Sherrick opening the SSI results meeting Javell Sheppard
The results of the Student Satisfaction Inventory (SSI) survey display both a significant drop in student satisfaction levels between class levels, and identifies what students deem to be the university’s strengths and challenges.
“It rates the importance of the facets of college experience for each item, there are nearly a hundred items. Students are asked ‘how important is this to you?’ and then ‘are we meeting your expectations?’” explained Executive Director of Institutional Research and Special Assistant to the President Kathleen Carlson, Ph.D.
The survey compared the university’s results to other midwestern universities and used student responses to rank how important students deem each category to be.
Students at Saint Xavier, according to the survey results, start their first year at the university with a 57% satisfaction rate. That drops to 46% for sophomore students and remains at that percentage for junior students, that percentage then drops to 38% for senior students.
Other midwestern universities had different statistics with a significantly smaller drop between academic years. First year students expressed a 58% satisfaction rate, which dropped to 53% for sophomore and junior students. That percentage then rose to 55% for senior students.
Interim President Rebecca Sherrick, Ph.D., stated “this isn’t about who is right or who is wrong, or who is doing a good job and who is not. This is about how our students feel —and I am going to underscore feel —about their Saint Xavier experience.”
The survey also collected data in regards to how students felt their needs were or were not being met, and what they felt was important to the college experience.
The identified challenges included: not having valuable content within courses, not being able to register for courses without conflict, not having excellent instruction in student’s fields, not having a variety of courses provided on campus, and not having an excellent quality of instruction in most classes, among others.
Students also expressed dissatisfaction with the timeliness of financial aid award announcements, having adequate financial aid available to students, having a well-maintained campus, having helpful financial aid counselors, and having tuition feel like a worthwhile investment.
The identified strengths included: having a safe and secure campus for all students, having a knowledgeable academic advisor, having security staff respond quickly in emergencies, having major requirements be clear and reasonable, and having faculty that are knowledgeable in their field.
Survey responses also displayed satisfaction with having adequate and accessible wifi and computers, having approachable academic advisors, the protection of freedom of expression on campus, the providing of access and accommodations to anyone with disabilities, and having tutoring services readily available.
These responses were compared against the statistics of other midwestern universities across a three-year time period.
In comparison to these universities, SXU scored higher in the areas of Recruitment and Financial Aid, Safety and Security, Campus Life and Responsiveness to Diverse Populations according to Director of Institutional Effectiveness Jorge Arevalo.
The university scored lower in the areas of Academic Advising, Instructional Effectiveness and Campus Support Services Arevalo continued.
Arevalo clarified the areas of Student Centeredness, Campus Climate, Concerned for the Individual, Registration Effectiveness and Service Excellence scored about on par with the other midwestern universities.
Survey results also indicated that 60% of first year respondents were likely to start college over again at SXU. 46% of the sophomore level respondents and 47% of the junior level respondents were likely to pick the university again.
That number dropped to 40% for the senior level respondents.
For other midwestern universities, the percentage of first years likely to start college over again at their university was 66%.
That number was lowered to 60% for sophomore level respondents and then to 58% for junior level respondents. The number of senior level respondents likely to pick their university again at other midwestern universities was 56%.
The SSI survey was largely promoted by the Student Government Association, as well as through QR codes with flyers and the offering of five $100 prizes Arevalo expressed.
“This is probably one of the best samples we have ever had; and I want to thank SGA, the students, and all the staff and faculty who did promote this,” voiced Carlson.
35% of the undergraduate student body-totaling 1,066 students-responded to the SSI survey, which is a higher percentage than the average 25% response rate noted Carlson.
“We are in the process of collecting feedback from SGA, Faculty Senate, Student Success and Service Units to find actions for improvement as they dive deeper into the results. Subsequently, a final report with proposed actions, based on the findings of these efforts will be provided to the community” stated Arevalo.
Following the proposed final report, the University Institutional Effectiveness Committee-which Arevalo clarified contains SGA representation-will evaluate and prepare an assessment plan for the reported actions.