This report is the second in a series of OPRE Reports on the Student Satisfaction Inventory which was administered to our enrolled students this past spring. In this report we will focus on student perceptions of our campus climate and administrative services. It has been well established in numerous studies of college students that, in order for students to take intellectual risks necessary for learning, they must feel that they "matter" (Schlossberg, Lynch and Chickering, 1989). They must be comfortable in their environment and feel supported, not threatened. Studies have also shown that student retention is enhanced when students perceive that faculty, staff and administrators care and are interested, responsive and available.

From our survey of Fall 1997 entering freshmen we know that, prior to enrolling, they associate the images of friendly, comfortable and personal attention with William Paterson. From responses to our survey of students already enrolled, we found that approximately half of the respondents, were somewhat satisfied, satisfied or very satisfied that students are made to feel welcome here while 23 percent were neutral and 26 percent were somewhat dissatisfied, not very satisfied or not satisfied with this statement. Our students were significantly less satisfied than students at our peer institutions.

Students were asked if the orientation services helped them to adjust to college. Forty-four percent replied that they were somewhat satisfied, satisfied or very satisfied. Almost a third expressed no opinion and 22 percent were somewhat dissatisfied, not very satisfied or not satisfied. Considering the energy and resources we devote to assisting students with the transition to collegiate life, it is somewhat disappointing to see that almost half of the students surveyed did not have positive responses to these items. A subgroup analysis by class level showed that freshmen were more satisfied with orientation services than upperclassmen. As students progress through class levels, their memory of orientation may change. There have been many improvements in the orientation programs over the past few years which may not be familiar to upperclassmen.

When asked if they felt a sense of belonging here, 47 percent of our students indicated that they were somewhat satisfied, satisfied or very satisfied while 26 percent had no opinion and 27 percent were somewhat dissatisfied, not very satisfied or not satisfied. Since 75 percent of the respondents are commuters, present on campus only for a short periods of time, it may be especially difficult to create a sense of belonging for this group. Students at William Paterson did not consider a "sense of belonging" as important as "a welcoming atmosphere," rating these statements with means of 5.48 and 6.10 (on a seven point scale), respectively. Subgroup analyses showed that there were no statistically significant differences between class levels or between residents and commuters with respect to our students' sense of belonging or perception of a welcoming atmosphere.

Campus climate is created by the daily interactions of students with faculty, administrators and staff. Students were asked to indicate the importance and their satisfaction with the level of caring and concern by staff in a variety of campus areas. The results are summarized below and, for reference, the mean importance for William Paterson students as well as the mean satisfaction of our students and students in the peer group are provided. Please remember that students were using a seven point scale with 7 indicating very important or very satisfied, 4 representing neutral and 1 indicating very low importance or satisfaction. Students also had the option of indicating that something did not apply to them or that they did not use a service. These responses are not included in the means.
                                                                    WP    WP  Peer % WP Students
                                              Mn    Mn  Mn    Responding
                                              Imp. Sat. Sat. Sat. Not Sat.
The campus staff are caring and helpful.      6.34 4.30 4.90  52    32
My academic advisor is concerned about my
    success as an individual.                 6.32 3.86 4.77  40    41
This institution shows concern for students
    as individuals.                           6.27 4.10 4.57  44    33
The personnel involved in registration are
    helpful.                                  6.25 4.06 4.64  43    35
Faculty care about me as an individual.       6.20 4.15 4.75  48    32
Counseling staff care about students as
    individuals                               6.12 4.12 4.62  38    25
Library staff are helpful and approachable.   6.09 5.39 5.18  77     9
Administrators are approachable to students.  5.95 4.17 4.57  42    29
Bookstore staff are helpful.                  5.95 4.64 5.22  59    24
Financial aid counselors are helpful.         5.87 4.31 4.33  42    24
Residence hall staff care about me as an
    individuals.                              5.27 4.01 4.59  29    24

Note: In the above summary the satisfied responses represent the sum of the percents for somewhat satisfied, satisfied and very satisfied and the not satisfied responses represent the sum of the percents for somewhat dissatisfied, not very satisfied and not satisfied.

While, in general, William Paterson students were significantly less satisfied than their peers, it is worth noting that this is not true with respect to their perceptions of the staff in the library. William Paterson students rated the library staff significantly more positively than students at our peer institutions. The library also had the highest mean satisfaction. Focusing on items at the top of the list, ie., those items with a mean importance of 6.20 and above, we see that approximately one-third of the students expressed dissatisfaction with these items. Of particular concern is the advisement statement where the percent of dissatisfied students was almost equal to the percent of satisfied students.

Students may be more satisfied with their environment when they feel well informed. The level of communication that exists in the campus community helps a student to be aware of deadlines, policies and procedures that pertain to their curriculum, to know where to go for assistance and to know the dates for major campus events. Students were asked if they generally know what's happening on campus. Forty-two percent of the students were somewhat satisfied, satisfied or very satisfied while 31 percent were not satisfied at all, not very satisfied or somewhat dissatisfied.

Improved communication with students may assist them in seeking out the services the campus provides and being better prepared upon their arrival at the service areas.

Just as the service attitude of faculty, staff and administrators demonstrates concern for students, the delivery of these services also sends messages regarding the importance of students to the institution. Several survey items focused on services found at almost all institutions. The chart below shows our students' perceptions of the importance and their satisfaction with these areas as well as a comparison to their peers.

                                                     WP   WP   Peer % WP Students
                                          Mn   Mn   Mn    Responding
                                          Imp. Sat. Sat. Sat. Not Sat.
The amount of parking space on campus
      is adequate.                         6.58 2.03 2.56   10   84
Parking lots are well-lighted and secure.  6.42 4.10 4.36   48   36
Security staff respond quickly in
      emergencies.                         6.29 4.25 4.63   36   43
Class change (drop/add) policies are
    reasonable.                            6.28 4.29 4.54   52   32
On the whole, the campus is
    well-maintained.                       6.21 4.72 5.41   63   20
Billing policies are reasonable.           6.20 4.37 4.48   52   28
Channels for expressing student complaints
    are readily available.                 6.03 3.89 4.21   34   32
The business office is open during hours
    which are convenient for most students.6.02 4.16 4.71   43   28
Admissions counselors respond to students'
    unique needs and requests.             6.01 4.08 4.57   37   28
Financial aid awards are announced to
    students in time to be helpful.        5.96 4.03 4.17   35   30
The staff in the health services are
    competent.                             5.79 4.61 4.41   44   11

Certainly the dissatisfaction with parking is no surprise. It is an item of very high importance to our students and has the lowest satisfaction of any item in the survey. Note that the day period during which the survey was administered has more students attending class than any other time period and therefore, students completing the survey may have had a particularly difficult time finding parking in their desired location. In addition, students at our peer institutions also had a low level of satisfaction with parking. While most of the satisfaction means for the above items were near 4, the neutral point, there was noticeable dissatisfaction with the perceived availability of channels for expressing student complaints. On the positive side, William Paterson students were significantly more satisfied than their peers with the staff in the health services. The maintenance of the campus was an item of relatively high satisfaction for our students; 63 percent of our students were satisfied and only 20 percent dissatisfied. It is interesting to note that for this item resident students were significantly less satisfied than commuters.

For many students, one of the most frustrating problems is to go to an office seeking information and then be sent to another. In fact, this was a source of dissatisfaction at all the four year public colleges participating in the survey. William Paterson students' responses to the item I seldom get the run-around when seeking information on this campus were indicative of this. Students rated this item with a mean of 6.30 on the importance scale and rated their satisfaction with a mean of 3.50. Only 34 percent of the students indicated that they were somewhat satisfied, satisfied or very satisfied while 48 percent were somewhat dissatisfied, not very satisfied or not satisfied at all, with most of the responses (33.5 percent) in the last two categories. While many areas have worked at improving the way in which they serve our students, more still needs to be done. An assessment of the campus Connections program, a quality service training program for all employees may provide some valuable feedback for improvements.

An institution creates an atmosphere of caring and concern by promoting caring, trust and teamwork among all of its constituents. When faculty members, administrators, students and others subscribe to an ethic of care, powerful messages are sent to students about the importance of respecting all individuals as persons of worth and dignity. Priority efforts have been given to creating a diverse campus community. As well, William Paterson has worked hard at creating an inclusive curriculum, integrating issues of race/ethnicity, gender, class, sexuality and culture into the curriculum through a variety of programs. Many multicultural projects have enjoyed broad, campus-wide planning and attendance and help us to appreciate the richness of cultural diversity found in our campus community.

Students were asked if there was a strong commitment to racial harmony on this campus. Forty one percent were somewhat satisfied, satisfied or very satisfied that there was and 34 percent were somewhat dissatisfied, not very satisfied or not satisfied at all. When these results were looked at by the race/ethnicity of the respondents, it was clear that the African-American respondents were the least satisfied. While there was no significant statistical difference among the other ethnicities, African-American students who rated the importance of this item the same as the other groups had a satisfaction rating that was one-half of the other respondents. It should be remembered that this survey was administered soon after the Feb. 4 visit to the campus of Reverend Al Sharpton. Several issues of the Beacon during that time period contained articles and editorials covering the events of the day which ultimately resulted in the removal of the SGA President from office. It is likely that these events had an effect on the perceptions of racial harmony on campus.

Students were also asked to indicate their satisfaction with the institution=s commitment to various categories of students, among them: part-time students, evening students, older, returning students, under-represented populations, commuters and students with disabilities. In each case, the results were almost the same with approximately 45 percent of the respondents indicating some form of satisfaction, approximately 20 percent expressing degrees of dissatisfaction and one third of the students neutral in their response. There seemed to be somewhat more satisfaction with the commitment to older, returning adults and ssomewhat less satisfaction with the commitment to commuters. The commitment to under-represented populations elicited the largest percentage of neutral responses.

Providing a safe and secure campus for all students is another indicator of institutional caring and concern. In fact, this item had a mean of 6.52 on the importance scales of both our students and the students in our peer group. Sixty-one percent of our students were somewhat satisfied, satisfied or very satisfied that the campus was safe, while 23 percent were somewhat dissatisfied, not very satisfied or not satisfied at all. Subgroup analyses revealed that there were no significant differences among race/ethnicities and resident students did not differ significantly from commuters.

Given the considerable investment of time and energy that most students make in attending college, their perceptions of that educational experience should be given considerable weight. Since there appears to be a direct association between student satisfaction and retention in college, it will serve us well to implement changes that increase our student's satisfaction with their experience at William Paterson University. Hopefully, some of the items mentioned in this report will be the starting point for such changes.

 
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