The Cycles Survey, Spring 1997, SARIS Report
No. 305
THE UMASS UNDERGRADUATE: SPRING 1997
The Cycles Survey: A Report on Students
by Todd Robbins
HIGHLIGHTS
The vast majority of Cycles respondents (91.3%) reported being "satisfied" or "very satisfied" with their overall University experience. Despite most students' general satisfaction, nearly three-quarters (73%) agree that "most students at UMass are treated like numbers, not people," and almost sixty percent (58%) agree that "administrators at UMass do not seem to care about students."
Large majorities of students report that they are "satisfied" or "very satisfied" with their academic experience at UMass (84.8%), their academic progress (87.7%), and the accessibility of faculty (78.9%).
Over half (56.3%) of the students report that they rent or own a personal computer here at the University. This figure is up five percentage points from 1996 and 13 percentage points from 1994.
The vast majority of Cycles respondents (91.6%) report satisfaction with their social life, as well as programmed social activities (80.3%). Nearly one-third (32%) of the students report feeling a sense of community at UMass to a very little or little extent, and 6% report feeling lonely to a very great or great extent.
Eighty-one percent of the students report satisfaction with their residential experience.
Over two-thirds (69.6%) of the students who are on the meal plan express dissatisfaction with the Dining Commons Food Service. This figure is up ten percentage points from last year.
Nine out of ten (91.2%) respondents are satisfied with Library resources and services, while about two-thirds are satisfied with the Bursar's office (67.8%) and the Financial Aid office (64.2%).
A large majority of students (89.3%) report satisfaction with the security in their residence hall, and nearly the same proportion (87.1%) report satisfaction with campus security.
Sixty-three percent of the students express satisfaction with University Health Services (UHS) when used for medical care and 79.5% report satisfaction with UHS when used for personal counseling.
Students indicating that they have considered withdrawing from the University were significantly less likely than the other students to report satisfaction with their University experience, their academic experience, their academic progress, and their course schedule. They were also more likely to report feeling lonely to a great or very great extent.
Seventeen percent indicate that they think racial harassment is a problem to a very great or great extent, and nearly half (45.5%) think that drug use is a problem to a very great or great extent. Alcohol use is perceived by the greatest proportion of students (55.9%) as being a problem at UMass to either a very great or a great extent.
Over one-fifth (21.4%) of the students report that lack of racial or ethnic diversity is a problem to a great or very great extent. This figure is up nine percentage points from last year.
Altogether, almost one-third (28.5%) of the students report having personally experienced at least one form of harassment (religious, sexual, racial and harassment based upon sexual orientation) at UMass during the past year and almost two-thirds (62%) report having witnessed at least one type of harassment.
