Freshmen Satisfaction Survey Yuko Araki Ashley Campbell Terence Chau Jennifer Crossan

Purpose & Goal The purpose of our survey is to find the strengths and weaknesses of freshmen experiences. Our goal is to find out the students’ opinion in order to make improvements in the lifestyles of future incoming students.

Variables of Interest Satisfaction levels of lifestyle –Housing Assignment –Campus Dining –Campus Sponsored Activities Satisfaction levels of Academics –Time Away from Academics –Academic Performance Overall Satisfaction

Expected Outcome Housing –Higher satisfaction for Off-Campus –Unsatisfied people spend more time off campus Food –Low satisfaction overall –Unsatisfied people spend money on Off campus food Academics –The more classes they miss, the worse their academic performance will be.

Background and Design Target Population –First year students at CMU Sampled Population –All first year students at CMU totaling 1310 Sample Frame –List of entire freshmen Andrew user IDs with corresponding phone numbers

Background and Design cont’d Expected Response Rate –50% Sample Size –300 freshmen out of 1310 (reasonably large to conduct survey) Expected Sample Size –150 freshmen out of 1310

Background and Design cont’d Expected MOE (Margin of Error) –MOE = 2.25 fpc = 2.25 (1310–150)/1309 = n Variance = 0.038, This Means … 95% of the time, sample responses fall within from mean

Sampling Plan & Methods Simple Random Sampling –we do not wish to makes inferences about any sub populations Cover Letter (directs to website) –High response rate was expected because everyone has access to their Andrew account. Web page –Relative ease in data collection and analysis Telephone Follow Up –Have a list of phone numbers, Quick.

Questionnaire Development Questions were carefully reviewed. Piloted by 20 people –Changed order of questions –Added free responses –Simplified the confidentiality explanation –Asked for college affiliation We wanted to see if there is a relationship between college and satisfaction.

Confidentiality Store Names/ID in one file, coded responses in another file We kept track of who replied Names were not associated with responses List of respondents was kept confidential; the list was discarded after the survey was completed. Report contains data only in aggregate form.

Survey Implementation Initial survey by 4/23 at 15:57 –76 Responses –25.3% Response rate First Follow-up by 4/25 at 1:42 –151 Responses –50.3% Cumulative Response Rate –3 Complaints Second Follow-up by Phone 5/1 –165 Responses –55.0% Cumulative Response Rate –0 Complaints

Pie Chart of Colleges Consistent with CMU demographics

Freshmen’s satisfaction on Housing

Housing Location and Satisfaction Off Campus: Webster Cathedral Mansions Shady Oaks Fairfax Amberson Apartments Shirley Apartments

H-Satisfaction and Hours spent in the room per day Not enough correlation between the number of hours spent in the room and the housing satisfaction.

Freshman Satisfaction with Campus Food

Money spent on Campus Food and Satisfaction With Campus Food Unlike expected, not strong correlation between how much you spend on campus food and how much you are unsatisfied with it.

How Many Classes Freshman Missed Per Week

Performance and class missed

Average Units taken by college

Units and Academic Performance Students who take many courses are modest with their academic performance while, students with lower academic performance do not necessary take many courses. Students with less number of units do well academically

Participation to CMU events and Academic Performances Better students participate in CMU activities more often than those who didn’t do well academically

Interesting Food Comments Better food, it wouldn't make me miss home as much. Trust me, food here couldn't get any worse. I seriously you guys can somehow change that. All your base is belong to good food! make it less crappy. It tastes crappy, and tends to give me the craps as well. It is also pretty expensive for the 7-11 quality. Shut down a few CMU food outlets and invite foreign franchises. Similiar to the "O". Sbarro, Friendlies, Sonic are places that students like. Since the demand is inelastic, CMU can tax them like hell! get rid of the goddamn meal plan!!! IMPROVE SERVICES. I have to wait 10 minutes to get a sandwich done at the East Street Deli, and I have people yelling at me at Highlander. Also, LOWER PRICES. 65 cents for ONE APPLE is purelly disgusting and it's price gouging. Lastlly, spend more time making food. It tastes like crap.

Housing Comments DON'T CONDEMN ME TO SHIRLEY APARTMENTS! I DIDN'T APPLY FOR THAT PLACE Better prepared RA's and TA. My first semester would have been better if I had a better roommate because he made life miserable for me. My R.A. is anti-social which frequently inconvienents me 1) Move to a new city. 2) Remove the smells that emanate from some of the drains (i.e. by West Wing). Roof over walk-ways. With such terrible weather almost the whole year, I don't see why CMU doesn't invest in more convenient (and less hectic/wet/dirty) way of getting from point A to point B. I personally hate cold and rain and snow and inconvenience. In effect, better weather would have made CMU much better.

Miscellaneous Comments better food,people having a less UPTIGHT attitude that wears off on everybody else. get the stick-out-of-your-ass sort of thing focus on entertainment over anything else. CMU is after all a depressing place, simply look at our alumni donation rate. simple stats should explain a lot. This school really needs more liberal-arts oriented classes. It's a shame that there are only 2 literature classes. I think the overall academic quality would be more well rounded if classes weren't so technically dense. More intercommunication between Pitt and CMU, open up social events to both groups of students.

Obligatory complaining about the girls at CMU More hot chicks. BETTER FOOD. Better looking girls and better sports facilities. More good looking females

Conclusion & Summary As Expected –Slightly higher satisfaction of housing assignments for off campus residents –Very low satisfaction level for campus food choices –The more classes they miss, the worse their academic performance will be –The less classes they takes, the better their academic performance was

Conclusion & Summary Not As Expected –Satisfaction with housing assignment is NOT correlated with the hours spent inside the room –Students spend money on campus food even if they are very unsatisfied with campus food situation. There is no correlation to money spent on campus food and food satisfaction –Students who claimed that their academic performance was worse than expected did not necessarily overload the units

Conclusion & Summary Interesting Outcome –BHA students take the most number of units, not CIT students. –Students who are involved in school activities and events do better academically Suggestions from the survey  Better food, more friendly environment for school events, do not limit the number of units to students who are not doing well academically

End of presentation