Contents
Students on Track in Earning General Ed Credit
Senior Survey Indicates Seniors Departed Happy
Getting the Most out of the 'Gold Form'
With two years of data for the new General Education curriculum, we can now get a sense of
student progress in fulfilling the range of GE requirements. Based on 19.5 credits needed to fulfill GE requirements, well over half of second year students (the first class under the new curriculum) have earned three-fourths or more of what they need. Indeed, there are many other aspects of student experience in GE that are important, but this snapshot of students' ability to complete the credit requirements has implications for major and elective course-taking.
Comparing the first year experience of the 1994 entering class with the class that entered in 1995 and just completed their first year, it appears that the latter class made somewhat more progress in earning GE credits. Median units earned for 1994 after one year was 9.25; for 1995, 10.25.
(All data includes only students who have had
continuous enrollment of 3 courses/semester; excludes Paracollege
and Bach. Music students.)
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A random sample of half the senior class was surveyed this past spring, revealing that seniors were quite satisfied with their St. Olaf experience, especially with the academic aspects. The survey, an instrument of the HEDS Consortium, produced a 56% response rate representative of the whole senior class in regard to major and ethnicity, and somewhat over representative of females. St. Olaf also received comparison institution results from six other HEDS member institutions.
| % of seniors saying skill/ability | HEDS | |
|---|---|---|
| was 'greatly' or 'moderately' | Comparison | |
| enhanced by college experiences | St. Olaf | Group |
| Write effectively | 88 | 86 |
| Communicate well orally | 80 | 80 |
| Think analytically | 92 | 90 |
| Form creative/original ideas | 85 | 82 |
| Lead/supervise tasks/people | 75 | 70 |
| Relate well to different people | 63 | 58 |
| Use quantitative tools | 74 | 72 |
| Identify moral/ethical issues | 79 | 72 |
| Understand myself | 91 | 86 |
| Function independently | 84 | 84 |
| In-depth knowledge of a field | 96 | 88 |
| Read/speak foreign language | 46 | 41 |
| Appreciate art, lit., music | 73 | 66 |
| Accomplish goals | 74 | 75 |
| Acquire skills/knowl. on my own | 92 | 91 |
| Evaluate & choose bet. alternatives | 78 | 78 |
| Effective member of team | 77 | 73 |
| Put problems in hist/cult perspect. | 74 | 69 |
They were also highly satisfied with the academic services on campus, including: instructional quality (90% satisfied), faculty availability and attitude (both 97%), independent study opportunities (96%), and academic facilities (computer, library, classroom and laboratory facilities and resources, all over 90%).
Some notable shifts in career interests occurred among students in the
time between entering St. Olaf and graduation. The most significant was
interest in medicine: 21% of seniors surveyed cited an interest at entry;
13% now consider it a long-term career goal. The long-term career
interests most often mentioned by these seniors included medicine,
business/ industry (12%), university/ college teaching (12%), social
services (8%), and teaching/ administration (non-college) (8%).
Career Interests of Students when Entering and Leaving St. Olaf
| Current long | ||
| Interest when | term career | |
| entering college | choice | |
| Medicine | 21% | 13% |
| Teaching/admin (non-coll) | 10% | 8% |
| Business, industry | 9% | 2% |
| Arts-studio, perform., writing | 9% | 6% |
| Natural science | 6% | 2% |
| University/college teaching | 5% | 12% |
The campus life at St. Olaf received mixed reviews among these seniors, though for most campus life aspects evaluated, over half of those students responding were satisfied with the service. For analysis, the satisfaction items in the survey were categorized into five areas of undergraduate experience (see table below). An overwhelming percentage of seniors favorably viewed those aspects of the institution most directly related to academic strength--'Instruction', 'Academics', and 'Facilities'. These areas included items such as advising, course availability, faculty, quality of
|
| instruction, computer services, library, and class and lab facilities. 'Climate' and 'Services' reflected the greatest amount of student dissatisfaction. Within these areas, campus social life, student voice in policies, climate for minorities, food service, and student center were the major sources of student dissatisfaction, while most other student services received relatively favorable satisfaction ratings. |
One-fifth of seniors surveyed had taken no loans for their education, however, over one-quarter had borrowed in excess of $20,000, and 62% $10,000 or more. Nearly one-quarter have a major concern about their ability to repay their loans. Seniors at St. Olaf had a higher loan burden than those at the comparison institutions, but they worked fewer hours at jobs, on average. To some extent, debt burden restricted their graduate school choice to programs with significant financial aid or led to postponing graduate school. On the positive side, most agreed that loans allowed them to attend an otherwise unaffordable institution.
Total Amount of Loans Borrowed by
Student and Family
| $0 | 20% | $10,000-$14,999 | 14% |
| $1-$4999 | 6% | $15,000-$19,999 | 21% |
| $5000-$9999 | 8% | $20,000 or more | 27% |
Student Concern About Ability to Repay Loans
| Not concerned--family's responsibility | 7% |
| No concern--confident can repay | 18% |
| Some concern--probably can repay | 50% |
| Major concern--not sure able to repay | 24% |
Information gleaned from the Senior Survey revealing students' intentions, preferences, and reactions to their college experiences allows colleges to respond to the needs, interests, and concerns of its students. Understanding and responding to the satisfaction of students is clearly important in enrollment and retention, while information gathered about student attitudes regarding their academic outcomes can pinpoint perceived weaknesses in the academic program. Based on the responses of the members of the 1996 senior class, St. Olaf can be assured that, on the whole, it is serving its students well.
Yes, yes, we know you all know how to use the 'Gold Form', that
tried and true, old reliable that you have probably used for years,
semester after semester. The fact that it has become such a routine
for a large proportion of the St. Olaf faculty may be the very
reason that not everyone is getting the full benefits from these
evaluations. So before you quickly distribute the forms and dash
from the room, it may be useful to take just a couple minutes
to review these Gold Form tips that will act as refreshers to
both you and your students:
1. Inform students about how the forms are used. Tell them that you are the only one who reads these, that you use them for improving teaching. Many students are under the misconception that faculty do not see these forms, that they are being read by others for purposes of evaluating faculty. This will affect the nature of their comments. Students will likely be more thoughtful in their input if they understand and are aware of the value of their participation.
2. If the written comments are the most valuable part of the evaluation for you, let the students know this and encourage them to add them.
3. Don't use the form for every class, every semester. Imagine how many Gold Forms students are filling out; Gold Form 'burnout' can result in not very useful information. Students end up putting little thought into completing the forms and are less likely to spend the time adding written comments.
4. Remind students to carefully fill in only one bubble for each response. This is a bigger problem than you might expect. If more than one response is given, that question will be scanned as a blank.
5. Try not to administer the evaluations on the day of the final exam after students finish the exam. Think about how anxious they are to leave once they have completed the exam... How much thought will they put into the evaluation? Allow enough time--a minimum of 15 minutes--for filling out the forms.
| % of all faculty (on campus) | % of all Gold Form Users | % in Category Using Gold Form | |
|---|---|---|---|
| RANK | |||
| Professor | 22% | 9% | 11% |
| Assoc Professor | 27% | 31% | 30% |
| Asst Professor | 21% | 36% | 43% |
| Instructor | 21% | 19% | 22% |
| Other | 9% | 5% | 13% |
| TENURE STATUS | |||
| Tenured | 49% | 43% | 23% |
| Not tenured | 51% | 57% | 28% |
| SEX | |||
| Female | 41% | 47% | 29% |
| Male | 59% | 53% | 23% |
