Summary Report

A survey was administered to both undergraduates and graduate students in spring 2000. The final instrument incorporated the suggestions from the vice presidents, deans, and others of the University community, including a librarian who assisted with incorporating a special library section into this survey. The result was a survey that was comprehensive in nature (243 items). Each of the items are listed with response totals and percentages in Appendix A. The survey questionnaire has been included as Appendix B. Students were also invited to write comments and suggestions in response to the question "How can UNT be a better place for your?" These are reported separately as are the "other" type comments where respondents may list first choice of school, reason for not attending summer school at UNT summer 2000, etc.

The Sample
Comparison of the Student Survey Sample to the Spring 2000 Enrollment
The Analysis
The Results: Selected Observations
Comments Offered by the Student Respondents

The Sample

There were 60 course sections invited to participate in the survey each receiving the number of surveys that corresponded to the official enrollment in that section. Through a stratified sample, course sections were carefully chosen to provide a representative sample of the UNT student body. This sampling method grouped freshman/sophomore students together as well as junior/senior students. Students were instructed to return the survey uncompleted if they had completed one in another class. Many of the packets returned without the original labeling. Since a significant number of the courses required more than one packet, we were unable to determine how many and exactly which course sections participated. Therefore, it was not possible to calculate a course sections response rate.

The number of surveys mailed totaled 3,240. There were 1,452 completed surveys returned, however, 168 respondents failed to check their student classification. The result was a sample of 1,284 students who could be included in an analysis based on the aggregated student classifications freshman/sophomore, junior/senior and graduate.

The survey included items for classification, major, ethnicity, and gender. Those items in the sample were checked against the official spring 2000 enrollment to determine how accurately the sample represented the student body. The results are that for classification, major, ethnicity, and age the sample percentages are approximately the same as the enrollment percentages. Unfortunately, this sample slightly under represents the university male student population (40% sample, 45% university). See Exhibit 1 for detailed comparison data.

The sample is representative of the university enrollment. It was within 4% of the enrollment for the classification groups freshman/sophomore, junior/senior, and graduate students. Majors were grouped by school/college and only the School of Visual Arts sample differed by more than 3% from the university enrollment percentage (5%). Similarly, the ethnic groups in the sample differed by less than 2% from the enrollment percentages. This indicates the sample is representative of the enrollment.¹

¹ An explanation of the sampling procedure will be provided on request. A list of classes included in the sample is also available. For information please contact Ric Anzaldua or Allen Clark, Office of Institutional Research and Accreditation, University of North Texas.

Exhibit 1

Comparison of the Student Survey Sample to the Spring 2000 Enrollment

Spring 2000 Enrollment:   25,035
Sample Total:                      1,452
	Student Classification (N=1,284 responses)			Percent Sample	Percent of Spring 2000 Enrollment
	Level (used in determining stratified sample and therefore in the analysis)
			Freshman and Sophomore ..................... Junior and Senior ................................... Graduate ...............................................	27.8% 51.4% 20.7%	29.7% 47.0% 23.4%
	Classification		Freshman .............................................. Sophomore ........................................... Junior .................................................... Senior ................................................... Post Baccalaureate ................................ Master’s ............................................... Doctoral ...............................................	8.0% 19.8% 19.9% 31.5% 2.1% 17.1% 1.6%	14.0% 15.7% 18.9% 28.1% 6.0% 12.6% 4.8%
	Total .......................................................................................			100%	100.0%
	School/College of Major (N=1,212 responses)
		Arts and Sciences (includes "no major") ........................... Business Administration ................................................... Community Service ......................................................... Education (includes students seeking certification only) ..... Library and Information Sciences .................................... Merchandising and Hospitality Management .................... Music ............................................................................. Visual Arts ..................................................................... Graduate School ............................................................		34.6% 20.2% 9.0% 17.8% 1.1% 2.3% 1.8% 10.2% 2.9%	37.3% 20.7% 7.5% 15.5% 3.6% 1.4% 1.8% 5.3% 7.0%
	Ethnicity (N=1,252 responses)
		Caucasian/White (includes "Other") ................................... African-American ............................................................. Hispanic ........................................................................... Asian, Pacific Islander ...................................................... American Indian ...............................................................		76.4% 8.6% 7.3% 6.7% 1.0%	74.6% 9.1% 7.8% 7.7% 0.8%
	Gender (N=1,260 responses)
		Men ................................................................................ Women ...........................................................................		39.5% 60.5%	45.1% 54.9%
	Age (N=1,268 responses)
		17 yrs or under ................................................................. 18-25 yrs ........................................................................ 26-33 yrs ......................................................................... 34-41 yrs ........................................................................ 42-49 yrs ........................................................................ 50 or above ....................................................................		1.5% 71.9% 17.9% 4.7% 2.0% 2.0%	1.7% 67.9% 18.0% 6.4% 3.9% 2.1%

NOTE: Surveys with no response for a particular item were excluded from that percentage.

The Analysis

For data analysis the students were aggregated into three classification groups: freshman/sophomore, junior/senior, and graduate students. This is in keeping with the groupings used in determining the stratified sample using registrar’s report R-696-35 (March 2000) containing official enrollment head counts for each course section.

Students were asked to select degrees of agreement or disagreement ("Agree/Disagree") and degrees of satisfaction or dissatisfaction ("Satisfied/ Dissatisfied") or may select "No opinion or not applicable." Even so, some students did not respond to some items. This is not included in the reported percentages. Because time may have been a factor in completion of some items on the survey we cannot aggregate "no responses" and "No opinion or not applicable". For such items it is often useful to ignore the printed percentages in Appendix A and compute percentages based on the number who expressed an opinion. This was done, generally, for those items where "no opinion or not applicable" exceeded one-third of the respondents.

For some items the instructions were to "check all that apply." The response to such an item is reported as "checked" or "not checked." For these, a percentage was calculated based on the number of students in each aggregate classification. Keep in mind that the percentages do not sum to 100% for these questions.

Some of the survey items are appropriate for both undergraduate and graduate students. However, some items are more appropriate for undergraduates than for graduates, while others are more so for graduate students than for undergraduates. When an item is not appropriate for a group then many will have checked the option "no opinion or not applicable." Again, percentages are recalculated to reflect only those expressing an opinion.

The item by item responses to all questions on this survey can be found in Appendix A. This provides the number and percentage that responded to each option for each item on the survey. The responses have been analyzed by student classification (freshman/sophomore, junior/senior, and graduate). For ease of discussion and summary the responses "Strongly Agree" were aggregated with the "Agree" responses as were "Disagree" with "Strongly Disagree." Likewise, for the "Satisfied/Dissatisfied" ratings we have aggregated the "Very Satisfied" to the "Satisfied" responses and the "Dissatisfied" to the "Very Dissatisfied" responses. Responses of "No opinion or not applicable" remained separate in this analysis.

Some selected observations from the survey results are provided in this summary report, however the detailed data in Appendix A warrants careful study. A small number of the detailed results are not covered in these selected observations. Appendix A is indexed to provide a listing of subject areas that have been used as the organizational framework for presenting selected observations. Unless otherwise noted, the percentages reported in the summaries below are the "Strongly Agree/Agree" for the "Agree/Disagree" questions and "Very Satisfied/Satisfied" for the "Satisfied/Dissatisfied" questions.

- What is your image of UNT?
- The regular faculty at UNT
- Faculty in my major
- Academic advisor
- Teaching fellows/assistants
- Adequacy of course syllabi
- About courses
- Scheduling
- UNT as first choice
- Registration
- Financial assistance
- University Environment
- Library Section
- Now about you ...

What is your image of UNT? ("Agree/Disagree") UNT rates highly with students as being a university with high quality faculty (89%) and high quality undergraduate programs (86% among undergraduates) and graduate programs (91% among graduate students). It has a reputation for excellence in my major (79%), is intellectually demanding (81%). Many believe UNT attracts students with high academic ability (60% undergraduate, 64% graduate). Diversity is valued or so say undergraduates (86%) and graduates (78%). Undergraduates agree that UNT offers good career-related programs (75%) and strong student services (70%). UNT is also an institution that cares about students (72%) and offers a comfortable environment (86%) but may not be the most promising when it comes to athletics, as only 24% of undergraduates expressing an opinion agreed with that statement. Unfortunately, UNT may not have the image of being a university of first choice. Only 43% of undergraduates agreed and only 47% of graduate students agreed.

The regular faculty at UNT… ("Agree/Disagree")

• Undergraduates. The majority of undergraduates agreed that regular faculty "have a good attitude toward students" (90%), "value diversity" (87%), "provide high quality instruction" (84%), are "fair but demanding" (85%), and "communicate effectively" (81%). All remaining items also rated in agreement by over 76% of undergraduates. The average for the section was 82% in agreement.

• Graduates. Graduate students gave similar ratings to those above with one exception "are concerned about student development" received a strong 84% who were in agreement while only 77% of undergraduates agreed. The percentages for the items over 80% were: "have a good attitude toward students" (90%), "value diversity" (82%), "provide high quality instruction" (87%), are "fair but demanding" (83%), and "communicate effectively" (83%). All remaining items also rated in agreement by over 75% of graduate students. The average for the section was 83% in agreement.

Faculty in my major. ("Agree/Disagree") Not surprisingly, graduate students consistently agreed more than did undergraduates on these items. The highest percentage of agreement was in "offering opportunity to interact" (84% graduates, 72% undergraduates) and for "encouraging students to engage in research and creative endeavors" (83% graduates, 71% undergraduates). Also, faculty "encourage students to publish research" (63% graduates and 42% undergraduates agreed). Among those expressing an opinion, most said faculty "encourage students to attend professional meetings (78% graduates, 63% undergraduates).

Academic advisor. ("Agree/Disagree") About two-thirds of all students agree with the three items in this section. Neither undergraduate nor graduate students differed by more than two percentage points from 67% on any of the questions "provides valuable information," "helps me know what I need to do to finish my degree," "and is accessible to me within an acceptable time-frame."

Teaching fellows/assistants. ("Agree/Disagree") Undergraduates only. The majority of undergraduates agreed that teaching fellows/assistants "have a good attitude toward students" (78%) and "accept and value diversity" (76%). Students generally agreed that teaching fellows/assistants "communicate effectively" (68%), "help students learn" (67%) and are "fair but demanding" (65%). Only 55% agreed they "make good use of audio/visual aids" and slightly more 61% agreed "they provide high quality instruction." Teaching fellows/assistants rated "agreed" by an average of 16 percentage points lower than regular faculty. The most significant of these were "high quality instruction" (23 percentage points less than regular faculty) and "good use of audio-visual aids" (22 percentage points less than regular faculty).

Adequacy of course syllabi. ("Agree/Disagree") An outstanding level of agreement exists in this section. No less than 92% of students agreed that the syllabi "describe course requirements" "describe course objectives" "and describe grading policy." Undergraduates (94%) also agreed they "represent what the course is about" as did graduate students but not quite as overwhelmingly (86%).

About courses. ("Agree/Disagree") Most students agreed that how courses are taught "enable me to meet my objectives" (83%) but only 49% of undergraduates and 60% of graduates agreed that courses needed are "offered at convenient times."

Scheduling. ("Check all that apply")

• Classes. Most (48%) students prefer to keep the current "Monday/ Wednesday/Friday & Tuesday/Thursday" schedule of daytime classes, although one third (33%) would like a "Monday/Wednesday & Tuesday/Thursday" schedule. Three-fourths of freshman/ sophomores would like to see classes begin "Morning, 9 am or later" as would two thirds of junior/senior students. Graduate students had no overwhelming preference for begin time of classes; 25% indicated "morning 9:00 am or later" is their preference but most would like to see classes "begin at 5:00 or 5:50 pm" (44%).

• School year. The majority of undergraduate students preferred to keep the school year as it is (81%) but only 61% of graduate did. There was some interest in a winter mini-mester among Junior/senior students, 60% of which indicated they would enroll.

UNT as first choice. For 51% of undergraduate and 77% of graduate students, UNT was their "university of first choice."

Registration. ("Satisfied/Dissatisfied") A strong majority of the students are "satisfied or very satisfied" with the various registration services. The highest rated services are "readability of schedule of classes" (87%), "timeliness of grade reports" (86%), "telephone registration" (81%) and "services provided by registrar’s office" (80%). Also rated favorably by undergraduates were "processing of transcript requests" and "A.S.S.I.S.T. (access by telephone)", both 70%. Lowest rating by graduate students was "drop/add process" (61%). Among students expressing an opinion 84% were satisfied with "web registration."

Financial assistance. ("Satisfied/Dissatisfied") Most students had "No opinion" on the items in this section probably due to lack of continued use of services offered by this office. So percentages those expressing an opinion are recalculated and will be reported here. The responses of undergraduates and graduate students were very similar. Of those expressing an opinion, 78% are satisfied with the "FAVORS phone system (Financial Aid Voice Response System)" and 65% satisfied with the advice received about financial aid. Not clearly satisfactory are "scholarship awarding process" (54%), "how long it takes to know about financial aid" (51%) and 50% "scholarship availability" (50%).

University environment. Care should be taken when interpreting the statements below. For the following items, those who checked the "no response or not applicable" option may result in a higher percentage numerically, but for comparative reasons are grouped by level ("one-third to one half," "more than one half") of those expressing "no opinion or not applicable." Percentages in these groups are calculated only for those expressing an opinion.