University of Massachusetts
Amherst
SARIS - Student Affairs Research,
Information and Systems
Survey of ALANA Students (F95-C)
Executive Summary: More than four-fifths of the ALANA students surveyed reported that they had no difficulty trying to enroll last semester. Almost three-quarters of the students who receive financial aid said that they were either "very satisfied" or "somewhat satisfied" with their financial aid award. Nearly half of the students have attended an activity sponsored by a Registered Student Organization. Overall, almost sixty percent of the students surveyed indicated that they are "satisfied" or "very satisfied" with their academic performance at UMass. A majority of the students said that they had never had trouble obtaining academic support when they needed it and two-thirds were "very informed" or "somewhat informed" about the academic support services available on campus. Nearly all of the students surveyed feel safe walking on campus during the day and seventy percent feel "very safe or "somewhat safe" at night.
On Tuesday, September 25, 1995, Project Pulse conducted a telephone survey for the Campus Activities Office. The survey was designed to gather information in order to better meet the needs of ALANA (African-Latino-Asian-Native American) students on campus. Interviewers attempted to contact 1055 students who were randomly selected from the entire population of ALANA undergraduates. Interviewers successfully contacted 562 students and of these, 477 (85%) agreed to be interviewed. The final disposition for the sample is presented in Table 1. Sample demographics are presented in Tables 2 and 3. Sampling error for the survey is plus or minus approximately five percent.
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Table 1: Final
Disposition of Sample
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|||
|
|
N
|
% of Total
|
% of Contacted
|
| In & cooperated |
477
|
39.9
|
84.9
|
| Contacted, but refused |
85
|
7.1
|
15.1
|
| Not contacted |
493
|
41.2
|
|
| Unobtainable phone number |
136
|
11.4
|
|
| Ineligible |
4
|
0.3
|
|
| Totals |
1,195
|
100.0
|
100.0
|
|
Table 2: Demographics
of Respondents
|
||
|
|
N
|
%
|
| Female |
249
|
52.2
|
| Male |
228
|
47.8
|
| First-year |
151
|
31.7
|
| Sophomore |
103
|
21.6
|
| Junior |
112
|
23.5
|
| Senior |
109
|
22.9
|
| On-campus |
382
|
80.1
|
| Off-campus |
95
|
19.9
|
|
Table 3: Racial
or Ethnic Background
|
||
|
|
N
|
%
|
| Asian-American |
159
|
33.3
|
| Latino/Hispanic/Chicano |
101
|
21.2
|
| African-American/Black |
112
|
23.5
|
| NativeAmerica/American Indian |
8
|
1.7
|
| Cape Verdean |
13
|
2.7
|
| Biracial/Mixed Ancestry |
40
|
8.4
|
| Other |
10
|
2.1
|
| Don't know |
34
|
7.1
|
| Totals |
477
|
100.0
|
First, students were questioned about their experiences trying to enroll at UMass during the fall semester. More than four-fifths (85%, n=409) of the students surveyed said that they had not experienced any difficulty trying to enroll. Of the 67 students who did experience some difficulty, 29 of them (43.9%) reported that their trouble was because of financial reasons; 23 (34.8%) reported that the difficulty was due to administrative problems; and 6 (9.1%) identified academic problems as the cause of their enrollment trouble. Only one-half (51.5%, n=34) of these 67 students indicated that they were either "very satisfied" or "somewhat satisfied" with the help that they received from University staff in getting their problem resolved.
Three-quarters (73.6%, n=351) of those surveyed reported that they received financial aid. Of these students, 74.1% (n=260) said that they are either "very satisfied" or "somewhat satisfied" with their financial aid award.
The next set of questions pertained to co-curricular activities and social activities at UMass. Nearly one-half (48.2%, n=204) of the students surveyed reported being "satisfied" or "very satisfied" with the co-curricular activities that are offered at UMass. Students were read a list of five campus groups which routinely sponsor co-curricular activities on campus, and were asked whether or not they had attended an activity sponsored by each group during the semester. Results are presented in Figure 1. Two-fifths (40.7%, n=177) of student respondents reported that Campus Activities should take the primary responsibility for providing activities on campus. The next most frequent response was Registered Student Organizations (17.5%, n=76).
Approximately one-third of students (35.9%, n=171) reported being "knowledgeable" about Registered Student Organizations (RSOs) at UMass. Two-fifths (43.3%, n=58)of the knowledgeable students said they learned about the variety of RSOs from friends or word of mouth while 14.9% (n=20) learned about RSOs from mailings. Over one-third of the students surveyed (37.3%. n=176) reported that they belong to an RSO, while only 20% (n=95) of the students reported being involved with a campus-based student group other than an RSO or cultural center.
Students answered a battery of questions relating to academic experiences at UMass. On a scale ranging from 1 to 5, with 1 being "not at all challenging" and 5 being "extremely challenging," 42.6% (n=203) of the students rated the academic challenge of UMass a 4 and 39.8% (n=190) rated it a 3. Only 9.2% (n= 44) gave a rating of 5. On another scale from 1 to 5, with 1 being "very low" and 5 being "very high" students were asked to indicate the amount of effort that they have put into their academic work this semester. Almost 60% (58.9%, n=281) gave a ranking of 4 or 5. Figure 2 illustrates students' reported satisfaction with their overall academic performance at UMass.
Students were asked to report their level of satisfaction with the academic advising they have received from University staff. Results are illustrated in Figure 3. Almost two-thirds of the students surveyed (62.1%. n= 295) said that they are either "very informed" or "somewhat informed" about the academic support services offered on campus. However, only 42.4% (n=201) of those surveyed indicated that they had ever utilized academic support services on campus. Three-quarters (76.9%, n=367) of the students said that they had never had trouble obtaining academic support when they needed it, but 30.3% (n=123) felt that there are not enough support services available for students. More than one-quarter (28%, n=132) of the students reported that they do not know who their academic advisor is. Almost three-quarters of the students (74.7%, n= 248) with a known academic advisor said they have had little or no difficulty scheduling appointments with him/her.
In conclusion, students were asked about safety on campus. Nearly all (98.9%, n=470) of the students reported feeling "very safe" or "somewhat safe" walking on campus during the day, while 70.3% (n=334) reported feeling "very safe" or "somewhat safe" walking on campus at night.