Well, there are some low points, but we think there are many, many more high points and, in both cases, much to be learned.
Every two years, Dartmouth asks seniors to respond to a survey on their time at Dartmouth. This survey is done is conjunction with several other schools so that we have good comparative data. Dartmouth has traditionally had a very high response rate and the survey provides a valuable guide on what is going well and where the College needs to improve.
The Office of Institutional Research provided the following highlights of the survey report:
- 98 percent of students are satisfied with the out-of-class availability of faculty
- 96 percent are satisfied with the overall quality of instruction
- 97 percent are satisfied with opportunities to participate in extracurricular activities
- 91 percent are satisfied with the size of classes
- 92 percent are satisfied with their undergraduate education
- 94 percent are satisfied with courses in their major
But there are also some areas that need improvement.
For example, the area that received the lowest percentage of satisfied students was pre-major advising, at 35 percent. This is up from 28 percent in 1998. Provost Barry Scherr told us that the College clearly has work to do in this area. The College has added two professionals to provide more advising support to students and is looking at other ways to enhance its efforts.
No other area received a lower than 55 percent satisfaction level and the vast majority received over two-thirds approval.
A story on student satisfaction appeared in the October 2006 issue of Dartmouth Life.
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