Student Characteristics And
Measurements of Student Satisfaction
Prepared for: The Campus Community Team
The Office of Institutional Research and Policy Studies
February 11, 2003
Kevin B. Murphy, Research Analyst
1
This Presentation Will Report Data Collected From
Three Main Sources
• The National Survey of Student Engagement Administered in
Spring 2002 (NSSE 2002)
– 270 UMB Respondents
– Comparison Groups
•
•
•
•
Urban Consortium
Aggregate of Other UMass Campuses
Other Doctoral Intensive Universities
National
• Retention Study of Fall 2000 First Time Full Time Freshmen
(Retention 2001)
– 209 Respondents
• Pilot Graduating Senior Satisfaction Survey August 2002
(PGSSS 2002)
– 256 Respondents
2
UMass Boston Students Differed from the NSSE Comparison
Groups On a Number of Background Characteristics
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Age
Race/Ethnicity
Entrance Status
Foreign Citizenship
Family Income
Hours Worked Off Campus Weekly for Pay
Hours Spent Weekly Caring for Dependents
Part Time Attendance
3
UMass Boston Students Tend to Be Older Than Their
Colleagues at Other Institutions
Percentage of Respondents Age 23 or Younger
At the Time of the Survey
99%
96%
95%
90%
79%
72%
67%
62%
First Year
Students
45%
32%
Seniors
UMB
Source: NSSE 2002
UMass
Urban
Doc. Int.
National
4
UMass Boston Students Are Racially
And Ethnically Diverse
Race/Ethnicity of First Year Respondents
25%
20%
Asian/PI
15%
Black
10%
5%
Hispanic
(Any Race)
0%
UMB
Source: NSSE 2002
UMass
Urban
Doc. Int.
National
5
UMass Boston Students Are More Likely To
Have Come Here From Other Colleges
Percentage of Respondents Reporting That
They Began College at a Different Institution
76%
First Year
Students
56%
45%
39%
39%
Seniors
19%
12%
6%
4%
UMB
Source: NSSE 2002
UMass
Urban
Doc. Int.
7%
National
6
UMass Boston Students Are Also More Likely To
Have Come Here from Other Countries
Percentage of Respondents Who Report Being
International Students or Foreign Nationals
21%
18%
First Year
Students
7%
UMB
Source: NSSE 2002
6%
UMass
5% 5%
Urban
6%
5%
5% 5%
Doc_Int
National
Seniors
7
At Least One of the 595 First Time Full Time Freshmen From
Fall 2000 Claimed Citizenship in each of these Entities
Albania
Ethiopia
Jordan
Seychelles
Azerbaijan
France
Korea, South
Singapore
Bahrain
Ghana
Lebanon
Somalia
Bolivia
Greece
Malaysia
Spain
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Guatemala
Mexico
Sri Lanka
Brazil
Guinea-Bissau
Morocco
Taiwan
Bulgaria
Guyana
Netherlands
Tanzania
Canada
Haiti
New Zealand
Thailand
Cape Verde
Hong Kong
Nigeria
Trinidad and Tobago
China
Hungary
Pakistan
Ukraine
Colombia
India
Philippines
United Kingdom
Congo (Kinshasa)
Iran
Portugal
United States
Dominica
Ireland
Romania
Venezuela
Dominican Republic
Egypt
Israel
Jamaica
Russia
Saudi Arabia
Vietnam
Yugoslavia
El Salvador
Japan
Source: Retention 2001
8
A Subset of those 595 First Time Freshmen Who
Reported Speaking a Language other than English
At Home, Reported Speaking these Languages
Akan
Farsi
Malayalam
Albanian
French
Portuguese
Arabic
French/Haitian Creole
Portuguese and Spanish
Arabic and French
Greek
Punjabi
Armenian
Gujaragi
Russian
Bosnian
Hebrew
Somalian
Cantonese
Hindi
Spanish
Cape Verdean Creole
Ibo
Spanish and Chinese
Chinese
Ido
Spanish and Italian
Creole
Italian
Thai
Creole French
Korean
Urdu and Tushto
Creole and Spanish
Korean and Spanish
Dutch
Vietnamese
Source: Retention 2001
9
UMass Boston Students Reported Lower Levels Of
Family Income than Did Their Colleagues at Other
Urban Institutions.
First Year Students' Best Estimates of Their Total Annual Income
(Before Taxes) or the Combined Income of Their Parents if They Are
Listed as a Dependent on Their Parents' Taxes
29%
23%
18%
22%21%
21%
20%
UMB
16%
12%
12%
6%
Urban
1%
Less than
$10,000
Source: NSSE 2002
$10,000 to
$24,999
$25,000 to
$49,999
$50,000 to
$74,999
$75,000 to $100,000 or
over
$99,999
10
UMass Boston Students Tend To Work More Hours
Off Campus Each Week
Percent of Respondents Who Reported Working More Than
20 Hours Per Week Off Campus for Pay
52%
51%
45%
38%
31%
30%
24%
First Year
Students
Seniors
17%
13%
12%
UMB
Source: NSSE 2002
UMass
Urban
Doc. Int.
National
11
UMass Boston First Year Students Reported Higher
Levels of Spending Time Caring for Dependents Than Did
Any Of the Comparison Groups or UMass Boston Seniors
Percentage of Respondents Who Reported Spending
Some Time Each Week Caring for Dependents
54%
50%
40%
39%
39%
34%
27%
26%
22%
19%
UMB
Source: NSSE 2002
UMass
First Year
Students
Urban
Doc. Int.
Seniors
National
12
Many Students Also Spend Significant Amounts Of
Time Traveling to and from the Campus
Travel Time One Way
Frequency
Percent
Less than 10 mins.
11
5%
10 to 20 mins.
27
13%
21 to 30 mins.
34
16%
31 to 40 mins.
8
4%
41 to 60 mins.
105
50%
60 to 90 mins.
20
10%
More than 90 mins.
4
2%
129
62%
Total Traveling > 40 Minutes One Way
Source: Retention 2001
13
All of these time constraints and outside pressures
keep UMB students from engaging with the college
experience as much as they otherwise might.
14
UMass Boston Students Are Less
Likely to Attend School Full Time
Percentage of Respondents Who
Attend School Full Time
98%
93%
94%
87%
79%
73%
95%
83%
68%
62%
First Year
Students
Seniors
UMB
Source: NSSE 2002
UMass
Urban
Doc. Int.
National
15
UMass Boston First Year Students and Seniors Spend Much
Less Time Working with other Students outside of Class
Than do Their Colleagues at the other Doctoral Intensives
Or in any other Comparison Group.
Percentage of Respondents Who Reported Working
with Other Students Outside of Class To Prepare
Class Projects "Often" or "Very Often"
56%
50%
49%
43%
38%
31%
56%
41%
First
Year
Students
30%
Seniors
17%
UMB
Source: NSSE 2002
UMass
Urban
Doc. Int.
National
16
UMB Students Reported Spending Fewer Hours Each
Week Relaxing and Socializing
Percent of Respondents Who Reported Spending 10 or Fewer Hours Each Week
Relaxing and Socializing
57%
59%
57%
49%
55%
48%
45%
54%
46%
39%
First Year
Students
Seniors
UMB
UMass
Urban
Doc. Int.
National
Source: NSSE 2002
17
UMass Boston First Year Students and Seniors are More Likely To
Have Never Worked with Faculty on outside Activities than Are Their
Colleagues at the other Doctoral Intensives.
Percentage of Respondents Who Reported
"Never" Working with Faculty on Activities
Other than Coursework
74%
74%
74%
66%
64%
66%
62%
First Year
Students
56%
52%
47%
Seniors
UMB
Source: NSSE 2002
UMass
Urban
Doc. Int.
National
18
UMass Boston First Year Students Were Also Significantly Less
Likely to Have Talked with a Faculty Member about Career Plans
Percentage of First Year Students Who Reported That
They "Never" Talked about Career Plans with a Faculty
Member or Advisor
40%
36%
30%
UMB
Source: NSSE 2002
UMass
Urban
24%
23%
Doc_Int
National
19
Social Life and Recreational Opportunities
20
Social Life, Recreational and Co-Curricular Opportunities,
And Campus Events Ranked Very Low in the Recent Pilot
Graduating Senior Satisfaction Survey.
Mean General Satisfaction Ratings
(Scale: 1= Least Satisfied to 7 = Most Satisfied
5.7
Pub. Transit
5.3
Email
Overall
5.3
Safety
5.3
Computing
5.1
Library
5.0
Registration
5.0
5.0
Science Labs.
4.7
Financial
4.2
Ac. Adv. Center
4.0
Campus Events
Recreation
3.8
Appearance
3.8
Social Life
3.8
Parking
3.2
Source: PGSSS 2002
21
UMB NSSE Respondents Reported that UMB Emphasized
Providing Support for Them to Succeed Academically
Percent of Students Reporting that Their Institution Emphasizes Providing
Support for Them to Succeed Academically
"Quite a Bit" or "Very Much"
74%
65%
69%
63%
63%
59%
53%
65%
59%
53%
First Year
Students
Seniors
UMB
Other
UMass
Urban
Doc.
Intensive
National
Source: NSSE 2002
22
However, Only Half as Many Reported that UMB
Emphasized Providing Support for Them to Thrive Socially
Percent of Students Reporting that Their Institution Emphasizes
Providing Support for Them to Thrive Socially
"Quite a Bit" or "Very Much"
41%
36%
32%
29%
25%
21%
32%
30%
24%
First Year
Students
19%
Seniors
UMB
Other UMass
Source: NSSE 2002
Urban
Doc.
Intensive
National
23
While Graduating Seniors Rated the Social Life on Campus
Just Above Parking, Respondents to the Retention
Survey Rated it Dead Last
Mean Satisfaction Ratings from the Retention Study of 2001
Scale: 0 = Worst Possible to 10 = Best Possible
Email & Internet
8.3
Campus Safety
8.2
Library Resources
8.1
Computing Facilities
8.0
Registration Procedures
7.6
Academic Advising
7.1
Campus Appearance
Social Life on Campus
6.3
5.7
Source: Retention 2001
24
UMass Boston First Year Students Were Significantly Less Likely
To Report Having Serious Conversations With Students Who Had
Different Attitudes or Beliefs.
Percentage of First Year Students Who Reported that They
Had Serious Conversations with Students Who Were Very
Different From Them in Terms of Their Religious Beliefs,
Political Opinions, or Personal Values "Often" or "Very Often"
58%
52%
53%
Urban
Doc_Int
55%
42%
UMB
Source: NSSE 2002
UMass
National
25
UMass Boston Students Did Not Rate Their
Relationships with other Students as Highly as Did
Their Comparison Groups
Percent of Respondents Rating Their Relationships With
other Students as a 6 or 7 on a 7 Point Scale
60%
63% 64%
62%
57%
60%
52% 53%
50% 49%
First Year
Students
Seniors
UM B
Source: NSSE 2002
UM ass
Urban
Do c_Int
Natio nal
26
In the Retention Study, Most Groups Gave Mean Ratings
Below 8 to Their Relationships with other Students
Mean Ratings of Relationships with other Students
Scale: 0 = Unfriendly and Unsupportive to
10 = Very Friendly and Very Supportive
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
ll
A
O
th
er
L
an
gu
ag
e
at
Ho
m
e
M
en
En
gl
is
h
W
om
en
/H
N
W
hi
te
se
d
U
nk
/R
ef
u
io
na
l
In
t
er
na
t
is
pa
ni
c
H
N
la
ck
B
A
si
an
P/
I
/H
1
0
Source: Retention 2001
27
This Was About the Same as Their Ratings of Faculty
Mean Ratings of Relationships with Faculty
Scale: 0 = Unhelpful and Unavailable to 10 = Very Helpful & Available
A
ll
ng
ua
g
O
th
er
h
La
at
e
H
om
e
en
M
En
gl
is
W
om
en
N
/H
W
hi
U
nk
/R
ef
u
tio
rn
a
In
te
te
se
d
na
l
ic
pa
n
H
is
N
/H
ck
B
la
A
si
an
P/
I
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
Source: Retention 2001
28
Fall 2000 Freshmen Were Also Asked to Respond To
Questions About Faculty and Course Quality
In the Retention 2001 Study
• About Two Thirds Had Contact with Faculty Outside of Class
Sometimes or Often
• Over 77% Reported that They Had Enough Contact with Faculty
• Over 77% Reported Specific Meeting with Teachers
• Over Half Rated Course Quality Very Good or Excellent
–
–
–
–
–
Excellent
Very Good
Good
Fair
Poor
Source: Retention 2001
10%
42%
37%
10%
1%
29
The Fall 2000 Freshmen Were Also Asked Whether, During Their
First Few Weeks, They Felt that They Had Enough Information
About Procedures, Regulations, or Services. 152 (73%) of Them
Said They Did, and the Rest Were Asked How Often They Did Not.
Category
Frequency
Percent
Very Often
6
3%
Often
17
8%
Sometimes
26
12%
Rarely
8
4%
209
100%
Total
30
Source: Retention 2001
Various Administrative Departments Also Tended
To Have Mean Ratings Below 8
Scale: 0 = Worst Possible to 10 = Best Possible
Department
% of Students w/Contact
Mean Rating
Bursar
77%
7.2
Admissions
52%
7.4
Registrar
76%
7.4
Financial Aid
55%
6.9
Staff from Student Advising
65%
7.6
Staff from Student Life
17%
7.5
Source: Retention 2001
31
UMB NSSE Respondents Were Much Less Likely to Report
That the University Emphasized Attending
Campus Events and Activities
Percent of Respondents Reporting that Their Institution Emphasizes
Attending Campus Events and Activities "Quite a Bit" or "Very Much"
62%
54%
50%
47%
40%
42%
First Year
Students
40%
32%
25% 26%
Seniors
UMB
Source: NSSE 2002
UMass
Urban
Doc. Int.
National
32
Graduating Seniors Ranked Communication Regarding
Campus Events and Activities Next to Last in the
Communications Area
Mean Satisfaction with Campus Community Ratings
Scale: 1= Least Satisfied to 7 = Most Satisfied
WPR
5.5
Requirem ents for Major
5.4
Gen. Ed. Requirem ents
5.3
Placem ent Testing
5.2
Other Graduation Requirem ents
4.9
Health Services
4.8
Disability Accom m odations
4.7
Acad. Support Services
4.6
Cam pus Events and Activities
Availability of Internships or Service Learning
Source: PGSSS 2002
4.1
3.5
33
Men, Women, Those Who Spoke English at Home, and Those Who
Didn’t All Ranked Communication About Campus Events
And Activities Next to Last
Mean Campus Communication Ratings by Gender
And Language Usage
Scale: 1= Least Satisfied to 7 = Most Satisfied
7
Women
6
Men
5
4
English at
Home
3
2
Te
st
in
G
g
ra
d
He
.R
eq
al
th
s.
Se
rv
Ac
ic
ad
es
.S
Di
up
sa
po
bi
lit
rt
y
A
Ca
cc
om
m
pu
.
s
Ev
en
In
ts
te
rn
sh
ip
s
W
PR
Other
Language at
Home
O
th
er
en
t
Pl
ac
em
G
en
.
M
aj
o
rR
eq
s.
Ed
.R
eq
s.
1
Source: PGSSS 2002
34
Different Groups of UMB Students Were Generally Dissatisfied
With Co-Curricular & Recreational Opportunities. No Identifiable
Group Had a Mean Rating of 5 or Better on a 7 point Scale.
Mean Satisfaction Ratings for the Campus Recreational
And Co-curricular Opportunities
4.7
4.4
3.8
4.4
3.8
3.8
4.2
3.6
3.6
3.8
3.6
3.8
en
W
om
en
M
e
at
Ho
m
g.
ag
En
an
gu
rL
.C
iti
ze
n
e
s
ze
ns
U.
S
O
th
e
no
nU
.S
.
W
hi
Ci
ti
te
NH
n
no
w
Un
k
na
l
c
te
rn
at
io
In
Hi
sp
an
i
H
N
Bl
ac
k
PI
As
ia
n
Al
l
2.7
Source: PGSSS 2002
35
Further, UMB NSSE Respondents Were the Least
Likely To Participate In Co-curricular Activities
Percent of Respondents Who Reported Spending No Time In
Co-curricular Activities
78%
71%
66%
69%
54% 52%
54%
49%
42%
46%
First Year
Students
Seniors
UMB
Source: NSSE 2002
Other
UMass
Urban
Doc.
Intensive
National
36
Conclusions
•
•
•
UMass Boston Students Are Particularly Stressed for Time and Subject to
Outside Pressures
First Year Students Seem to Be Even More Stressed than Seniors
UMass Boston Students are also Especially Diverse
– Even Within Racial/Ethnic Groups, there is Considerable Cultural Diversity
• The group of 595 first time full time students held citizenship in over 60 nations and
spoke over 30 languages at home.
•
Students Invest Time in the Business of UMB
– They study and are prepared for class
•
They Don’t Spend Time in the “Frills” of Attending College
– They don’t attend events
– They don’t participate in co-curricular or recreational opportunities
– They don’t spend much time developing relationships with other students
• Part of this may be that they don’t believe that UMB emphasizes this type of
behavior.
37