making it easy to access and understand.
a. Develop documents outlining the thesis, qualifying exam, and dissertation process
in detail.
b. Develop a document outlining suggested dates for requirements to be completed,
including when drafts should be turned in, language exams completion dates, and
overall tips like tailoring qualifying exams to help with dissertation research.
c. Develop a document with preparation strategies for thesis writing, qualifying
examinations, dissertation proposals, and dissertation writing.
3. Encourage Professional Development
a. Develop a document outlining important steps for professional development with
suggestions for dates to be completed. Document should include things such as
the number of papers to publish, number of conferences at which to present,
important skills to learn, and helpful resources before graduation. (Example:
Developing a teaching philosophy statement, the Preparing Future Faculty (PFF)
program has workshops and consultations that may be of service to students) Give
out at orientation.
b. Have fewer small assignments and large papers due earlier in the semester so the
last few weeks may be spent on peer review, editing, and improvements for
publication.
c. Host frequent professional development workshops led by religion professors.
d. Provide information about professional development workshops hosted by PFF,
Career services, Writing Center, the Library, etc.
e. Have alumni return to guest lecture or speak during panels so students can
network and learn from recent graduates.
4. Better Advising
b. Provide comments on student papers to help prepare them for publication.
c. Encourage and provide professional development support.
d. Encourage students to write all final class papers with the goal of sending them
out for publication.
e. Improve the overall advising experience by meeting more frequently with
students, engaging in open sharing of information, and encouraging professional
development.
5. Course Times
a. Do not overlap course times and have more evening classes.
b. Increase student input for course offerings.
Religion Student Survey Results Summery – Spring 2014 2
Comparison with Surveys From Fall 2013 & 2010
1. Student satisfaction with course times, days, and subject improved approximately 10%.
2. Major recurring issues in each survey:
a. Increase number of TA positions
b. Better guidelines for thesis, exams, proposals, and dissertation.
c. Encouraging and supporting publication.
d. More professional development.
Survey Results
Notes on methodology: All student comments are included, but were edited for spelling
corrections and uniform formatting. All percentages were rounded down to the nearest whole
number. Questions are in the order asked on the survey. Questions specific to Religion Student
Council matters were omitted.
Total Respondents:
27
Please select the current degree you are seeking.
20 PhD
6 - MA
1 - Other
Please select your residency.
19 - Local (within 10 miles of CGU)
8 - Commuter (further than 10 miles from CGU)
How would you describe the advising you received during coursework?
58% Satisfied or Very Satisfied
How could your advising experience have been improved?
•
•
More Information
o “Checklist of things I need to do outside of the classroom, present at conference
by end of first year, etc.”
Meeting
o “More frequent meetings.”
o “By meeting more often with my advisor.”
Religion Student Survey Results Summery – Spring 2014 3
•
•
•
Dr. Mason
o “Patrick Mason has done an amazing job advising me. He is very helpful!”
o “I’m completely satisfied with the help I receive from Patrick Mason.”
Courses
o “More student input with crafting courses.”
o “Courses should be directed at qualifying exams and/or dissertation preparation.”
o “A greater variety of courses offered each semester; courses on Saturdays, most
especially evening courses: starting at 6pm or later. More Summer Courses! It is
extremely difficult to get the courses I need.”
Other
o “My advisor is overloaded, so I just felt like I was bothering him (that was me,
not him).
o “New to the university; haven’t really received much yet.”
How would you describe the advising you received in preparing for your qualifying exams?
20% Satisfied or Very Satisfied
(37% Does Not Apply)
How would you describe the advising you received in preparing and writing your thesis or
dissertation?
41% Satisfied or Very Satisfied
(33% Does Not Apply)
How could your advising experience have been improved?
•
•
•
More Information
o “I am not yet at this point, but do think a seminar or course re: thesis/dissertation
process / writing would be very helpful. I have no real idea of what writing a
thesis will entail and it seems like that information is not easy to find, understand,
or digest.”
o “Mostly, I could have taken better initiative. However, instructions on thesis
requirements, forms, and the like could have been much clearer.”
Meeting
o “Increased frequency of meeting”
o “Again - more hands-on interaction would be nice. My program has done nothing
to prepare me to write my dissertation.”
Other
o “I’m just not far enough along to know exactly what to expect yet.”
How much have the faculty encouraged your professional development?
58% A lot or some
Religion Student Survey Results Summery – Spring 2014 4
What suggestions do you have for improvement in this area?
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•
•
•
Encourage Publication
o “Stronger push to publish, with help in that area.”
o “Teaching opportunities?? How and where to publish??”
o “One of the best pieces of advice I’ve been given is to write seminar papers with
an eye towards turning them into conference papers or publications, but most
professors don’t espouse that idea or necessarily encourage it as much as I think
they could.”
o “I really appreciate how my advisor sends me “call for paper” announcements.
This is a significant benefit to me.”
More Information
o “I think there needs to be a standard, “how to be an academic talk” and handout,
practice for presenting at conferences in class, turning in mock syllabi, etc.”
o “I think that there needs to be a systematic method of telling students what they
need to do to succeed as scholars. First week of classes tell them: 1.) You need to
be presenting at conferences and this is how you do it; 2.) if you need money for
conferences, try the GSC awards; 3.) you will need 3 Qualifying examiners,
develop those relationships now (i.e. not just two main professors).”
More Encouragement
o “My faculty within A&H have provided sporadic encouragement for professional
development. What I have received from my faculty at the 5Cs has been much
more consistent and fruitful.”
o “Again, more involvement. More interaction. I have had nothing.”
Teaching Opportunities
o “Teaching opportunities?? How and where to publish??”
o “Teaching opportunities.”
Have you gained any teaching experience and how have the faculty been helpful in that
process, if at all?
•
•
•
Helpful
o “I am impressed with how preparation for teaching even figures into
individual classes here.”
o “I have taught as part of most of my CGU classes. Teaching a section of
lecture has been very beneficial.”
Not Helpful
o “Yes, but this has all been due to my own efforts. CGU has not given me an
opportunity to teach anywhere.”
o “Yes. However it was not through A&H.”
o “Teaching experience has been impossible to get at CGU.”
o “I have been teaching full time for 20 years. I think I have been more helpful
in advising my classmates.”
Experience
o “ZERO”
o “Yes”
Religion Student Survey Results Summery – Spring 2014 5
o “I taught one class”
o “I am fortunate to have a teaching assistant position so yes”
How satisfied are you with accessibility for appointments with faculty?
79% Satisfied or Very Satisfied
How satisfied are you with faculty response times to emails/phone calls?
70% Satisfied or Very Satisfied
Have you visited the Career Services Office?
20% - Yes
79% - No
How satisfied are you with the courses offered?
60% Satisfied or Very Satisfied
How satisfied are you the course times offered?
66% Satisfied or Very Satisfied
How satisfied are you with the days courses are offered?
74% Satisfied or Very Satisfied
How could your satisfaction with course offerings, times, or days be improved?
•
•
Overlap
o “Spread the courses throughout the week with more of a mix between morning,
afternoon, and evening courses. Also talk amongst the other departments so
courses from different departments that have similarities are not offered at the
same time.”
o “I was not working full time during coursework and never ran into issues with
scheduling other than classes I was interested in overlapping or meeting at exactly
the same time.”
o “They need to be more spread out - often the offerings for one department are
concentrated on one day, making it impossible to take more than one course.”
o “Currently many are on the same day. That can be tough.”
Evenings
o “More evening time (for those of us with day jobs!)”
o “As I said above, we need courses that meet on Saturdays, as well as evening
courses beginning at or after 6pm. I have had to go to CST to get an evening
course.”
Religion Student Survey Results Summery – Spring 2014 6
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Variety
o “What is listed online for previously taught courses is far more diverse than the
offerings since I’ve been here.”
o “More variety in the types of religion being taught about, more time periods
(currently, it’s mostly about 18th/19th century).”
Other
o “The courses are offered at mostly good times, for me.”
o “Claremont School of Theology/Claremont Lincoln University has all the
professors that matter in religion. CGU needs to hire better quality faculty.”
What other suggestions do you have for faculty, staff, administrators, or the school?
•
•
•
•
•
Funding
o “Increase Student Funding - How is CGU supposed to create a name within
academia and attract top candidates for students if there is NO FUNDING - it is
shameful the amount of debt that graduate students take on while at CGU”
o “As always, funding....”
o “Debt, I think, is the biggest problem. I know that you are all working on that. But
it would help tremendously to have more scholarships available. Also, for PhD
candidates, perhaps allow them to teach one course, their final year, at one of the
undergraduate colleges.”
Collaboration
o “More collaboration with the students since this is a graduate university and we
are paying for the personal and specific education.”
o “Include students in curriculum meetings.”
Teaching Opportunities
o “Provide and promote teaching opportunities”
o “Debt, I think, is the biggest problem. I know that you are all working on that. But
it would help tremendously to have more scholarships available. Also, for PhD
candidates, perhaps allow them to teach one course, their final year, at one of the
undergraduate colleges.”
Professional Development
o “Career person just for A&H.”
o “More support for scholarly and professional development, particularly in
assisting with getting published would be very welcomed. The workshops offered
with faculty from around the campuses who spoke on topics such as job
interviews, creating syllabi, writing paper proposals, etc., that the SoR used to
offer were very beneficial.”
Other
o “A real summer semester. Here again, I had to go to CST to get a course last
summer. Encourage faculty to work with qualified candidates on an independent
study basis and compensate them for it. If the student is paying tuition, the faculty
should receive compensation.”
o “While a Transdisciplinary program is a wonderful idea, the objectives and
courses offered need to be reassessed. As it currently stands, the TDNY program
is awful.”
Religion Student Survey Results Summery – Spring 2014 7
What advocacy issues would you like to see the new Student Council of Arts & Humanities
pursue? For example: alumni panels, TA positions, career advising, etc.
•
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•
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Teaching Opportunities
o “TA positions, career advising, more faculty.”
o “Workshops about academic procedures specific to degree programs, mixers
between the departments, Student advocacy on creating TA positions, Research
Positions.”
o “TA / RA position.”
o “TA positions that include actual teaching experience, support towards getting
published, and career advising.”
o “TA/RA positions, advising.”
o “Teaching positions-- getting student to be able to teach their own course in one
of the undergraduate colleges.”
o “TA positions for students who are academically capable and are struggling.”
Advising
o “TA/RA positions, advising.”
o “TA positions that include actual teaching experience, support towards getting
published, and career advising.”
o “TA positions, career advising, more faculty.”
Professional Development
o “TA positions, career advising, more faculty.”
o “Career advising and help with networking with other departments is good.”
Financial Aid
o “Financial Aid. We need assistance obtaining grants and scholarships. Creating
discussion groups in various areas of interest that all members of the community
could attend.”