ALL SATISFACTION IS LOCAL: USING A TACTICAL ASSESSMENT TOOL TO GAUGE STUDENT SATISFACTION AND AS THE BASIS FOR ON-THE-FLY PROGRAM IMPROVEMENTS U sing a limited scope, tactical assessment tool, librarians responsible for providing library orientation sessions for 129 first year students were able to conduct and analyze satisfaction surveys on a class by class basis and make program improvements “on-the-fly” based on the results. The orientation sessions were comprised of three distinct sections including a tour of the facility highlighting the location of resources, an electronic presentation concerning library services, and a PowerPoint history of the library and campus. Questions, which required responses on a 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree) point scale, covered both presentation and content. The mean score for this set of questions for the 129 respondents was 4.4. A second set of questions, open ended in nature, sought specific information useful for the improvement of the design and content of the classes. Many of the suggestions made were implemented as the classes progressed through September and October, 2009, in an effort to better meet the information needs of attendees. As part of the University’s First Year Experience (FYE) program, incoming freshman visited the library in small groups along with an instructor. Following a tour and presentations, a paper survey form, comprised of both quantifiable and narrative questions, was distributed to students and collected as each departed the instruction room. Quantifiable questions were examined in relation to a five point satisfaction scale using relatively straightforward Excel based analyses. Comments were also recorded in a spreadsheet and reviewed for themes as well as suggestions for improvements. Based on this feedback, the program was changed between sessions to make it more useful for, and relevant to, future FYE classes. In most cases, satisfaction scores improved when the responses from the first classes were compared to the last. CONCLUSIONS ABSTRACT SUMMARY *The tactical nature of the survey, with its short list of focused questions and the effort to analyze and respond to it rapidly, proved successful for immediate, non- strategic, gains. *The relatively high mean score for satisfaction, 4.4. overall, suggests that students value and like the library’s FYE tour and presentations. *The survey, when analyzed following each session, allowed us to respond effectively to issues and concerns and to make improvements in an ongoing manner. *Similarities in the responses of each group suggest that is may be possible to do this survey with a subset rather than all of the FYE classes. *If the FYE sessions are to be truly introductory sessions they need to occur very early in the semester. Questions and comments received from FYE classes conducted later in the semester were often more suitable for answering in the upcoming, more detailed and focused, instructional classes. *All three parts of the presentation — tour, overview and history – were valued by attendees but the history might do just as well, or better, being made part of a general campus introduction session for all new students (including transfers and others beyond the freshman year) as well as new faculty and staff. * *We should utilize this, or a similar, survey process in conjunction with FYE classes in the future. SURVEY FORM ANALYSIS TRENDS A review of the comments accompanying each session revealed some interesting trends: *Respondents in the earlier sessions valued each of the sessions reasonably equally with a slight edge given to the library/campus history. *Respondents in the later sessions showed increasing interest in the tour and the library services parts of the presentation, especially where to find books and articles in the library and online. *Scores and comments for the library services presentation improved when it was moved from an internet based offering to a more structured, hyperlinked PowerPoint presentation. *The history part of the presentation received generally very high marks for its content but not as much support for its relevance to the overall presentation, especially for the later groups. Marsha Lee, Undergraduate Services Librarian: Janice Mathews, Social Sciences Librarian: Bill Uricchio, UConn Libraries Survey & Assessment Team Leader: PRESENTED BY TACTICAL v. STRATEGIC Tactical Surveys : *Allow service management on an ongoing basis *Are conducted by front line managers *Use simple continuous tracking methods like point of service questionnaires *Aggregate results weekly or monthly *Are based on factors which can be controlled by front line managers Strategic Surveys: *Allow senior managers to review performance and direction of the organization *Are sometimes referred to as “baseline surveys” *Are used to redefine issues that front line managers must focus on and which can then be measured with tactical surveys -- Handbook of Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty Management, Hill and Alexander, CHART – FIRST CLASS v. LAST CLASS SATISFACTION