Survey of College of Education Graduate Student ServicesSummary of Results

2008-2009

Prepared March 2009 by Tara D. HudsonStudent Success and Advising Center

North Carolina State UniversityCollege of Education

Survey Overview

Respondent Demographics

In December 2008, Allison Mitchall, Director of Student Engagement for the College of Education, and Tara Hudson, Graduate Assistant for the College’s Student Success and Advising Center, designed and deployed a survey to gauge the effectiveness of the student services the College provides to its graduate students. The survey link was sent via e-mail to 923 graduate students; 317 responded, for a response rate of 34%.

Note: These are the demographics of the survey respondents only and do not represent the total demographics of the College’s graduate student body. Totals may not add to 100% due to rounding.

Degree representation:

1. Master of Education (MEd) (36%)

2. Doctor of Education (EdD) (25%)

3. Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) (21%)

4. Master of School Administration (MSA) (12%)

5. Master of Science (MS) (4%)

6. Other (2%)

Program representation:

1. Educational Administration and Supervision (14%)

2. Higher Education Administration (13%)

3. Counselor Education (9%)

4. Adult and Community College Education (8%)

5. Training and Development (7%)

6. Mathematics Education (6%)

7. Science Education (6%)

8. Educational Research and Policy Analysis (5%)

9. Special Education (5%)

10. Tie: Curriculum Development and Supervision & School Administration (4% each)

11. All other programs (19%)

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Enrollment status:

Part time (63%)

Full time (37%)

Gender:

Female (73%)

Male (25%)

Transgender or intersex (0.3%)

Prefer not to state (3%)

Age:

21-24 (9%)

25-29 (21%)

30-34 (20%)

35-39 (16%)

40-44 (8%)

45-49 (9%)

50 or over (16%)

Racial/ethnic background:

American Indian or Alaska Native (1%)

Asian or Asian American (1%)

Black or African American (17%)

Hispanic or Latino/a (1%)

Multi-racial (1%)

Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander (0.3%)

White (78%)

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Advising

Percentage of Respondents Who Agree or Disagree with the Following StatementsConcerning Degree Requirements and their Programs of Study

The majority of respondents “agree” or “strongly agree” that information on degree requirements is easily accessible (84%), that this information is clear and understandable (76%), that faculty and staff are well-informed about degree requirements (79%), and that respondents themselves have had input into designing their programs of study (64%).

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Percentage of Doctoral and Master’s Thesis Students Who Agree or Disagree that They Have Received Adequate Advice Concerning Exam, Thesis/Dissertation Defense, and

Defense Preparation

Only 40% of doctoral and master’s thesis students “agree” or “strongly agree” that they have received adequate advice on preparing for oral examinations, 47% on preparing for written examinations, 56% on developing the dissertation/thesis proposal, and 67% on academic writing standards. This represents a potential area for further programming by the College and the individual departments.

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Percentage of Respondents Who Have Received Advice on Research and Career Preparation

Sixty-four percent of respondents report not receiving advice on how to search for a job, 69% report not receiving advice on how to prepare a resume/CV, and 72% report not receiving advice on preparing for an interview. Clearly, expanded career services and career development programming is of interest to our graduate students.

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Facilities and Services

Respondents’ Ratings of Selected College of Education Services and Facilities (of those who indicated they have used the facilities/services)

The College’s computer labs, library services, website and departmental staff all received strong ratings.

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“What other types of services or resources would you like to see the College of Education provide for its graduate students?”

More support for doctoral students:

Mock defenses

CV workshops

Dissertation handbooks with timelines that are department-specific

Dissertation classes or support groups

Space considerations:

Graduate student lounge with a microwave, lockers or other space to leave belongings

Group office or work space

Student mailboxes

Social activities: More opportunities for student-student and student-faculty/staff interaction outside the classroom

Opportunities for part-time students to get together

Timing: More evening or weekend and online classes and events

Funding and career assistance:

Guidance on finding funding

Offer more assistantships and centralize the process of posting and applying for assistantships

Orientation: Hold a College of Education orientation

Alumni involvement:

Opportunities to interact and network with College alumni in both social and career-oriented contexts

Respondents were also asked to identify events or workshops the College of Education could provide that would be helpful or interesting. Common answers:

Support for doctoral students (e.g., defense preparation, orientation, dissertation writing workshops and support groups, doctoral timeline and what to expect, how to get published)

Social events (e.g., time to interact with faculty outside the classroom, intramurals, exploring Raleigh, relaxation and fun, virtual opportunities for distance students)

Career development (e.g., networking, placement assistance, interview and resume/CV workshops, career fairs, virtual networking)

Community service

Guest speakers (especially on topics outside K-12 education)

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Orientation

Instructional support (e.g., research and statistical methods, research support groups, APA style, grant writing, IRB process)

Group advising (e.g., course sequencing and selection, thesis and dissertation timelines and form deadlines)

Peer mentoring

More evening and virtual event options, for students working full-time and with other commitments

Respondents’ Ratings of the Graduate School’s New Student Orientation (of those who attended)

Forty-eight percent of respondents found the Graduate School’s orientation to be helpful to some degree, compared to 34% who found it unhelpful to some degree.

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The survey asked respondents to provide short-answer responses regarding topics they felt should have been covered at the orientation. Common and notable responses:

Information about selecting an advisor and other PhD/EdD specific topics

Basic, practical information such as parking, where to get ID cards, accessing e-mail and other online services (e.g., MyPack Portal, Vista), and locations of important buildings

Funding resources and financial aid

Course selection and sequencing

How to get involved on campus with organizations and events

A second short-answer question asked respondents to provide suggestions for improving the Graduate School orientation. Key responses:

Addressing the needs of part-time students

Including an orientation to campus

Holding it in the evening or making it shorter to accommodate students who work full-time

Having more specialized and discipline-specific break-out sessions and opportunities for students to interact with each other

Not mandating attendance, as many found it not to be very relevant

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Prejudice

Percentage of Respondents Indicating They Have “Frequently” or “Occasionally”Witnessed or Personally Experienced Prejudice

Of note, 31% of respondents reported witnessing or personally experiencing prejudice based on race or ethnicity, and 25% of respondents reported witnessing or personally experiencing gender prejudice.

Respondents who answered “frequently” or “occasionally” to any of the prejudice questions were asked to identify any action(s) they had taken in response:

69% discussed the incident with friends

32% spoke with the perpetrator(s) of the prejudice

26% spoke to faculty or staff

21% spoke with the victim(s) of the prejudice

0% contacted the affirmative action office (at NC State, the Office of Equal Opportunity)

In a short-answer question, five respondents reported witnessing or personally experiencing age discrimination (named by five).

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Obstacles

Percentage of Respondents Indicating Certain Factors Are “Major” Obstaclesto Their Academic Progress

Other Factors Identified as Obstacles to Academic Progress

Lack of dissertation support

Late classes (those ending after 10 pm)

Faculty and advisor inconsistent responsiveness and perceived lack of care for students

Infrequent and unpredictable course offerings

Lack of distance courses

Lack of funding

Internship requirements conflicting with full-time employment

Lack of summer classes

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Overall Quality of Experience

Respondents’ Ratings of the Overall Quality of Experience on Two Dimensions:Academic Experience and Student Life Experience

“Excellent” received the largest proportion of responses (40%) for the academic experience rating; for student life experience, the largest proportion was at the “good” level (38%).

In total, over 90% of respondents rated their academic experiences in the College of Education as either excellent, very good or good. In terms of student life, more than 70% rated their experience as excellent, very good or good.

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Percentage of Respondents Who Would Recommend the College of Educationand their Field/Program to Prospective Students

“If you could change one thing about your graduate school experience to make itmore successful or fulfilling, what would it be?”

Having a degree timeline with clearly defined steps at the start of the program

Better first-year advising and more responsive advisors

Clearer degree requirements, more dissertation support

More funding opportunities and assistantships

More-accessible faculty (especially for distance courses)

More social opportunities

Courses that are more challenging and intellectually rigorous

More distance courses

Fewer distance courses

More night courses and class hours that work for students employed full-time

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Future Directions

More course choices

More summer classes

Offering classes more often (especially required classes)

More courses on research design and practical methods (versus theoretical approach)

More research opportunities

Having a program-specific orientation

Formal mentoring

Having graduate student work space and/or a lounge

Having a true cohort structure

Less group work in classes

The results of this survey clearly point toward areas in which the College of Education can improve and expand the services it provides to its graduate students. For information about proposed next steps, please see the April 2009 “CED Graduate Student Services – Update Report.” The report is available upon request by contacting Allison Mitchall, Director of Student Involvement at (919) 513-4120.

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