Illinois CEE Student Survey Results Dr. Julia Melkers, Associate Professor School of Public Policy Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia Summary of Key Survey Results Spring 2010

Survey Process and Population Online survey of Illinois CEE faculty, staff and students. Lists obtained from CEE staff:  Faculty (tenure track and non) & postdocs  Staff  Students (graduate and undergraduate) Response Rates:  57 completed faculty responses (80%)  34 completed staff responses (73%)  590 completed student responses (50%)

Student Respondents (n=590) 68% US Citizens 70% Male

Results and Output Townhall:  Highlight of some key findings Interests and experiences (classes and research) Advising and interactions in CEE Written Report  All presentation slides  Additional descriptive results not presented in Townhall format Cleaned qualitative responses Other close ended responses

Engineering students acquire a number of skills used in a practical work environment. How much has your CEE coursework helped you to develop the following skills? Mean Responses, By Student Rank: 1= CEE coursework helps little or none, 2= CEE coursework helps some, 3= CEE coursework helps substantially

Interest in Other Disciplines? Mean Responses, By Student Rank (1=No interest, 2= Moderate interest, 3= High level of interest)

Interest in Other Skills Sets Mean Responses, By Student Rank (1=No interest, 2= Moderate interest, 3= High level of interest)

Curriculum: CEE and Other Departments Students vary in extent to which they have interest in non CEE courses Mean Responses: (1=strongly disagree, 2=disagree, 3=agree, 4=strongly agree)

Pre-requisites Little rank-based difference, although undergraduates may have slightly more issues with this than graduate students. Mean Responses: (1=strongly disagree, 2=disagree, 3=agree, 4=strongly agree)

INTERACTIONS

Would you like to have more of the following? CEE Interaction Mean Responses: 1=Would like less, 2= About right, 3= Would like more

Would you like to have more of the following? Research and Learning Mean Responses: 1=Would like less, 2= About right, 3= Would like more

Would you like to have more of the following? Broadening Experiences Mean Responses: 1=Would like less, 2= About right, 3= Would like more

Information from CEE!! % of Students that Want Info on:

Mode of Communications from CEE? Mean Responses: (1=strongly disagree, 2=disagree, 3=agree, 4=strongly agree)

ADVISORS AND CAREER DEVELOPMENT

Have you met with your advisor in the last year? 58% Undergraduates 95% Masters 98% PhD International students report NOT meeting with their advisor at a higher rate than US citizens Female students report meeting with their advisors at a higher rate.

Critical Issue: Lack of Advisor Interaction High Among Undergraduates % of students that indicated whether they had met with their CEE advisor in the last year. (n=533)

Critical Issue: Lack of Advisor Interaction High Among Undergraduates: Is this limited to freshman? % of undergraduate students that indicated whether they had met with their CEE advisor in the last year, by expected year of graduation. (n=262) % who have not met with their advisor is fairly well distributed across years

Critical Issue: Lack of Advisor Interaction High Among Undergraduates: Is this limited to poor performers? % of undergraduate students that indicated whether they had met with their CEE advisor in the last year, by GPA. (n=260) % who have not met with their advisor fairly well distributed across reported GPA

Undergraduate Insights: For each of the statements below, please indicate the extent that it describes your interactions with your CEE faculty advisor. Mean Responses: (1=strongly disagree, 2=disagree, 3=agree, 4=strongly agree)

Undergraduate Insights Split on availability & interest of advisors Graduate student feedback has less variance Mean Responses: (1=strongly disagree, 2=disagree, 3=agree, 4=strongly agree)

Detailed Feedback Students highlighted :  Lack of faculty awareness of advisees.  Faculty-student match  Availability  Curriculum and requirements awareness  Possible ideas for improving interactions  High level of interest in interacting with advisors

Overall Conclusions Students have valuable insights that will provide detailed feedback to faculty and CEE leadership. Students want more interactions and opportunities. Some groups of students are not having access to opportunities and faculty as much as they want.

Other Suggestions: Many ideas! Students offered a range of specific suggestions to:  Enhance interaction with faculty  Social interaction  Curricular interests  Detailed in open ended responses.