Misale

REPORT TO THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS, DECEMBER 8, 2001:

My name is Judi Misale. I am an associate professor of psychology. This is my
tenth year at Truman. I have many wonderful colleagues, and I’ve enjoyed many of
the benefits of being at a university where teaching is so valued. I’ve also
enjoyed working with the exceptional student body we draw. You’ve heard from
several of my colleagues this morning, but you won’t hear much from students.
Because the students’ voice was not solicited regarding the summer program
changes, I would like to represent the student voice here today.

To get a sense of student opinion on the proposed changes to the summer
program, eight faculty across five academic, undergraduate divisions
administered a survey to students asking their views on issues directly related
to the proposed changes and the reasoning behind them. To maintain consistency
across administration, all faculty received a written set of directions to read
to the students, with special instructions to “say nothing that will in any
way bias students’ answers” when administering the survey. The courses
surveyed represented both LSP and major classes, and the students responding
represented 21 different disciplines across campus.

The form you have is the report made to Fac Sen. on 11/29 regarding the
results of this survey. The data are preliminary because of the time
constraints, but 287 students are represented by the discrete responses and 389
by the open-ended responses, respectively 70% and 95% of the entire sample of
411 students. So even though the results are preliminary, they portray the
attitudes and behaviors of a healthy sample of students on campus.

SURVEY
OF STUDENT’S’ ATTITUDES ON SUMMER SCHOOL:

Results
Report to Faculty Senate, November 29, 2001

 

n  
Have you taken summer classes at Truman in the past?   
26.5%  Yes     
 73.5%   No

IF
YES, which summer school format do you prefer?    

78.9% 
two 5-week      21.1% 
one 8-week

What
type of summer classes have you primarily taken? 

56.8% 
major/minor       
40.9%  LSP core
/elective     2.2%  graduate

n  
Have you taken summer classes at a college or university other
than Truman?  

31.9%
Yes       
68.1% No

n  
If you have taken summer classes at a college or university other than
Truman, give the two main reasons why.

Reason	%		Reason	%
closer to home	30.1		get LSP out of the way	6.6
classes were easier at other school	19.9		better course selection & schedule	5.4
didn’t want to stay in K-ville	12.0		classes were shorter	1.2
cheaper	9.6		failed the course at Truman	.6
good job at home	7.2		Miscellaneous: “on Probation”	.6
need the credits	6.6		n=389

n  
If you considered taking summer classes at Truman, but eventually chose
not to, please give the two most important reasons you decided against it.
Please be honest.   (n=389).

Reason	%		Reason	%
had to get a job	25.0		didn’t want to take summer classes	1.9
didn’t want to stay in Kirksville	21.9		too hard	1.3
didn’t offer classes that were needed	18.8		personal	1.3
8 week summer session too long	13.8		no place to live	1.3
too expensive	11.9		study abroad	.6

Miscellaneous reasons given:

“Don’t get
rid of 5 block classes!  Some people
don’t want to stay 8 weeks in Kirksville during the summer. 
It may be cheaper to do 8-weeks but OUR EDUCATION WILL SUFFER!”

“Because
there weren’t enough courses offered in 5-wk sessions.”

“I needed
more 5-wk courses.  They allow me to
split up the summer and travel or participate in study abroad.”

“Some
classes I wanted were only offered in 8-wk courses. I prefer 5-wk courses.”

n  
If you HAVE taken summer courses at Truman, were they:

36.3% 
more 100 & 200 level classes;             
39.0%  more 300 &
400 level classes; 

23.7% 
about an equal mix?

n  
Do you believe an 8-week summer school schedule will better facilitate
your ability to work over the summer?          
 33.2% yes      
66.8% no

n  
Do you believe an 8-week summer school schedule will better facilitate
your ability to do research over
the summer, should you so choose?     
42.0% yes      
58.0% no

Questions?  Thank you.