Get Acrobat Reader
Acrobat Version of Report

University of Massachusetts Amherst
SARIS - Student Affairs Research, Information and Systems
University Center 2000 Survey (F97-D)

Executive Summary:Almost half of surveyed students spend 1-2 hours per week at the Campus Center, and another 45% spend more than 2 hours. Most popular of the proposed services in a renovated Center are a bank, a photocopy and fax center, and a health club. Types of stores most in demand are one which stocks books, cds and videos; a convenience store; a grocery; a video rental establishment; a store featuring casual clothing; and a cyber-cafe. Activities which students believe they are most likely to participate in are attending movies, live entertainment, or a dance club with a DJ; using a game room for air hockey, pool or ping-pong; using a bowling alley; or watching television. There is a significant difference in activity interests between men and women. A food court is the preferred physical arrangement of restaurant seating. Approximately three-fifths of students remain in the Amherst area on the weekend, and more women than men stay in the area.

On Wednesday, October 22, 1997, Project Pulse conducted a survey designed to explore the sorts of services, recreational facilities and restaurants students are interested in seeing in a renovated Campus Center / Student Union. Pulse interviewers attempted to contact 837 undergraduate students who had been randomly selected by computer from the University’s student database. Of these, 481 were successfully contacted, and 389 (80%) agreed to be interviewed. (See Table 1 for the final disposition of the sample and Table 2 for a demographic summary of the respondents.) The response rate for the survey was 46%.

First, respondents were asked how many hours they spend at the Campus Center / Student Union in an average week. Almost half of the students (48.7%, n=189) report that they spend 1-2 hours, 44.7% (n=173) spend more, and 6.7% (n=26) estimate that they spend no hours at the Center in an average week (See Figure 1).

Figure 1. Average number of hours students spend in the Campus Center/Student Union each week

The next battery of questions asked students to use a scale ranging from 1 to 10, where 1 is “not at all important” and 10 is “very important,” to rate the importance they would personally place on having various services at the new Center (See Figure 2). Most popular is “a bank with teller service and an ATM,” which received an 8, 9, or 10 rating from 72.8% (n=284) of the students sampled. A “photocopying and fax center” received top ratings from over 60% of students. There is a positive correlation between class year and a highly positive rating for this service: It was given an 8, 9, or 10 rating by 49.9% (n=65) of first year students, 60.9% (n=56) of sophomores, 71.0% (n=54) of juniors, and 79.3% (n=73) of seniors (p=.0098). Health- and fitness-related services came next in popularity. A health club with a weight room and aerobic exercise equipment garnered high marks from over half of those surveyed, and a multi-purpose studio space for aerobics, dance, martial arts or yoga was rated as important by over three-tenths of students. Interest in a health club is negatively correlated with academic class: 59.3% (n=77) of first-year students, 51.1% (n=47) of sophomores, 46.1% (n=35) of juniors, and 43.4% (n=40) of seniors gave it an 8, 9, or 10 rating (p=.0220). More than twice as many women as men (47.0% v. 22.1%) gave an 8, 9, or 10 importance rating to a multi-purpose studio space (p=.00002).

Figure 2. Student interest in potential services in a renovated Campus Center
Percentage of students rating each service 8, 9, or 10 on a 10-point scale, where 1 is "not at all important" and 10 is "very important"

Next, students were asked to rate, on the same 1 to 10 scale, the importance they would personally place on having various kinds of specialty stores in the renovated Campus Center (see Figure 3). Over four-fifths of students gave 8, 9, or 10 ratings to a store with books, CDs and videos, a convenience store, and a small-scale grocery store. However, the book store is less important to students in the upper classes: 60.7% (n=79) of first-year students and 63.0% (n=58) of sophomores gave it an 8, 9, or 10 rating, while only 51.3% (n=39) of juniors and 41.3% (n=38) of seniors did so. A video rental store is seen as important by about three-quarters of students. Slightly over half of the respondents express interest in “a name brand clothing store featuring jeans, t-shirts, sweaters, and other casual clothing,” and “a cyber-cafe where you could browse the Worldwide Web for a fee while having coffee, pastries and bagels.” The clothing store was given a high rating by 44.6% of both first-year students (n=58) and sophomores (n=41), but by only 26.3% (n=20) of juniors and 16.3% (n=15) of seniors. Less than half the respondents gave priority to “a store that sells computers” or a shoe store.

Figure 3. Student interest in potential kinds of stores in a renovated Campus Center
Percentage of students rating each store 8, 9, or 10 on a 10-point scale, where 1 is "not at all important" and 10 is "very important"

The next battery of questions investigated how likely students would be to take part in various activities if they are available at the new Center (see Figure 4). Over 90% of the students indicate that they are somewhat or very likely to “watch movies at a movie theater” in the Center, and over 80% said they would “go to see small-scale live entertainment acts such as comedians or singers.” Almost 70% report they are somewhat or very likely to go to a dance club offering music played by a D.J. or use a game room supplied with pool, ping-pong or air hockey games. Over half of students say that they are somewhat or very likely to use a bowling alley or watch television.

Many of the proposed activities appeal more strongly to one sex or the other. Women are more likely than men to express an interest in using a craft center (56.9% v. 33.1%, p=.0000). Men are more likely than women to express interest in using a game room for air hockey, pool and ping-pong (80.1% v. 55.0%, p=0000), in bowling (60.2% v. 49.5%, p=.0100), in playing video games (43.8% v. 22.1%, p=.0000), and in frequenting a game room devoted to quiet games such as chess, checkers, and backgammon (35.5% v. 22.1%, p=.0014).

Students were questioned about various possibilities for food service operations within the new Center. When asked “what one campus-based or local cafe, restaurant or fast-food place would you most like to be located in the new University Center?” students suggested over thirty different establishments. Most popular are Antonio’s (n=84), McDonald’s (n=27), Bueno y Sano (n=21), Dunkin’ Donuts (n=15), Starbuck’s (n=14) and D.P. Dough (n=11), while others received fewer than ten mentions. When asked which “one name-brand or chain cafe, restaurant or fast-food place would you most like” in the new facility, respondents named over twenty chains, some of which also appeared as responses in the previous question. Establishments receiving ten or more mentions include McDonald’s (n=78), Burger King (n=45), Starbuck’s (n=34), Dunkin’ Donuts (n=25), Taco Bell (n=25), Wendy’s (n=25), Subway (n=22) and Friendly’s (n=10).

The physical organization of food services within the Campus Center was the focus of the next group of questions. A food court arrangement with common seating is the choice of 57.9% (n=223) of students, while 36.1% (n=139) express a preference for “individual restaurants with their own distinct atmospheres and separate seating areas,” and 6.0% (n=23) want both arrangements available. Seating appears important, since a majority of students indicate that they would prefer to eat both snacks (52.4%, n=198) and breakfasts (64.4%, n=242) at the University Center rather than purchasing those foods on a take-out basis. For lunch, just over half (51.8%, n=202) of students say that they would prefer a self-service restaurant, while the remainder are split almost equally between a take out restaurant (25.1%, n=98) and a sit down restaurant (23.1%). For dinner, a sit down restaurant is favored by 66.8% (n=258) of respondents, a self-service facility by 22.8%, and a take out by 10.4%.

Figure 4. Proportions of women and men saying they would be likely to participate in each Campus Center activity.
(*statistically significant differences between men's and women's responses)

Interviewers also asked students whether they had left the Amherst area on the previous weekend “to go home or elsewhere.” Just over three-fifths (61.0%, n=236) report that they remained on campus, while 39.0% (n=151) went away. Men are more likely than women to have been away for the weekend (44.3% v. 34.2%, p=.0406).

-- Meg Kluge

Item-by-Item