1. Mr HJ Visser (Senior Specialist: Information and Strategic Analysis) (Department of Information and Strategic Anslysis) & Prof DH Tustin (Executive Research Director, Bureau of Market Research) 22 September 2009 University of South Africa (UNISA) STUDENT SATISFACTION MODELLING AN IDEAL TOOL TO LOOPHOLE POTENTIAL THREATS AND WEAKNESSES Southern African Association for Institutional Research (SAAIR) – Forum 2009

2. Prologue Student Satisfaction Surveys Challenges  Stronger customer-oriented philosophy  Ensure student readiness  Develop retention strategies  Vigilant management approach: satisfaction-intention-retention link CHE - 56 % of South African students drop out NCES - 58 % of students are likely to complete qualification 3 million young South Africans between 18 and 24 years of age are neither in employment, education or training 2

3. Research methodology… 3 Meta-analysis Research results of previous student satisfaction studies were combined with selected Student Information System (SIS) data 5 823 student data records Descriptive analysis Mean satisfaction index scores Multivariate analysis Correlation analysis (Bivariate) ANOVA-test Examines ‘internal factors’ impacting on students satisfaction across the various pre-defined engagement areas and student biographics Investigates ‘external’ factors that impact on student success across the various pre-defined student biographics

4. 4 Student registration Student support Administrative Academic services/ products

5. Hypotheses… 5 Successful students are more satisfied with services than unsuccessful students Successful students’ satisfaction levels differ by gender group Successful students’ satisfaction levels differ by population group Successful students’ satisfaction levels differ by age group Successful students’ satisfaction levels differ by guardian qualification level Successful students’ satisfaction levels differ by employment status Successful students’ satisfaction levels differ by geographic location Successful students’ satisfaction levels differ by entrance category Successful students’ satisfaction levels differ by IT skills category

6. SATISFACTION SCORES OF SUCCESSFUL AND UNSUCCESSFUL STUDENTS 6 Dimension Unsuccessful studentsSuccessful studentsTotal Index Registration 74 Student Support 656465 Admin and Professional 716970 Academic 70 Average 7170

7. BIVARIATE CORRELATION ACROSS ENGAGEMENT AREAS 7 DimensionsRegistration Student support Administration and professional AcademicTotal Registration1.0000.6310.6270.6060.828 Student support0.6311.0000.5520.6140.792 Administration0.6270.5521.0000.5910.775 Academic0.6060.6140.5911.0000.890 Total0.8280.7920.7750.8901.000 How strong do student success and satisfaction correlate across a selection of biographic variables and how significant is such correlation?

8. BIVARIATE CORRELATION ANALYSIS 8 VariableCorrelation Sig Gender Male--0.0390.060 Female--0.0060.710 Population African+0.0120.492 Coloured--0.0370.538 Indian (Asian)+0.0370.426 White+0.0320.241 Age 15-23 years--0.0410.118 24-30 years--0.0460.077 31-38 years--0.0410.125 39+ years+0.0080.756 0

9. 9 EmploymentCorrelationSig Full-time--0.0330.875 Part-time-0.0640.111 Unemployed--0.0200.533 Full-time student--0.0840.204 Geographic area Towns--0.0040.884 Metro/city--0.0300.085 Entrance category Previous ODL-0.0070.650 Previous residential--0.0210.502 No previous experience--0.0640.226 IT literacy Less IT literate--0.0040.852 More IT literate-0.0310.063 Overall--0.0240.069 0

10. STATISTICAL SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES IN SATISFACTION RATINGS 10 Biographic variable RegistrationStudent Support Administration servicesAcademicAverage Index Gender Male756471 Female73646970 Total74646970 Population group African77677473 Coloured6959656665 Indian6957626665 White6961646867 Total74646970 Age group 15-2372636968 24-307363696869 31-3874647071 39-7776667073 Total74646970 Statistically significant at a 95% level of confidence

11. 11 Biographic variable RegistrationStudent Support Administration servicesAcademicAverage Index Male guardian qualification Degree6960656866 Diploma/certificate7264677069 Grade 1 - 12 & ABET736269 No qualification7968757475 Total73636970 Male guardian qualification Degree68616466 Diploma/certificate7062666968 Grade 1 - 12 & ABET73636970 No qualification7868747374 Total73646970 Employment category Employed full-time73646970 Employed part-time7161676968 Unemployed766572 Full-time student7365737071 Total74646970 Statistically significant at a 95% level of confidence

12. 12 RegistrationStudent Support Administration servicesAcademicAverage Geographic area Towns776673 Metro/city72636869 Total74646970 Entrance category Previously ODL73636870 No previous university7568737573 Previously residential7266726971 Total74646970 IT literacy levels More advanced IT skills7162676968 Less advanced IT skills756571 Total74646970 Student success Unsuccessful students7465717071 Successful students74646970 Total746570 Statistically significant at a 95% level of confidence

13. Hypotheses… 13 Research dimension Student successAccepted Gender groupAccepted Population groupRejected Age groupRejected Guardian qualification levelRejected Employment statusRejected Geographic locationRejected Entrance categoryRejected IT literacy Rejected

14. MOST AND LEAST SATISFIED STUDENT GROUPS 14 Biographic variableMost satisfiedLeast satisfied GenderMalesFemales PopulationAfricanAsian (Indian) AgeOlder studentsYounger students Guardian qualificationNo qualificationDegree qualification EmploymentUnemployedPart-time students GeographicTownsMetro/city Entrance categoryNo previous higher education experiencePrevious ODL students

15. ‘External’ factors 15 Work related (ie stress at work, relevancy of study to workplace) Financial and nonfinancial support and guidance Home environment (ie stress from family and household) Social life (ie sports/spiritual events) Study environment (ie access to library, study space and support) Workload and length of study (ie hours required for studies, period of completion of studies)

16. External factors 16 Biographic variableLeast satisfied Inhibiting factors (Priority ranking) GenderFemales Work stress, Family stress Finance PopulationAsian (Indian)Work stress, Family stress AgeYounger students Finance, Work stress Lack of support/guidance Guardian qualificationDegree qualificationWork stress, Family stress EmploymentPart-time students Finance, Work stress GeographicMetro/cityWork stress, Finance Enrolment statusPart-time younger studentsWork stress, Finance Entrance categoryResidential university student Work stress Lack access to library Family stress

17. CONCLUSION 17 STUDENT SATISFACTION MODELLING AN IDEAL TOOL TO LOOPHOLE POTENTIAL THREATS AND WEAKNESSES