Purpose of Local Online Surveys
Online surveys help ascertain WIU community input on a variety of topics throughout the year. All surveys must meet Institutional Review Board guidelines. University groups wishing to conduct online surveys for the purpose of gaining valuable information in support of decision making can contact survey@wiu.edu to discuss online survey development and deployment.
Completed Surveys - Academic Year 2007-2008
Campus Visit Evaluation - Spring 2008
Undergraduate Admissions continued the effort it began in the Fall of asking students who had visited Western Illinois University at other than a Discover Western program, to provide online feedback on their visit and their interest in Western. During this second semester, 94 prospective students provided feedback that will help Western in its student recruiting efforts.
- 87.6% of prospective students said their current visit was the first time they had visited Western.
- 28.9% of the prospective students said they had not visited any other colleges/universities, while 17.8% had visited one other school, 15.6% had visited 2 others, and 37.8% had visited 3 or more.
- Of those who had visited other colleges/universities, 66.7% rated Western as better than the other schools they had visited, while 26.76% rated Western as about the same.
- 95.3% of prospective students said they were at least somewhat likely to decide to attend Western, with 60.0% indicating that Western was their 1st choice among schools to attend.
- 53.7% of prospective students said that a WIU Admissions Counselor had visited their high school, with 62.5% of these having had the opportunity to meet with the Counselor during the visit to their school.
- 40.7% of prospective students had attended a College Fair, with 41.2% of these having had the opportunity to meet with a WIU Admissions Counselor during the Fair.
- 55.0% of prospective students said they would be interested in attending a Discover Western program.
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Dads' Weekend 2008 Survey
Spring 2008 represented Western's 4th annual Dads' Weekend. Despite the challenges inherent in a very raining weekend, survey responses from 78 of 193 attending Dads show the program continues to be a success.
- 85.9% of Dads traveled more than 150 miles to spend a weekend of fun together with their sons and daughters at Western. While some Dads came with other family and friends, 71.0% ventured to Western alone for a 1-on-1 experience.
- 19.2% of Dads participated in the full Western experience, while 74.0% opted for hotels, etc., with just 6.8% community for the events.
- With the Golf Outing cancelled due to the rain, the most popular activities were Bowling & Billiards (50.0% of Dads), the Dads' Farewell Breakfast (48.1%), and Dads' Saturday Night Dinner and the Free Bowling hour on Sunday (both at 32.7%).
- It looks like Dads' Weekend 2008 will be another success as 92.0% of Dads are interested in attending a future Dads' Weekend and 97.4% would recommend the experience to others.
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Choosing to Attend Western - Freshman Survey
Western's office of Undergraduate Admissions invited 1929 first-year freshman for their reasons in choosing to enroll at Western so that the office could enhance its recruitment efforts, as well as to provide insight on improving student's Western experiences. Of 1929 students invited to participate in the online survey at the end of Spring semester, 178 provided input.
- Keeping with Macomb campus' predominantly traditional student enrollment, 87.1% of the new freshmen were 18 or 19.
- Freshmen are definitely part of the technology generation, with 97.7% owning a computer, and since most live in the residence halls, 98.9% have an Internet connection at school, as do 94.4% at their homes.
- 77.7% of freshmen had attended Western before deciding to attend, and 74.8% had applied to schools besides Western.
- Keeping in tune with Western's core values, academic programs and majors was factor affecting their decision to attend Western 59.4%, and Western's unique all-costs guarantee was a factor among 63.4% of the freshman class.
- Freshmen were very involved during their first year of college at Western, with Intramurals being the most popular (25.2%), followed closely by Hall Government (20.9%). In addition, 79.8% of freshmen had attended a WIU athletic team event and 59.0% had attended a campus lecture other than their regular classes. Exercising on a regular basis and maintaining a health lifestyle were also practiced, both by 50.9% of the freshman.
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Faculty Travel Needs Assessment Survey
An ad hoc committee was charged by the Faculty Senate to study the level of funding that faculty receive in support of travel to conferences, etc., that enhance professional and scholarly activities. Information was solicited from 877 WIU faculty, with 273 faculty ranging from faculty assistant to full professor and representing 39 academic departments providing input.
- 44.5% indicated that there was a written travel policy within their academic department, while 21.5% said there was not and 34.0% did not know. Only about half as many (24.0%) indicated that there was a written policy at their college level , although level of uncertainty increase to 64.6%.
- Whether written or unwritten policy, the majority of departments (55.1%) and colleges (50.2%) required that faculty participate in the conference, etc., as a presenter, panelist,or officer in order to receive travel funding. However, there was still considerable uncertainty about this issue at the college level (36.9%), while only 8.8% of faculty were unsure of their departmental policy.
- 95.3% of faculty had attended a major conference of event within the past 2 years, or plan to do so in the upcoming year. Location of these events covered 40 of the 50 states, plus Washington D.C., Africa, Asia, Australia/New Zealand, Canada, the Caribbean, both Central and South America, both Eastern and Western Europe, and Mexico.
- 67.8% of faculty indicated that there have been major conferences or events within the past 2 years that they have not been able to attend, with the predominant reason begin the cost (92.9%).
- In terms of related conference expenses, average event cost, including travel, lodging, and registration was under $1000 for 47.6% of the time and under $1500 for 84.4% of the time although 38.1% of faculty reported receiving a less that 50% reimbursement and only 19.5% reported receiving a 90% or greater reimbursement.
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General Education Writing Survey
Following the elimination of Western's General Education writing requirement, the Council on General Education surveyed the 241 faculty teaching GenEd classes during Spring 2008 to see the type and extent of writing across all GenEd courses. 113 faculty provided input.
- A considerable amount of writing occurs across the GenEd curriculum, with 80.1% having informal writing assignments, 64.3% having essay exams, 52.2% having papers with citations, and 57.0% having other types of writing assignments, and 64.1% having at least one assignment where students were provided feedback on their writing effort with the opportunity for revision.
- An oft-made assumption that larger class size results in less writing was not seen based on these respondent's input except that there were consistently fewer essay exams in classes above 65 students and far less opportunity for feedback and revision in large, 80+, classes.
Writing Type and Frequency in GenEd Courses
| Class Size |
Informal Writing |
Essay Exams |
Papers w/ Citations |
Other Writing |
Feedback & Revision |
| <20 |
98.4% |
62.5% |
56.4% |
68.1% |
43.2% |
| 21-34 |
82.6% |
73.9% |
50.0% |
33.3% |
60.0% |
| 35-49 |
76.5% |
67.7% |
56.3% |
69.6% |
66.7% |
| 50-64 |
86.7% |
60.0% |
35.7% |
46.2% |
61.5% |
| 65-79 |
50.0% |
0.0% |
50.0% |
100.0% |
66.7% |
| 80+ |
72.7% |
30.0% |
33.3% |
0.0% |
20.0% |
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Honors College Survey
Western's Centennial Honors College sought feedback from its 429 enrolled students to gain insight into what they have enjoyed and what improvements would benefit the Honors College. 105 Honors College students responded.
- There was clearly no single way students found out about Western's Centennial Honors College, with 29% indicating through the Discover Western program, 28% from exploring the WIU website, 16% from a WIU faculty member, 14% from their WIU academic advisor, and 13% from another WIU student, with the largest group (33%), indicating they learned about the opportunity in "other" ways, while only 4% learned about it from their high school counselor.
- 61% of students new another WIU student who met the Honors College eligibility criteria, but who had chosen not to join the program, with by far the 2 biggest reasons being afraid to would require too much time to participate (78%) and not realizing the tangible benefits to participating in the Honors College (68%). Despite these perceived concerns, 96% of Honors College students would recommend the program to other academically talented students.
- Honors College students certainly not only focused in the classroom, with 48% indicating that they are involved in at least 2 student organizations and only 20% not belonging to any student organizations. In addition, 27% serve as an officer in a student organization and 22% serve as an officer in 2 or more student organizations, with 46% having served as the president of a WIU student organization.
- A large majority (77%) of students joined the Honors College as freshmen, although an additional 12% joined as sophomores, and 11% joined as juniors.
- Just over half (51%) of students had attended an Honors College event, although 92% of respondents said they would be interested in doing so, with receptions with executives in their field of study topping their list of preferences (67%), followed by ice cream socials (55%), career service workshop (44%), movie and popcorn night (42%), and receptions with government professionals in your field of study (41%).
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Quad Cities Grad Center Interest Survey
The Quad Cities Graduate Center provides the physical site for a consortium of 10 Illinois and Iowa universities which offer a variety of graduate programs and courses to area residents. The Center took advantage of Western's online survey technology to conduct a needs assessment for graduate education in the Quad Cities. The results of the initial survey of 187 respondents focused on individuals not currently enrolled in any university education, with subsequent research to look at the interest of current QC area students in continuing their education after obtaining their undergraduate degree.
- 96.7% of respondents were employed full-time, and with employers who frequently (78%) offered some type of educational benefits, including partial tuition reimbursement (30.6%), flex time (26.9%), and full tuition (22.0%).
- Only 16.0% of respondents were currently enrolled in a college/university program, but 54.1% indicated that they are interested and/or considering this opportunity although cost (23.2%) and lack of time (19.9%) were the primary interfering factors.
- Among those who were enrolled in a college/university program, the most common school of choice was St. Ambrose (44.8%), followed by the University of Iowa (24.1%), with course/program selection (34.5%) and flexible course offerings/program (17.2%) the biggest factors in making their school choice.
- A Master's degree (71.6%) was the most common degree aspiration among all respondents, although 17.3% had even higher educational goals.
- Both traditional classrooms (66.7%) and Internet or Web-based courses (40.2%) were preferred learning styles, as well as being at least acceptable modalities (95.1% and 88.5%), with videotape instruction being considered the least desirable by 59.2% of respondents.
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WIU Theme Study
In conjunction with the WIU Theme Committee, Mr. Richard Ellefritz survey the entire campus population in Fall 2007 and again in Spring 2008 to determine the campus communities awareness of and opinions on the environment, and to see if these views had changed after the year-long Environmental Sustainability theme focus. Of the 15,000+ Fall campus community, 1895 participated in the survey; of the 14,000+ Spring population, 1600 participated; and 520 individuals participated in both the Fall and Spring surveys.
- Environmental issues were discussed in 33.2% of responding student’s classes and 9.5% of students intentionally took courses that focused on environmental sustainability. For freshmen enrolled in First Year Experience (FYE) classes, 47.9% of students indicated that at least a few class periods were spent discussing environmental issues in keeping with the integration of the campus theme into FYE.
- Throughout Fall and Spring semesters, 44 environmental programs were held on campus. Top draws among the 27 special invited campus presentations were Environmental Sustainability presented by Robert “Bobby” Kennedy, Jr. (25.7% attended) and Living Green with Ed presented by Ed Begley, Jr. (20.9% attended). The top draw among the 12 sustainability brown baggers was Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild: Visionary, Martyr, or Fool? presented by David Stevenson, English & Journalism (7.0% attended). The top draw among the 5 environmental justice films was The Shape of Water (4.8% attended).
- In Fall 2007, participants rated Economic issues as their top concern followed by Social Justice issues and Environmental issues. In Spring 2007, Economic issues remained on top, but Environmental issues overtook Social Justice issues. In both semesters, National Security, Foreign Relations, and Moral issues rounded out the 6 categories.
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Alcohol Consumption and Sexual Behavior "Quiz"
After having educated the campus community with a widely popular "Drug IQ" quiz last year, Dr. Mike Davey, Health Sciences, returned this year, with graduate student, Mr. Wade Brown, to again test the knowledge of campus students, faculty, and staff with a new edition, this time an "Alcohol Consumption and Sex Behavior" quiz. The entire 14,337-member campus community was offered a short 1-week opportunity to participate.
- Among 1,795 participants, the top score of 7 out of 9, or 78%, was earned by just 7 individuals, and no single question was answered correctly by everyone although at least a few correct answers were provided for each of the questions.
- To get the facts on alcohol consumption and sexual behavior, you are invited to check out the answers, provided by Dr. Davey and Mr. Brown.
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Western's Emergency Alert System Review Survey
After having been tested in late Fall 2007, and then used only for snow-related alerts, Western's Emergency Alert System (WEAS) received its first real challenge in response to the shooting warning/threat that occurred on the Macomb campus on March 26, 2008. A campuswide survey followed that event to evaluate how effective WEAS had been, and to provide insight into needed improvements to best prepare the campus in the future.
- Of the 12,514 Macomb campus students, faculty, and staff, 1,949 provided input. 84.2% of students, faculty, and staff had taken advantage of the opportunity to register for the WEAS prior to the March 26, 2008 event. Of those who had not previously registered, the event only spurred 37.0% to register for the service. However, since the event, 29.6% have returned to the service website to update their contact emergency information.
- Of those who were signed up for WEAS before the event, 79.0% received a phone call, 75.4% received an email message, 50.0% received a text message, and 3.7% indicated that they had not received any message. And of those who can recall when they first received their WEAS message, 61.4% had been alerted within the first 15 minutes, and 80.4% were alerted within 30 minutes.
- The largest group of those notified were in a classroom or academic building (40.2%), and although students indicated that 54.5% of their instructors had not received an alert, 80.0% indicated that someone in class let the instructor know about the alert.
- The WEAS message directed users to go to the WIU website for more information, which created a large load on the web server, resulting in slower page loading times for 60.6% of users, a situation was efforts were taken to rectify once the problem was realized.
- Although there will certainly be recommendations for improvement, the first real test of WEAS was considered effective by 93.9% of survey respondents.
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WIU-QC Advising Survey - Spring 2008
WIU-QC students were asked again in Spring 2008 to evaluate the academic advising they had received, with 71 of 621 undergraduate students providing input that will be used to improve the advising they receive. A 6-point scale, with 1=Strongly Agree to 6=Strongly Disagree, was used to assess 14 questions related to academic advising.
- The top 4 areas regarding satisfaction with the academic advising process were:
- I regularly use and refer to resources such as STARS, WIU e-mail, and the WIU website. (1.39)
- I keep a record of my academic progress, goals, and decisions that affect my educational progress. (1.53)
- I prepare for my advising appointments with questions and/or topics to discuss. (1.68)
- My advisor treats me with respect. (1.73).
- The 2 areas which indicated the greatest need for improvement, although they still scored considerably better than a mean 3.5 rating, were:
- When appropriate, my advisor refers me to resources and support services, e.g., financial aid, counseling, career services, writing center, etc. (2.80)
- I use support services recommended by my advisor, such as financial aid, counseling, career services, writing center, etc. (2.75)
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CARDIA Project - Spring 2008
In Fall 2007, Western begin participating in an Illinois Department of Public Health sponsored effort to help develop a campus-based mass media campaign about nutrition, physical activity, and environmental changes that would help combat the "Freshman 15" weight gain commonly seen on campuses nationwide. The effort continued into the spring semester, with an additional 157 students in selected classes being asked to participate in this study which involved information about healthy lifestyles, with 102 providing benchmark information through a confidential online survey at the beginning of the spring 2008 program and 55 also providing information at the end of the study to help evaluate the effectiveness of the program.
- Students were more confident of their general health after learning about personal health, improving from a 2.98 to a 2.58 rating on a 1-5 scale (1=Excellent, 5=Poor).
- Although more (34.2% vs 31.0%) rated CVD as the leading cause of death after learning about personal health, both before and after groups continued to rank Accidents as the greatest risk (43.1% and 42.1%), with Cancer being the 2nd greatest risk.
- The program has had an impact on student likelihood of changing their lifestyle if their doctor told them they were at risk for developing CVD, increasing from 1.77 at the beginning of the semester to 1.71 at the end of the semester (1=Very Likely, 5=Very Unlikely).
- Before the study, 91% of students felt that a poor diet contributes to the development of CVD, and 89.1% felt that their diets were at least somewhat healthy. After learning more about CVD risks and preventative efforts, awareness of the link between diet and CVD had increased to 97.3%, and there seemed to be an improvement in diet, with 94.6% rating their diet as at least somewhat healthy at the end of the semester.
- Students tended to be active, although running/jogging (59%) replaced walking for exercise as most popular with walking for exercise (56%) as the most popular aerobic activity in Spring 2008. In fact, running/jogging increased (55% to 65%) perhaps due to the emergence of spring, although indoor aerobic exercise also increased (30% to 41%). Walking was stable (55% to 57%), despite the promotion of walking and the free availability of pedometers provided by this program.
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Marketing 329 Class - Burlington Bees Survey
As a class project, 4 students in Marketing 329 sought to explore attitudes and opinions about the Burlington Bees minor league baseball team from Burlington-area residents in an effort to evaluate the success of current and prospective marketing efforts. 336 individuals responded.
- Of respondents, only 8.6% had never attended a Burlington Bees game, with 71.7% having attended at least one game during the 2007 season.
- The top three reasons individuals chose to attend a Burlington Bees game were: 1) attending was "fun with friends" (53.2%), 2) enjoy watching Bees baseball (50.4%), and 3) attending was "family fun" (49.2%).
- A Burlington Bees printed schedule was the most common way individuals found out about the date/time of Bees games (71.1%) by a 2:1 margin over 2nd choice (local newspaper at 35.6%) and 3rd choice (Bees website at 35.2%).
- The top marketing draw was Fireworks, with 50.2% indicated that having fireworks would affect their decision to attend.
- The top reasons for not attending more Bees game reflect busy lifestyles, with 52.7% saying they'd like to attend more games, but have been too busy, and 42.8% saying they have other things to do.
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Psychology Motive Study
During Spring, Dr. Hemenover, WIU Psychology, invited students from Psychology 100 classes, and others, to participate in his study evaluating the connection between personality and emotional experience. Utilizing confidential online survey technology, Dr. Hemenover asked participants about the ways they generally respond when experience a variety of emotional experiences, as well as aspects of their overall personality. A very brief summary of his overall study results, based on 149 responses, are provided below.
- When experiencing a bad mood/emotion, 67.8% of responding students try to make themselves feel better, with nearly half (49.7%) putting a lot of effort into trying to improve their mood.
- Showing an overall healthy response to bad moods/emotions, only 25.2% of responding students think about things that will worsen their feelings, and just slightly more (28.2%) indicated that they tended to dwell on their bad feelings.
- When responding students were experiencing a good mood/emotion, their responses indicated that the overwhelming majority wanted to keep it that way, with 92.5% having fun with friends, and 88.9% trying to maintain their positive feelings as long as possible.
- Showing an overall healthy appreciation of their good moods/emotions, only 4.1% of responding students try to talk themselves down, while 25.7% do try to curb their enthusiasm.
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Views on Shared Governance Study
Faculty Senate-eligible members were surveyed regarding their perceptions of shared governance at Western Illinois University. Of 683 Senate-eligible faculty, 218 provided input on this issue.
- 58.1% agreed that WIU administrators acknowledge the importance of shared governance, with 51.3% believing that there was a climate of shared governance at Western.
- Only 40.7% agreed that faculty members could express dissenting viewpoints without fear of reprisal, although 49.5% felt that Western has a climate that encourages diversity of thought, perspective, and opinion.
- Faculty clearly want a greater involvement in shared governance at Western, with just 24.4% saying there was sufficient faculty involvement in shared governance, while 42.6% felt faculty involvement in shared government was insufficient, with 33.0% unsure.
- The majority (58.1%) did feel that faculty had a voice in academic policies and a greater majority (64.6%) felt that faculty determine the curriculum at WIU.
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Library Instruction - Spring 2008
Learning to effectively use the library for research is the focus of the class sessions library faculty provide on behalf of various academic faculty across campus. As was the case in Fall 2007, students again had the opportunity to evaluate these one-time class sessions, this time with 156 students providing feedback.
- 99.4% rated the librarian as knowledgeable about the material, and also felt that the lesson content was presented clearly and understandably, with the presentation effectively utilizing technology.
- 98.1% said the lesson was well prepared, with 98.1% reporting that the librarian used relevant, engaging examples to describe the topic, and 96.8% indicating that the session had practice activities that were useful for their academic class assignment.
- 99.4% said the librarian was courteous and friendly, with 93.0% agreeing that the librarian encourage student questions and participation, and 93.6% noting that the librarian was sensitive to the class level and student progress.
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New ID Card Contest Voting
With Western moving to a new ID card, a contest was initiated to enable the entire campus community, both in Macomb and at the Quad Cities, to put their creative minds to work and submit designs for consideration, with prizes awarded to the top 3 designs. During March 2008, 58 individuals submitted 118 designs, which the selection committee narrowed down to 8 finalists. Campuswide voting in April then selected the winners, with more more than 2,148 casting their votes.
The 1st place winner, and recipient of an 8GB iPod Nano, was Michael Darwin, a senior Art major from Macomb, IL.
The 2nd place winner, and recipient of a $50 iTunes Gift Card was C. Sean West, a Web Specialist in the WIU Libraries.
The 3rd place winner, and recipient of a $25 iTunes Gift Card, was Jacob Lower, a freshman Computer Science major from Aledo, IL.- See all of the 8 finalists' designs at www.wiu.edu/IDCardContest.
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Dean's 4-year Reviews - CAS & COFAC
As they had in Spring 2006 for the mid-term Dean Reviews, the colleges of Arts & Sciences and Fine Arts & Communication again took advantage of online survey technology to obtain faculty and staff assessment of their Dean's performance and leadership as the Dean's each neared completion of their initial 4-year term as Dean of their respective colleges.
- College of Arts & Sciences
- College of Fine Arts & Communication
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Faculty Senate Committee Interest Survey
The Faculty Senate utilized online survey technology to collect faculty interest in serving on the various Senate committees and councils.
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Internal Auditing Compliance
Western's Internal Auditing Department took advantage of online survey technology to collect the information required from various campus entities to ensure that they were meeting auditing compliance requirements.
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2008-2009 Common Reading Vote
As has become a campuswide Spring tradition at Western, all students, faculty, and staff were invited to rate the 6 finalists for the 2008-09 common reading which serves as a focal point for the First Year Experience program and the University Theme, which will be Health & Wellness.
- The choices, based on more 100 nominations by the campus community, were Smashed by Koren Zailckas, Scar Tissue by Anthony Kiedis, Dazed and Fatigued in the Toxic 21st Century by Mark Llewellyn Hall, The Medicalization of Society by Peter Conrad, Our Cancer Year by Karvey Pekar and Joyce Brabner, and My Own Country by Abraham Verghese.
With nearly 1,200 of the campus community taking the opportunity to vote, Smashed, by Koren Zailckas was the
overwhelming favorite. Garnering a vast amount of attention from young people and parents, Smashed quickly became a media sensation and a New York times bestseller. Eye-opening and utterly gripping, Zailckas' story is that of thousands of girls like her who are not alcoholics, yet, but who routinely use booze as a shortcut to courage and a stand-in for good judgment. Smashed is a sober look at how Zailckas' excesses gave way to a pattern of self-poisoning that grew more destructive each year, and after years of blackouts and smashups, how she finally came to realize that she had to stop drinking.
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Sociology Majors/Minors and Anthropology Minors Survey
The Department of Sociology and Anthropology sought input from their majors and minors regarding their satisfaction their respective program. 31 of 206 Sociology majors, 40 of 424 Sociology minors, and 11 of 42 Anthropology minors responded.
- 94% of Sociology majors were satisfied to very satisfied with quality of the sociology program, with 90% stating that the program had somewhat to very well met their learning objectives. In addition, 64% were satisfied to very satisfied with the number of required courses offered each semester, and just slight less (61%) were satisfied to very satisfied with the variety of electives offered each semester.
- Sociology majors strongly (89%) felt that the department should offer specializations or concentrations within the major, with Criminology/Delinquency (80%), Family & Social Psychology (72%) being most suggested.
- 90% of Sociology minors were satisfied to very satisfied with quality of the sociology program, with 82% stating that the program had somewhat to very well met their learning objectives. In addition, 58% were satisfied to very satisfied with the variety of electives offered each semester.
- 91% of Anthropology minors were satisfied to very satisfied with quality of the anthropology program, with 91% stating that the program had somewhat to very well met their learning objectives. In addition, 80% were satisfied to very satisfied with the variety of electives offered each semester.
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Web Accessibility Survey
With the Internet becoming the primary way information is accessed, ensuring that the content of all of Western's approximately 20,0000 webpages is accessible to those with disabilities is an important aspect, as well as ensuring that Western meets the new, more stringent requirements of the Illinois Internet Technology Accessibility Act which becomes effective August 20, 2008. With these goal and requirement in mind, the nearly 3,000 faculty and staff at Western were surveyed about the web tools they current use, so that a campuswide effort can be developed to ensure accessibility or our web presence. 434 WIU employees completed the baseline survey.
- 32% of respondents create PDF files, with 43% doing so at least a few times a week.
- 70% of respondents use the full version of Adobe Acrobat to create PDF files from other documents, although only 46% are using the most current version (8.0) which has the greatest accessibility attributes.
- 89% of respondents create PDFs form Microsoft Office documents such as Word and Excel, with 56% generally using Acrobat integration within Office to create PDFs.
- Dreamweaver was the most prominent means of creating webpages, being used by 55% of those who create webpages, although only 30% are using the most current version (CS).
- Among those who use Dreamweaver, 56% do so at least a few times a week, even though only 16% of all respondents create webpages as part of their regular work duties.
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CBT Advising Survey
The College of Business & Technology Advising Center sought the input of its nearly 1,500 Macomb campus undergraduate students in assessing their satisfaction with the academic advising they had received. 267 students provided confidential input which was shared with individual advisors, with summary results reported here.
- 86% of students felt that they had reasonable access to consult with their advisor.
- 88% of students felt that their advisor listened to their concerns, with 85% indicated that their advisor was willing to spend sufficient time with them to address their concerns.
- 81% of students said that their advisor provided them with accurate and timely information about their major, course, and curriculum requirements.
- 86% of students said their advisor treats them with respect and is interested in their academic progress.
- 82% of students believed that their CBT advisor was an effective advisor.
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Union Food Court Options Survey
Western's Student Government Association asked all Macomb campus students about their satisfaction with and preferred changes in the Union Food Court dining options. Out of just over 10,000 students, 847 provided their input during Spring 2008.
- The greatest dissatisfaction was expressed with Stack's, with 53% of students indicated that it was the dining establishment that least adequately suited their needs.
- Although only 28% had eaten at the new 1864 Bistro, 74% of these students rated their Bistro dining experience as good to excellent.
- If given an opportunity to add an international dining option, 47% of students would chose Mexican cuisine while 37% would choose Asian cuisine.
- In indicating their preferred new fast food brand to join the Union Food Court dining options, out of 12 choices Panera Bread Company was a near 2:1 favorite over 2nd place Taco Bell, with Subway coming in 3rd.
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Faculty New Computer Survey
As part of Western's Technology Strategic Plan, campuswide efforts are being undertaken to modernize an aging technology infrastructure. One component is moving to a guaranteed 4-year replacement cycle for faculty/staff computers. As a first step, an audit discovered that nearly 200 desktop units pre-dated 2000. Central funds were used to replace these units. To test the success with the process for installing these new computer in faculty/staff offices, recipients were asked to evaluate their experience, with 92 providing their input.
- On an A-F grading scale, faculty and staff evaluated the overall process giving it a mid-B at a 3.31 GPA, with communication efforts earning a 3.78 GPA, helpfulness of the installation technicians receiving a 3.84 GPA, and technician courtesy rating a near perfect 3.90 GPA.
- Overall, 92% of faculty and staff were satisfied to very satisfied with the timeliness of the installation of their new computer.
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WIU-QC Web Re-Design Focus Group Survey
In concert with the new technology reorganization which became effective January 1, 2008, Dr. Joe Rives, WIU-QC's new lead administrator suggested a study and potential re-design of the WIU-QC website to better meet the needs of both its internal and external users. Charged with the accomplishing this project, Western's Center for the Application of Information Technologies (CAIT) conducted on-site and Macomb-based focus group and survey efforts. More than 100 individuals participated in nearly 20 focus group studies and 99 provided additional survey input on their perceived needs and desires for the WIU-QC website.
- The current WIU-QC website received an overall grade of 2.4 on a 4-point scale, indicated a mid-C level of satisfaction.
- While a variety of aspects related to the WIU-QC website areas and features likewise received low to mid to high C-level grades, the highest rating, at just below a 3.0 was the front-page use of student pictures, while the lowest rating, at just above 2.1, was a page design that was attractive and enticed uses to explore further.
- To help in the analysis of what users liked and wanted in website design, 8 very different, but exemplary college and university websites were also explored both in focus groups, indicating that users wanted a more interactive and easier to navigate WIU-QC website.
- Based on the research findings, CAIT is developing a new WIU-QC web look and transitioning all of the current WIU-QC webpages to the new look with the debut of the new WIU-QC website planned for July 1, 2008 following several intermediary design presentations to finalize the WIU-QC web re-design effort.
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International HomeStay Program - Host Survey
Based on a high level of international student interest in a HomeStay program, the WIU faculty and staff were surveyed about their interest in being a host family for a new international student during their first semester at Western. 181 WIU faculty and staff provided their input.
- While 33% did properly estimate the campus international student population of 300-499, 24% estimated it as below 300 and 43% estimated it as 500 or above - actual level in Spring 2008 was 401 international students. This lack of awareness may be do to only 33% of faculty and staff having regular contact with international students, and 19% indicating contact only rarely at best.
- Among WIU faculty and staff, 14% were very aware of the concept of HomeStay programs, while 58% were somewhat familiar and 28% were not at all familiar.
- Only 45 WIU faculty and staff had had the opportunity to host an international student at the home, whether for a single event or for a longer period of time, although of those with experience, most (64%) had done so between a few times and quite often. Among these, a several events were common, although dinner or a visit (74%) and a special holiday (42%) were most frequent.
- Whether they had hosted an international student in the past, or not, 72% of faculty and staff were interested in the opportunity to welcome an international student in their home for an occasional event.
- Among responding faculty and staff, 46% were interested in being a host family for a new international student during their first semester at Western, including 6% who indicated that they were very interested in this opportunity.
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International HomeStay Program - Student Survey
Western's 401 Spring 2008 international students were asked about the value a HomeStay program, where international students could live for a semester with a host family when they came to Western to provide them a more inclusive transition to American culture. 73 of the students provided survey input.
- 49% of the responding international students come from large cities, and 32% from medium cities, indicating that moving to a small city like Macomb is a sizeable transition in itself.
- 28% of the international students live in the residence halls, 6% at the International House, and 66% within the Macomb community, primarily in apartments (54%) or Graduate & Family Housing (27%).
- Before coming to Macomb, only 20% had ever lived with a host family, all with their own bedroom, though sharing a bathroom 54% of the time. The overwhelming majority of these rated the experiences as good to very good across a variety of attributes:
- people taking the time to explain things to them (86%)
- learning about the culture (86%)
- feeling safe (93%)
- being respected for who they were, their religion, their thoughts, etc. (92%)
- enjoying the food (86%)
- Among all of the responding international students, 52% would definitely liked to have had the opportunity to live with a host family for a semester when they came to WIU, citing a number of benefits including a unanimous agreement that it would help them learn English better, as well as gain a better understanding of American culture.
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Health Sciences Online Course Evaluation
To help the Department of Health Education collect student evaluations for their courses that are taught online, support has been provided to conduct confidential online course evaluation each semester. The results of these surveys are provided to the instructor and the department chair immediately following the posting of grades so that the composite results and non-identified student comments can be used to help improve teaching efforts
Advising Survey - Freshmen & Juniors
In an ongoing effort to evaluate and improve academic advising, Freshmen and Juniors were asked to evaluate various aspects of their academic advising experience. 206 freshmen and 311 juniors provided input during Spring 2008, rating their experiences from a high 6=strongly agree to a low 1=strongly disagree.
- Freshmen rated their advisor at 5.3 and juniors rated their advisor a 5.4, in terms of treating them with respect and as an adult.
- Freshmen rated their advisor at 5.5 and juniors rated their advisor a 5.1, in terms of being accessible for meeting with them during office hours, by appointment, telephone, or email.
- Freshmen gave themselves a 5.1 rating, while juniors rated themselves at 5.2, in terms of being prepared for their advising appointments with questions and/or topics to discuss.
- Freshmen rated their advisor at 5.1 and juniors rated their advisor a 4.8, in terms of encouraging and guiding them to define and develop clear and realistic educational goals.
- Freshmen rated their advisor at 5.2 and juniors rated their advisor a 5.1, in terms of providing a safe space in which to share their thoughts, aspirations, concerns, and interests.
- Freshmen gave themselves a 5.6 rating, while juniors rated themselves at 5.5, in terms of accepting responsibility for their decisions and actions (or inactions) that affect their educational progress and goals.
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Presidential Evaluation Survey
As had been done in each of the two preceding years, the Faculty Senate conducted online survey of Faculty Senate-eligible members regarding the performance of President Goldfarb.A summary of this report is provided on the reports section of the Faculty Senate website at www.wiu.edu/facultysenate/reports.php.
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Infant and Preschool Summer Program Interest Survey
The WIU Infant and Preschool Center conducted an online survey among WIU faculty, staff, and students to determine if there was sufficient interest in offering a program during the Summer 2008 academic session, something that was first done in Summer 2007.
- 43 individuals indicated that they would definitely be interested in enrolling their children for the 8-week Summer session, with an additional 38 potentially interested. Of these, 41.2% preferred full-time enrollment, while 28.8% preferred part-time enrollment, predominantly (58.7%) 2-3 days/week.
- Those parents wanting to see the Summer program continued had a combined 104 children in the 6-month to 5-year eligible age range: 17 children ages 6 months to 1 year, 16 children ages 1 year to 18 months, 12 children ages 18 months to 2 years, 21 children ages 2-3 years, 16 children ages 2-4 years, and 22 children ages 4-5 years.
- Based on the results of the survey, WIU administration agreed to authorize the WIU Infant and Preschool Center to offer a full program during the 8-week Summer 2008 academic session.
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Adapted Physical Education Study
Kinesiology professor, Dr. Cindy Piletic, conducted an online review of Adapted Physical Education (APE)programs at colleges and universities nationwide. 133 schools from 41 of the 50 states responded.
- Of the responding schools, 98.4% offered teacher certification for Physical Education and 34.4% indicated that their state offered some type of APE certification, which required more than 12 credit hours in 73.7% of the cases.
- Rarely did states use specialist Adapted PE instructors (15.6%) or Special Ed instructors (2.2%) to provide physical education to students with disabilities, instead primarily expecting Regular PE instructors (77.8%) to meet this need; although in 33.3% of cases, the best-trained teacher was given this responsibility as opposed to teaching load justification (23.8%).
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Conversation Partners
Conversation Partners is a program where International students can partner with an American student so that they can practice their English skills, as well as learn more about American culture. The 140 students who participated in the program during Fall 2007 were asked to evaluate their experience with the program, with 46 providing input (53.7% American students and 46.3% International students).
- Among the 53.7% of participants who were American students, 86.4% were undergraduates and 68.2% learned about the program from a classroom presentation.
- While class credit (22.7%) was a big reason American students participated in Conversation Partners program, the main reason students participated was their interest in other cultures (36.4%), as well as to enhance their foreign language skills (13.6%) and meet new people (13.6%).
- Most of the International students were graduate students (42.1%) or WESL students (36.8%), and most likely found out about Conversation Partners from the Center for International Studies office (84.2%) or WESL teachers (21.1%).
- Among International students, practicing English was their primary reason for participating in Conversation Partners (42.1%), but meeting new people (31.6%) and learning about American culture (26.3%) were also major program draws.
- Both American and International students alike gave the Conversation Program positive ratings, with only 17.5% rating it below average, and 60.0% rating it well above average. In fact, 70.7% said they would be a Conversation Partner again if given the opportunity.
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Zimbra Migration Evaluation
Faculty and staff migration from a variety of email and calendaring clients to the Zimbra Collaboration Suite began July 5th and ended 5 months later on December 3rd. To help identify migration-related problems, users were asked to evaluate the migration process and indicate areas of concern. 927 employees responded to the initial survey given about 1 week following migration, and 722 responded to a follow-up survey that was designed to assess how well issues had been resolved about 1 month post-migration.
- 76.2% indicated that they had received information about the migration process prior to their actual migration, with only 14.5% not receiving an adequate explanation of the steps that would occur during the migration process, and only 11.7% not getting adequate information about Zimbra training opportunities.
- 83.0% felt that the migration to Zimbra process went smoothly, with 84.4% indicated they were satisfied with the support they received. 1 month after migration, satisfaction levels rose to 88.6%.
- Although 37.3% initially reported problems with the migration of their email, appointments, etc., by 1-month post-migration, only 8.3% were still experiences problems with their email and 14.0% with their calendars, although 24.1% were having to rebuild address book information. However, 91.7% indicated they were satisfied with the support they had received before, during, and/or after migration.
- After 1-month of using Zimbra, 76.9% gave Zimbra email a positive overall rating, with 87.5% positively rating the ability to organize messages into folders and 85.4% positively rating the ability to tag or flag messages.
- After 1-month of using Zimbra, 84.4% gave Zimbra calendaring a positive overall rating , with 91.5% positively rating the ability to create and/or share calendars, 86.5% positively rating the ability to use the Zimbra calendar to invite others to appointments, and 86.4% positively rating the ability to use the Zimbra calendar features to find common available meeting times/locations.
- 45.1% of users indicated that they had taken advantage of one of the many Zimbra training sessions, with overall introduction to the Zimbra Collaboration Suite receiving a 97.5% positive rating, introduction to Zimbra email receiving a 96.4% positive rating, and introduction to the Zimbra calendar receiving a 95.7% positive rating.
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Equal Opportunity and Access Survey
The office of Equal Opportunity and Access survey WIU employees about the awareness and adequacy of support and services for employees with disabilities. The goal of the survey was to determine where greater education and support were needed to ensure all employees equal opportunity and access. 361 employees provided input from both the Macomb and Quad Cities campuses.
- 10.1% of responding employees indicated that they met the American Disabilities Association (ADA) of having a disability that substantially limits a major life activity such as walking, eating, learning, etc., with 69.4% having had their disability for more than 5 years although only 5.7% indicated that their disability was obvious to others.
- Mobility/Orthopedic disabilities were the most common type of disabilities among WIU employees (46.9%), followed by Systemic or Chronic Health problems (36.7%), and Hearing disabilities (24.1%).
- Employees with disabilities felt that disabilities tended to be poorly understood by the public, ranging from a low understanding of 26.7% for learning disabilities to a high of 57.1% for mobility disabilities.
- Although there is certainly room for improvement, the overall employee population reported that the overall workplace environment was positive toward individuals with disabilities (87.5%) and that employees are treated the same regardless of their disability status (82.2%). In addition, the majority reported that WIU is supportive of all employees (88.2%) and is open toward individuals with disabilities (94.3%).
- One outcome of this survey is the need for greater education. 9.4% of all responding employees were not aware that there was an office of campus (Equal Opportunity and Access) that addresses employee concerns as they relate to the ADA. Among employees with disabilities, 11.4% did not understand their rights as an employee with disabilities and 11.8% did not understand their right to request an accommodation for their disability.
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Disability Services Awareness Survey
Disability Student Services (DSS) surveyed WIU faculty and students about the awareness and adequacy of support and services for students with disabilities. A goal of the survey is to identify where greater support is needed for students, as well as were DSS needs to increase awareness of the services it provides. 455 students and faculty provided input from both the Macomb and Quad Cities campuses.
- 73.7% of respondents did not classify themselves as having a disability. However, among the 26.3% who did, only 23.0% indicated that had an apparent disability, with most having less obvious conditions that many were unaware of.
- The range of disabilities present among respondents was quite broad, with 33.3% reporting a learning disability, 28.8% reporting a psychological impairment, 24.2% reporting a mobility impairment, 22.7% reporting a chronic health condition, 21.2% reporting attention deficit / hyperactivity disorder, 9.1% reporting a hearing impairment, 7.6% reporting a visual impairment, and 15.2% reporting a miscellany of other disabilities.
- Of students with disabilities, only 44.6% has registered for services with DSS. Of those who hadn't registered, 45.4% were not sure how to register for services and 15.2% were unaware that such services were available at Western. An additional 45.4% of students with disabilities chose to work directly with their professors in meeting their accommodation needs.
- The acceptance of students with disabilities is quite high of campus, with 84.2% of students indicating that the general sensitivity and awareness of WIU faculty was at least adequate while general sensitivity and awareness toward disabilities was at least adequate among 78.3% of students. Consequently, 82.4% of WIU students were at least somewhat likely to recommend that high school students with disabilities consider attending Western.
- In general, faculty and university efforts successfully ensure that students with disabilities have the same class and campus community opportunities as do other students, with 88.2% supporting this assertion. In addition, 88.5% of students said that having students with disabilities in their own classes had a positive impact on their learning experience.
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Recreation Center Weight Room Expansion Survey
641 students responded to a student survey about desires for the larger Weight Room that is part of the Recreation Center expansion project. Student input will be an important factor in how the Recreation Center supplies the expanded Weight Room.
- While 25.1% of students indicate they never use the current weight room, 49.0% use it 3 or more times a week.
- 52.2% described the current equipment is adequate, although 58.2% would like to see more upper-body equipment, 52.6% would like to see more lower-body equipment, and 70.2% would like to see more core muscle strength equipment.
- One consideration was the amount of large equipment, but only 11.8% of students felt that there was too much plate-loaded equipment and only 5.3% felt there were too many Olympic weight benches. In fact, 55.6% expressed a desire for a greater selection of Olympic weight benches.
- In addition, more dumbbells were requested by 45.5% of students, especially of the 12-50# size (50.7%).
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WIU Mock Election Survey
In conjunction with the Mock Election held on the WIU campus during Fall 2007, students were invited to participate in a Presidential Election survey regarding which candidates most closely shared their views on various issues, as well as who they currently supported for the upcoming November 4, 2008 election.
- Of the 1,258 students participating in the survey, 44.6% also were a participant in the campus Mock Presidential Election.
- 69.0% of students are registered to vote, with 56.9% saying that they have been following the presidential campaign at least somewhat closely, and 69.2% indicated they were very likely to vote in the 2008 November election..
- In keeping with the results of Western's Mock Presidential Election, survey respondents indicated overwhelming support for Barack Obama (36.8%), followed by Hillary Rodham Clinton (10.2%), and Rudolph Giuliani (7.3%) leading the way among the Republican candidates. 18.2% indicated they had not yet made up their mind. The vote was much closer when students indicated who they thought would actually win with Obama at 34.0%, Clinton at 26.5%, and Giuliani at 10.1%.
- WIU students demonstrated a high level of awareness, with 54.4% watching the national news on TV at least 2 times/week and 52.1% reading a newspaper at least 2 times/week.
- 37.1% of students considered themselves politically active and 75.2% said they are at least somewhat interested in politics and public affairs.
- Students considered the "War in Iraq" (29.5%) to be the single most important issue facing the nation today, followed by "The economy/Unemployment/Jobs" (15.4%), with none of the other 12 common options reaching a 10% threshold.
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WIU-QC Academic Advising Survey - Fall 2007
During Fall 2007, the 1,331 WIU-QC students were asked to evaluate the academic advising they had received, with 237 providing input that will be used to improve the advising they receive. This is especially critical at the WIU-QC campus since so many of the students are non-traditional and part-time students who often find it difficult to meet with advisors due to their other life and work commitments.
- Using a 6-point scale, with 1=Strongly Agree to 6=Strongly Disagree, of the 14 questions asked, the 3 top-rated were:
- I regularly use and refer to resources such as STARS, WIU e-mail, and the WIU website. (1.59)
- My advisor encourages me to assume responsibility for my educational plans and leaves final decisions to me. (1.62)
- My advisor treats me with respect. (1.63).
- These positive feeling are also expressed in the open-ended comments, such as:
- "My advisor is great ... really takes the time to help."
- "... has been a wonderful academic advisor. I don't know what I would have done without ..."
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Campus Visit Evaluation - Fall 2007
In Fall 2007, Undergraduate Admissions began a program of asking students who had visited Western Illinois University at other than a Discover Western program, to provide online feedback on their visit and their interest in Western. During this first semester, 73 prospective students provided feedback that will help Western in its student recruiting efforts.
- 85.7% of prospective students said their current visit was the first time they had visited Western.
- 27.5% of the prospective students said they had not visited any other colleges/universities, while 26.1% had visited one other school, 21.7% had visited 2 others, and 24.6% had visited 3 or more.
- Of those who had visited other colleges/universities, 54.6% rated Western as better than the other schools they had visited, while 34.6% rated Western as about the same.
- 90.5% of prospective students said they were at least somewhat likely to decide to attend Western, with 65.6% indicating that Western was their 1st choice among schools to attend.
- 57.8% of prospective students said that a WIU Admissions Counselor had visited their high school, with 35.7% of these having had the opportunity to meet with the Counselor during the visit to their school.
- 45.8% of prospective students had attended a College Fair, with 48.5% of these having had the opportunity to meet with a WIU Admissions Counselor during the Fair.
- 61.5% of prospective students said they would be interested in attending a Discover Western program.
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BOT/BA Program Student Survey
The BOT/BA is designed to provide adult students with an opportunity to earn their BA degree in a flexible manner that meets their educational needs. Since its origin in 1972, more than 5,500 students have completed their BA degree through the unique BOT program. In Fall 2007, more than 125 current BOT/BA students provided feedback on the program's success in meeting their needs so that any problem areas could be addressed, enabling the program to maintain its record of success.
- The top 3 reasons students cited for why they chose the BOT/BA program were: 1) credit for previous college work, 2) flexibility in academic requirements, and 3) availability of distance/online courses to fulfill WIU degree requirements.
- The importance of the distance education element was quite apparent, with 70.3% indicating that they had never enrolled in a class on the Macomb campus and 61.7% had never enrolling in a class on the Quad Cities campus, whereas 54.8% are often enrolled in Online courses and 31.7% are often enrolled in Independent Study courses.
- Online resources are important to BOT/BA students, with 76.2% sometimes or often visiting the BOT/BA website, 63.2% sometimes of often taking advantage of email interaction with their academic advisor, and 57.4% sometimes or often utilizing the online BOT/BA Resource Guide. In addition, 93.6% make frequent use of their WIU email account.
- In terms of customer satisfaction, 91.3% found online STARS convenient to use, 88.9% found Western Online convenient to use, 85.7% found WIU Webmail convenient to use, and 83.9% found the Distance Learning/Course Inventory convenient to use.
- 86.0% of BOT/BA students felt that they have been able to find WIU courses that meet their educational goals and 92.6% felt that the BOT/BA degree program is allowing them to meet their educational goals.
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Beu Health Center Customer Satisfaction - Fall 2007
Each semester, Beu surveys approximately 200 of its visitors regarding their satisfaction with the level of care and service they received.
- 98.2% of students rated the service they received on their most recent visit to Beu as Good or better, with 40.8% assigning the top rating of Excellent.
- 69.0% of students indicated that they waited just 10 minutes or less in the waiting room, and 61.9% said they had to wait no more than 10 minutes to see their actual health care provider once they were in the exam room.
- 97.6% of students felt their health care provider did a good job of explaining their health condition/problem, 97.7% indicated that their provided both listened to their concerns and talked to them in language they could understand.
- 95.3% of students felt that their health care provider spend enough time with them.
- 97.7% of students have confidence in their health care provider and 97.6% would recommend their provider to others.
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CARDIA Project - Fall 2007
The Illinois Department of Public Health selected Western to help develop a campus-based mass media campaign about nutrition, physical activity, and environmental changes that would help combat the "Freshman 15" weight gain commonly seen on campuses nationwide. 115 students in selected classes were asked to participate in this study which involved information about healthy lifestyles, with 83 providing benchmark information through a confidential online survey at the beginning of the fall 2007 program and 25 also providing information at the end of the study to help evaluate the effectiveness of the program.
- After learning about personal health, students were more confident of their general health, improving from a 2.90 to a 2.75 rating on a 1-5 scale (1=Excellent, 5=Poor).
- At the beginning of the study, students rated Accidents (45%) as a more common cause of death than Cardiovascular Disease (31%). After learning about personal health, students realized a greater risk of CVD, rating it on an even basis as the primary cause of death with Accidents (42%).
- Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, students were not more likely to change their lifestyle if their doctor told them they were at risk for developing CVD, with likelihood rating a 1.75 at the beginning of the semester, and only improving to 1.71 at the end of the semester-long program (1=Very Likely, 5=Very Unlikely).
- Before the study, 91% of students felt that a poor diet contributes to the development of CVD, and 92% felt that their diets were at least somewhat healthy. After learning more about CVD risks and preventative efforts, at the end of the semester, a slight increase of 95% saw a relationship between diet and CVD and fewer (86%) students still considered their diets to be somewhat healthy.
- Students tended to be active, with walking for exercise being the most popular (73% of students), followed by running/jogging (69%), and aerobic exercise (46%). Walking increased during the semester (from 71% to 78%), while running/jogging decreased (71% to 61%), as did aerobic exercise (46% to 43%), perhaps due to the promotion of walking and the free availability of pedometers provided by this program.
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Library Instruction - Fall 2007
Learning to effectively use the library for research is the focus of the class sessions library faculty provide on behalf of various academic faculty across campus. During Fall 2007, students had the opportunity to evaluate these one-time class sessions, with 113 students providing feedback. This assessment will continue each semester.
- 98.2% rated the librarian as knowledgeable about the material, and also felt that the lesson content was presented clearly and understandably, with the presentation effectively utilizing technology.
- 97.3% said the lesson was well prepared, with 98.2% reporting that the librarian used relevant, engaging examples to describe the topic, and 94.7% indicating that the session had practice activities that were useful for their academic class assignment.
- 99.1% said the librarian was courteous and friendly, with 96.4% agreeing that the librarian encourage student questions and participation, and 95.6% noting that the librarian was sensitive to the class level and student progress.
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Personality and Emotion Study
During Fall 2007, Dr. Hemenover, WIU Psychology, invited students from Psychology 100 classes, and others, to participate in his study evaluating the connection between personality and emotional experience. Utilizing confidential online survey technology, Dr. Hemenover asked participants about the ways they generally try to make themselves feel better when they are experiencing a negative emotion or mood. A very brief summary of his overall study results are provided below.
- From a list of 162 different Mood Repair Strategies, the top 5 that respondents generally relied on to reduce bad moods or emotions were:
- 1) go out with friends, 2) do the things I enjoy, 3) try to solve the problem, 4) watch movies/TV, and 5) spend time with people who are close
- Despite their reported popularity, using relaxation tapes was the least likely (#162) mood repair strategies reported among this study's more than 250 respondents.
- Psychological functioning can be be indicative of the stress and emotional difficulties individuals are experiencing. From a list of 51 different indicators of psychological stress, the top 5 that respondents indicated having experienced within the 2 week period prior to participating in the survey were:
- 1) worrying too much about things, 2) feeling low in energy or slowed down, 3) feeling critical of others, 4) feeling lonely, and 5) feeling very self-conscious with others
- Fortunately, the least likely (#51) psychological stress symptom was having thoughts about ending their life.
- In terms of emotional repair efforts, survey participants were presented with 10 strategies. The top 2 strategies respondents indicated they used were:
- 1) change what I'm thinking about, and 2) change the way I'm thinking about the situation.
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Zimbra Training
More than 70 Zimbra training sessions were held between July 6th, when faculty/staff migration to Zimbra began, and December 7th, when it was completed. More than 1,000 individuals took advantage of online registration to sign up for one of the 90-minute training sessions, and more than 300 helped improve the training offered by evaluating its effectiveness.
- Overall, the evaluation of the training provided by the 12-member training team was quite positive, with B or better scores given 67-76% of the time to all aspects of the training.
- 1) logging in to Zimbra @ 74.5%, 2) overview of Zimbra features @ 74.1%, 3) overview of Mail features @ 75.5%, 4) overview of Calendar features @ 70.5%, 5) navigating within Zimbra @ 69.0%, and 6) overview of Option features @ 67.1%.
- Training participants tended to feel confident in their ability to effectively use Zimbra after training, with 68-90% rating themselves as at least average in using all aspects of the Zimbra Collaboration Suite after training.
- 1) using Zimbra Email @ 89.8%, 2) using their Mail Zimbra calendar @ 81.7%, 3) sharing calendars @ 72.5%, and 4) managing other's calendars @ 68.1%rated themselves at least average in "" after training
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Chief Technology Security Officer Evaluation
Individuals participating in the group and open session Chief Technology Security Officer presentations utilized Western's online survey technology to evaluate the candidates. Of the 70 individuals who participated in the interviews, 42 participated in the candidate evaluation. Drawing on input from these sessions, the search committee made its recommendation. As indicated in the press release, Michael Rodriguez was named Western's first Chief Technology Security officer, and will begin his duties January 7, 2008.
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Language and Cultural Fluency of WIU Faculty/Staff
The Center for International Studies asked all WIU faculty and staff to respond to a survey about their language fluency and cultural familiarity to provide a working catalog of faculty/staff resources in support of Western's commitment to expanding its global horizons. 655 WIU faculty/staff responded to the survey.
- 42.6% of faculty/staff indicated having at least elementary reading and/or speaking fluency in 1 or more languages in addition to English. Of these: 62.0% have elementary or greater fluency in 1 other language, while 11.8% had at least elementary fluency in 3 or more languages.
- Nearly 30% have native fluency in at least 1 of their additional languages.
- Elementary or greater fluency was indicated in 63 different languages. Of these, the 10 most common were: Spanish (45%); French (32%); German (21%); Italian (6%); Korean and Russian (5%); Chinese (4%); and Hindi , Japanese, and Portuguese (3%).
- 29.3% of faculty/staff indicated having experience in and/or knowledge of the educational systems in at least one country other than the U.S. This included 87 different countries, with the 10 most common being Germany (17%); United Kingdom (13%); Mexico (11%); France (10%); South Korea (8%); India and Japan (6%); Russia (5%); and Taiwan and Italy (4%).
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COEHS Faculty/Staff Needs Assessment
Faculty/staff within the College of Education and Human Services were asked provide their input regarding the types of activities, events, trips, presentations, and programs that would interest them so that appropriate college events can be planned in an effort to bring together all COEHS faculty, staff, and their families. 172 COEHS faculty/staff responded to the survey.
- 58.2% of faculty/staff lived in Macomb, while 24.7% lived more than 20 miles from Macomb.
- 65.7% of faculty/staff were at least somewhat likely to consider participating in COEHS planned activities or events with,
- 46.6% preferring activities/events geared toward themselves
- 41.2% preferring activities/events geared toward they and their spouse/partner
- 28.4% preferring activities/events geared toward their entire family
- Of the suggested activities/events, the 5 with the greatest interest were:
- 1) Wine Tasting Tour @ 63.0%, 2) Murder Mystery Dinner @ 60.9%, 3) Gourmet Cooking Course @ 59.8%, 4) Presentation on Health and Wellness @ 55.6%, 5-tie) Holiday Shopping Trip to Chicago & Monthly Health/Fitness Challenge
- It might be a challenge to bring these to fruition, however, as only 6.8% of the faculty/staff were interested in teaching/leading the activities/events.
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Moms' Weekend 2007
Always popular, the 4th annual Moms' Weekend participants were again asked to evaluate the event so that it can continue to improve. 255 Moms responded to the survey.
- 86.8% of Moms traveled more than 100 miles to join their son/daughter(s) for the event, with 25.6% even traveling more than 200 miles.
- While the Macomb Balloon Rally is a centerpiece event associated with Moms' Weekend, 46.3% of Moms said it wasn't a factor in their deciding to come, and only 6.7% said it was a vital part of the weekend spend with their son/daughter(s).
- Online registration is certainly the way to go, with 87.4% of Moms choosing to register for the event online, with only 1.6% mailing in their registration.
- Not only did Moms register online, 82.6% took advantage of the other online registration features, especially the schedule of events (82.6%), but also the opportunity to view and even order the celebratory t-shirt (53.4%).
- The Olson Conference Center was the number 1 lodging choice among Moms (34.5%), with staying with their son/daughter(s) ranking 2nd (25.4%), and Macomb hotels rounding out the top 3 (18.2%).
- The Moms' Weekend committee always tries to feature popular and new events and activities. This year: The return of the Jewelry and Craft show was the top-attended event (58.4%)
- The repeat Cooking with Mom class would have neared the same level if more space was available (9.4% attended, but an additional 41.2% would have liked to).
- A new event, the performance of "I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change" was the number 3 draw, with 32.3% of Moms attending, plus their son/daughter(s).
- Planning for next year's Moms' Weekend is already underway, with many Moms already marking their calendar's for the September 5-7, 2008 event.
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International Student Orientation - Fall 2007 Survey
The Center for International Studies provides an orientation program for new international students each semester to help welcome them to campus, as well as provide information that will help them be successful at Western. 52 students helped evaluate the success of the program, providing insight on how it might be improved.
- About half (45.1%) of students used the free pick-up service from the Peoria airport or Macomb train station, with about half (48.0%) arriving in Macomb before the pick-up service began. These early arrivers were likely the 45.1% who used the Olson Hall temporary housing alternative.
- 82.7% of the students participated in at least some of the International Student Orientation activities, with 57.6% participating in most or all of the events. 87.2% felt the orientation was the right length in time, with 7.7% saying it was too long and 5.1% saying it was too short.
- Overall, the orientation received very good ratings with students rated their experience with the Center for International Studies staff and Orientation volunteers receiving a rating of 2.8 (1=most positive, 10=most negative). Other top 5 ratings included Immigration, Work, and Tax information (3.0); Go West Bus information (3.1); International Student Activities information (3.2); Safety information (3.3); and Banking Trips and Pick-up Service (3.4)
- Bottom 5 ratings, which though still above the median, where improvement efforts may be of benefit included Usefulness of the Orientation (5.0); Temporary Housing at Olson Hall (4.9); International Potluck Dinner (4.2); American Culture Evening (4.1); and the International Friendship Club Picnic (4.0).
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Financial Aid Service Satisfaction
With nearly 94% of Western undergraduates receiving some type of financial aid (gift aid, loans, and/or student employment), the Financial Aid office is committed to providing the best service possible. Feedback on the effectiveness of their service is accomplished through this annual survey, which provides student input on how they might enhance their efforts. 470 students receiving financial aid responded.
- Students are split in how they prefer to contact the Financial Aid Office, with 40.0% via phone and 39.4% via email, while only 16.8% prefer to just stop by and just 3.8% prefer to schedule an appointment.
- Not surprising considering the "on-demand" preference of students, 60.8% of students use the Financial Aid website to answer many of their questions, with 80.8% reporting that the website provides an easy to use resource. In addition, 92.1% were aware they could track the status of their FAFSA, view their
- award letter, and confirm release of their financial aid on STARS
- 61.2% knew that they could cancel or reduce their Stafford Loan on your STARS
- Students reported satisfaction with the Financial Aid Office staff with 82-89% positive ratings
- 1) friendly and courteous front desk/reception staff @ 88.9%, 2) friendly and courteous Financial Aid Advisors @ 88.4%, 3) positive experience with the Financial Aid Office @ 84.7%, 4) response from a Financial Aid Advisor within 2 days @ 83.4%, and 5) Financial Aid Advisors answered questions thoroughly @ 82.0%
- In terms of potential improvements, 80.0% of students would like Western to provide services for in the area of personal finance (budgeting), debt management, and credit management; with personal counseling sessions being the preferred (81.7%) method of service.
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Marketing 329 Class - Alumni Satisfaction Survey
As a class project, 3 students in Marketing 329 conducted a a follow-up survey with recent Finance, Marketing, and Supply Chain Management graduates. The students wanted to learn about the alumni experiences, and be able to advise the department on how well it was achieving its mission and if there were areas that needed to be improved. 59 alumni responded.
- 49.1% of alumni were Finance majors, 44.1% were Marketing majors, and 6.8% were Supply Chain Management majors; with slightly more males (51.8%) than females.
- 33.9% of alumni had completed an internship prior to their first job, with 68.4% doing so without receiving college credit, and 79.0% of the internships being related to their major.
- Overall, alumni were very satisfied with their Western education and experiences. Based on a scale of 7=Very Satisfied to 1=Very Dissatisfied, the top 3 alumni rated categories were: Overall satisfaction with your major (6.0)
- Satisfaction with core classes pertaining to your major & Overall satisfaction with the College of Business and Technology (5.9)
- There was less alumni satisfaction outside of their major and the college, but areas of potential concern which the College may be able to address were: 4.9 rating for relevancy of their WIU degree to their current position (7=Very Relevant to 1=Irrelevant)
- 5.1 rating for and their current job satisfaction (7=Very Satisfied to 1=Very Dissatisfied)
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Museum Studies M.A. Program Interest Survey
The College of Fine Arts and Communication responded to a growing interest in Museum Studies by surveying museum staff and volunteers about their interest in completing a M.A. in Museum Studies. 247 individuals responded.
- 61.1% of respondents indicated that they would be interested in pursuing a program through the WIU-Quad Cities campus if it were offered.
- Based on the strong foundation of support demonstrated by the survey responses, the WIU Graduate Council has approved the College of Fine Arts and Communications request to offer this program through the WIU departments of Art and Recreation, Parks and Tourism Administration, with support from the Figge Art Museum in Davenport, Iowa.
- The proposal was approved by the WIU Board of Trustees at their December 14, 2007 meeting.
- The hope is to begin offering this program through the WIU-Quad Cities campus beginning Fall 2008.
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Workplace Behavior Questionnaire
Jessica Sayers, a graduate student in Psychology, conducted this online study of workplace behavior, comparing results from WIU student experiences and those of a random sampling of nationwide respondents. 315 WIU students and 1,204 random individuals participated.
- There was a great deal of similarity in the workplace behavior responses among the WIU student and random participants, even though WIU students were seldom full-time workers (12.5%), with 36.2% working for small organizations of less than 100 employees, while random participants were primarily full-time workers (79.4%) who worked for small organizations (62.9%). Overall, the reported attitudes appeared to indicate a positive workplace environment. Regardless of group, employees felt that their work schedules, job responsibilities, work load, and pay level were fair.
- Both employee groups also felt little frustration with how they had been treated, as well as little anger toward or betrayal by their organization.
- Both WIU students and random participants also indicated that they rarely to hardly ever saw workplace incidences of unwanted attempts to draw someone into discussions of personal matters; ignoring or excluding someone from professional camaraderie; or the making of demeaning, rude, or derogatory remarks.
- However, while random participants rated their supervisor's treatment of them with kindness very high @ 3.8, WIU students rated this trait at their lowest level @ 1.1 (5-point scale).
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Online Shopping Behavior Study
Dr. Sanjukta Pookulangara, a faculty member in the Dietetics, Fashion Merchandising, and Hospitality department conducted this survey to determine online, catalog, and in-store shopping and purchasing behaviors. 898 WIU students, faculty, and staff participated.
- Both the Internet (92.4%) and stores (91.0%) were more popular than catalogs (70.1%) in terms of searching for information regarding goods and services in the last year. For WIU students, faculty, and staff, stores were the primary purchase point (97.4%), with Internet purchases (85.6%) falling below shopping levels, and catalog purchases (42.3%) by far the least common.
- 38.1% of WIU students, faculty, and staff had frequently (> 10 times) switched from stores to either catalogs or the Internet while searching for information within the last 6 months, while 29.0% had frequently switched from catalogs to stores or the Internet, and just 20.5% had frequently switched from the Internet to either stores or catalogs.
- When actually purchasing, switching shopping modes was less common. While switching from catalogs to stores or the Internet was most common, only 21.5% of WIU students, faculty, and staff did so frequently (> 10 times) within the last 6 months, only 18.8% frequently switched from stores to either catalogs or the Internet, and just 17.2% frequently switched from the Internet to either stores or catalogs.
- The biggest reasons for switching from stores or from catalogs when shopping were convenience, ease, and efficiency. In addition, WIU students, faculty, and staff felt like they had the resources, knowledge, and ability to make the change, and feel comfortable doing so.
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Inter-Hall Council Residence Hall Survey - TV Stations & More
Inter-Hall Council, the student governance body of on-campus living, conducted this survey to learn which cable television stations hall residents would like to see added to their programming line-up, and which ones they would be willing to see deleted to make room for new station. Students were also asked about their dining and room phone uses.The results of the survey will then be used by IHC to make recommendations regarding campus housing. 1107 students responded.
- The top stations recommended for addition were The Disney Channel (45.1%), Showtime Extreme (24.2%), A&E (21.0%), Showtime Showcase (20.6%), Bravo (18.6%), and MTV2 (17.4%).
- The top stations recommended for removal were Home & Garden (33.4%), ESPN Classic (19.8%), TV One (13.9%), Country Music Channel (13.8%), and Travel Channel (13.6%).
- 74.6% if residence hall students also indicated that they eat at least half of their meal in residence hall cafeterias and 76.2% recommended allowing students at least the option of have their food program points reload each semester.
- And although 96.5% of students indicated that they have a cell phone and 58.0% said they never use their room phone, only 14.6% supported the idea of having to pay to have a phone in their room.
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Archived Survey Results
