EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

STUDENT SATISFACTION AT SPRING HILL COLLEGE, SPRING 2003

 

Prepared by

Michael S. Johnson

Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs

 

June 2003

 

For the full report in PDF format, follow this link:

STUDENT SATISFACTION AT SPRING HILL COLLEGE, SPRING 2003

 

During January 2003, Spring Hill College administered the Noel-Levitz “Student Satisfaction Inventory” [SSI].  The overall results, as compiled by Noel Levitz, show high levels of satisfaction with almost all segments of campus life.  Of the 92 satisfaction questions asked, 76 of them had a mean response of “somewhat satisfied” or higher [83%].  All items use a 7-point scale, ranging from 1-not satisfied at all, to 7-very satisfied.  A response of 4 is a neutral response.  For most questions, identical scales were offered to allow the responding student to rank the importance of, as well as satisfaction with, the item in question.  The full results as distributed by Noel-Levitz are posted on the College’s web site under the following URL: http://camellia.shc.edu/ir/Surveys/SSI2003/SSIreport.html

Examination of this document will show that satisfaction at Spring Hill is significantly higher than found in the national sample of private four-year colleges and universities.

 

A total of 582 traditional undergraduate students responded to the survey.  Among this group, the highest levels of satisfaction centered around the College’s reputation in the community, academic advising, the quality of the faculty, and the general academic experience.  The academic support and nonacademic areas receiving very favorable responses included general campus maintenance, tutoring services, computer labs, and involvement in campus activities.

 

            Satisfaction among traditional students was lowest on the issue of parking adequacy, where our average score of 2.79 was well below the national average.  The survey also revealed generally low levels of satisfaction with parking lot lighting and security, security response to emergencies, and the sufficiency of on-campus weekend activities.  It should be added that while satisfaction with security response and with weekend activities is low, the former is in line with national averages, and Spring Hill students actually rate satisfaction with weekend activities higher than found in the national sample.

 

            Perhaps most encouraging is the improvement shown between 2001 and 2003 in the level of satisfaction among traditional students.  There were 44 survey items (out of 92 total items) that showed significant increases in satisfaction from the 2001 to the 2003 survey.  There were 19 survey items showing significant improvement in satisfaction from the 1999 to the 2003 survey.  The largest gains in satisfaction were in the areas of food services, residence halls (both regulations and comfort), adequacy of computer labs, and adequacy of library resources.  There was also improvement in the satisfaction with the College’s efforts to meet the needs of special populations, e.g., disabled students and minority students.  Students also show more satisfaction with bookstore staff.

 

            Not all areas show improvement.  Satisfaction with parking adequacy has fallen steadily and significantly from 1999, to 2001, to 2003.  Also, there is slippage in satisfaction with Student Government and with the use of student activity fees.  Another disturbing finding is that students show less satisfaction with knowing “what’s happening” around campus;  further analysis reveals that this dissatisfaction is centered among commuting students.

 

            The data for traditional undergraduates were examined more closely by looking at differences among gender and ethnicity groups. Both male and female African-American students showed relatively high satisfaction with tutoring services and with the caring and helpfulness of staff.  Likewise, female Hispanic students are highly satisfied with – and obviously place great importance on – elements of caring and concern for the individual.  Hispanic male students show relatively high satisfaction with library and admissions staff.  Notably missing from the top items among Hispanic males, however, is the quality and nature of academic advising.

 

            Certain items appear among all groups in terms of dissatisfaction, with parking adequacy leading the list among every group.  Similarly, relative dissatisfaction with the amount of weekend activities and with Student Government appears to have neither clear ethnic nor gender differences.  The 2001 survey revealed high levels of dissatisfaction among the small sample of African-American males who responded; while the response rate in the current survey is even lower, the extreme negativity seems not to be present in the current results.

 

Responses vary a great deal across class levels (freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior).  As was true in the 2001 survey, freshmen women are the most satisfied gender-class level group.  Upper-level males report the lowest overall levels of satisfaction. Two common patterns in the data are: 1) for any class level, males give lower satisfaction scores than females; and 2) for each gender, satisfaction scores tend to fall as the class level rises (from freshman to senior). 

 

Because many items on the Student Satisfaction Inventory pertain to campus life, especially residence life, we asked students to tell us what residence hall they lived in.  Among the findings are that dissatisfaction with parking is universal.  The mean scores on the “adequacy of parking” item range from the best response of 4.0 among O’Leary women, to the lowest mark of 1.50 among Murray males.  The two areas showing the highest dissatisfaction with parking lot lighting and security are residents in Fairways Apartments and in Viragh Hall.  These two groups also show the most dissatisfaction with campus security response to emergencies.  On the other hand, most of the mean responses to the question about housing comfort show improvement from the 2001 survey. This is most noticeable among Mobile Hall women, Murray Hall men, and both men and women in either Toolen or Walsh Halls.  Satisfaction with the Fairways Apartments is largely unchanged.  Satisfaction with O’Leary has slipped slightly, but still remains high compared to most of the other residence halls.  The numbers on the new Viragh Hall are very good.  Overall satisfaction with residence hall staff is high.

 

Levels of student satisfaction are extraordinarily high among both Lifelong Learning and graduate students. Among Lifelong Learning students, there were 48 data items with mean satisfaction scores of at least 5.5; this is well over half of the questions asked.  Perhaps most notable is that the “would you enroll here again” statement received the highest satisfaction score, a mean of 6.4.  Among graduate students, the mean satisfaction was 5.5 or higher on 41 items.  Again, the highest mean was on the “would you enroll here again” question, with a mean of 6.3.  In comparison to Lifelong Learning students, graduate students tended to show higher satisfaction with their advisor.  The lowest satisfaction among both Lifelong Learning students and graduate students pertained to parking; however, the means on these items were higher than they were among traditional undergraduates.

 

            Because Lifelong Learning students gave extremely positive responses on the 2001 survey, there were few items where the 2003 results improved.  The one notable exception was in the helpfulness of bookstore staff:  the mean on this item rose significantly from 5.27 in 2001 to a very-positive 5.93 in 2003.  While a few items showed statistically significant declines in satisfaction since 2001, the means on these items suggest no problem areas.  Among graduate students, there were no significant improvements or declines on any items.

 

            Within each graduate program, females have a more positive sense of “belonging,” higher satisfaction with library services and resources, and higher satisfaction with parking adequacy.  On the other hand, and not surprisingly, women tended to express less satisfaction with lighting and security of parking areas.  However, none of these differences are strong.

 

            Overall, the results from the 2003 SSI show a very positive attitude of students toward the Spring Hill College experience.  While there are lessons to be learned from the results that might enhance satisfaction, the main conclusion is that we have many reasons to take pride in Spring Hill’s commitment to the educational process.