Office of
Planning and Institutional Research
Institutional Research
Hope, Knowledge, and Opportunity
Research Report 2008-2009
Survey of Graduating Master’s and Doctoral Students
Summer 2008 - Spring 2009
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Office of Planning & Institutional Effectiveness
The Graduating Master’s and Doctoral Student Survey is one of a series of Continuous Quality Improvement Surveys instituted by Florida International University’s Office of Planning and Institutional Research. This is the eighth survey report from the Graduating Master’s and Doctoral Student Survey. The information in these Continuous Quality Improvement Survey Reports will be distributed to members of the university community and will be used by the appropriate departments to enhance continuous quality improvement efforts.
Every effort has been made to ensure that the data contained in this document is accurate. For further information about this and other Continuous Quality Improvement Survey Reports, visit our website at http://w3.fiu.edu/irdata/portal/effectiveness.htm, or contact Noelle Laforest at or 305-348-2731, (FAX) 305-348-1008, or visit us at Modesto Maidique Campus, PC 543.
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TABLE OF CONTENTSTable of Contents / 3
Executive Summary of the Graduating Master’s and Doctoral Student Survey
Summer 2008 – Spring 2009 / 4
I. Summary of the Responses to the Graduating Master’s and Doctoral Student Survey Summer 2008 – Spring 2009
Introduction / 6
Methodology: / 6
Sampling Design / 6
Statistics / 6
Table 1 Return Rates of Summer2008-2009 Graduating Master’s and Doctoral Students By College/School / 7
Table 2 Comparison of Response Rates By College/School 2004-2008 / 8
II. Primary Findings from the Summer 2008 – Spring 2009
A. Principal Indicators of Satisfaction with FIU / 9
B. Items With the Highest Correlations / 10
C. Strongest Predictors of Overall Academic Experience / 10
D. Strongest Correlates of Overall Satisfaction With Graduate Program / 10
III. Ten Principal Indicators of Overall Satisfaction With FIU (A graphical analysis) / 1111
Figure 1: Overall Satisfaction / 11
Figure 2: Overall Academic Experience / 11 11
Figure 3: Challenged to Do Best / 12
Figure 4: Recommend Graduate Program to Others / 12
Figure 5: Satisfaction With Department of Major / 13
Figure 6: Professors Were Good Teachers / 13
Figure 7: Availability of Research Facilities / 14
Figure 8: Professors Were Good Researchers / 14
Figure 9: Research Quality In Graduate Program / 15
Figure 10: Faculty Availability to Collaborate On Graduate Student Research / 15
IV. Six-Year Comparison of Ten Principal Indicators of the Graduating Master’s and Doctoral Students’ Satisfaction With FIU / 16
Figure 11: Overall Satisfaction With Graduate Program / 16
Figure 12: Overall Academic Experience / 17
Figure 13: Challenged To Do Best / 18
Figure 14: Recommend FIU / 19
Figure 15: Satisfaction With Department / 20
Figure 16: Professors Were Good Teachers / 21
Figure 17: Availability of Research Facilities / 22
Figure 18: Professors Were Good Researchers / 23
Figure 19: Research Quality In Graduate Program / 24
Figure 20: Faculty Available to Assist Research / 25
Conclusions / 26
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE GRADUATING MASTERS AND DOCTORAL STUDENT SURVEY SUMMER 2008 - SPRING 2009
This report summarizes the main findings from the Summer 2008 - Spring 2009 Florida International University Graduating Master’s and Doctoral Student Survey, a Continuous Quality Improvement study conducted by the Office of Planning and Institutional Effectiveness. This survey was adapted from a prototype survey developed by the SUS Accountability Committee on Survey Activity (Legg, Final Report, 1992). The survey was designed to measure graduates’ satisfaction with and attitudes about Florida International University. The survey design assured respondents of their anonymity in an attempt to facilitate candor.
The Graduating Master’s and Doctoral Student Survey was distributed to 2,506 individuals who were members of the graduating classes of Summer 2008, Fall 2008 and Spring 2009. The survey was returned by 70 graduates, for a response rate of approximately 3%. (The survey response rate decreased tremendously due to the migration of the new student email which was being implemented at the same time as the survey was being conducted. In result it is unknown whether every student received an email inviting them to partake in the survey.) The comprehensive survey asked questions about the graduates’ satisfaction with Florida International University in various domains such as the quality and availability of faculty in their major, the quality of research produced in the graduate program, the quality and availability of academic advising by university advising staff and faculty members, and the quality of the libraries. The survey also questioned graduates about the frequency of use and quality of services such as Counseling and Psychological Services, Recreational Services, and Health Services.
Ten principal indicators have been singled out as the most reliable measures of the graduates’ satisfaction with FIU and have been summarized below.
· Overall Satisfaction With Graduate Program: 75% of the graduates indicated that they were satisfied with their graduate program (32% very satisfied, 44% satisfied).
· Overall Academic Experience: 68% of the graduates rated positively their overall academic experience (38% excellent, 30% good ratings).
· Challenged: 75% of the graduates agreed that they had been challenged to do the best that they could (55% most of the time, 20% some of the time).
· Recommend FIU: 77% of the graduates reported that they would recommend FIU to a friend or relative considering their graduate program (36% without reservations, 41% with reservations).
· Satisfaction with Department of Major: 65% of the graduates were satisfied with the department of their major (23% strongly agreed, 42% agreed).
· Professors Were Good Teachers: 68% of the graduates agreed that their professors were good teachers (33% strongly agreed, 36% agreed).
· Research Facilities Available in Graduate Program: 62% of the graduates rated positively the availability of research facilities in their graduate program (26% excellent, 36% good).
· Professors Were Good Researchers: 71% of the graduates agreed that their professors were good researchers (33% strongly agreed, 38% agreed).
· Quality of Research in Graduate Program: 71% of the graduates rated positively the quality of research performed in their graduate program (28% excellent, 44% good).
· Faculty Available to Assist Graduate Student Research: 65% of the graduates rated positively the availability of the faculty to assist them in their research (39% excellent, 26% good).
Items With the Highest Correlations
· To the extent that graduating respondents rated highly the responsiveness of the administration towards graduate students, they were also satisfied with the advice they received in which they found it to be useful to their career (r = .96, p < .001).
· To the extent that graduating respondents overall agreed their courses were too large, they also agreed that their advisor was available when needed (r = .96, p < .001).
· To the extent that graduating respondents agreed the advice they received was useful to their career, they also believed their courses were too large (r = .94, p < .001).
· To the extent that graduating respondents agreed they would refer FIU, they also agreed they were satisfied with the grading policy in their program (r = .87, p < .001).
Strongest Predictors of Overall Academic Experience
· Extent of agreement they were satisfied with the responsiveness of support services to graduate students (r = .77, p < .001).
· Extent of agreement that they were satisfied with their quality of instruction in their program (r = .75, p < .001).
· Extent of agreement that they were satisfied with the availability of coursework in their program (r = .74, p < .001).
· Extent of agreement that they were satisfied with the opportunity for graduate assistantships(r = .69, p < .001).
Positive responses to the ten principal indicators of satisfaction are decreasing, with positive responses of over 70% for five of the principal indicators. Positive responses increased for one of the ten principal indicators of student satisfaction compared to the responses of students graduating in Summer 2007-Spring 2008. Positive responses to the ten principal indicators of student satisfaction fluctuated across the six-year period (2003-2009).
I. SUMMARY OF THE RESPONSES TO THE GRADUATING MASTERS AND DOCTORAL STUDENT SURVEY SUMMER 2008-SPRING 2009
INTRODUCTION
It is vitally important that student feedback is elicited by an institution of higher learning on a comprehensive range of topics involving the university community. One such avenue of feedback is to request graduates to look back on their time at Florida International University and to provide faculty and administrators feedback on their thoughts and attitudes about their experiences at FIU. Therefore, a Continuous Quality Improvement survey is distributed to graduating students each semester to give each individual an opportunity to have a voice in relaying his or her observations and experiences during his or her matriculation at FIU.
This report summarizes the main findings from the Florida International University Graduating Master’s and Doctoral Student Survey, a Continuous Quality Improvement study conducted by the Office of Planning and Institutional Effectiveness. This survey was adapted from a prototype survey developed by the SUS Accountability Committee on Survey Activity (Legg, Final Report, 1992). This survey was designed to measure graduate satisfaction with and attitudes about Florida International University. The survey design assured respondents of their anonymity in an attempt to facilitate candor.
METHODOLOGY
Sampling Design. The Registrar’s Office provided an exhaustive list of all graduate students who had filed intent to graduate forms for the Summer 2008, Fall 2008 and Spring 2009 semesters. These students were e-mailed a letter from the survey coordinator. Nine e-mail reminders followed up this initial letter before the end of the semester. Seventy graduate students who were expected to graduate at the end of the Summer 2008, Fall 2008 or Spring 2009 semesters responded to the survey out of a graduating class of 2,506 a response rate of 3%. The survey response rate decreased tremendously due to the migration of the new student email which was being implemented at the same time as the survey was being conducted. In result it is unknown whether every student received an email inviting them to partake in the Graduating Master’s and Doctoral Student survey.
Table 1 shows the number of graduates by college, percentage of graduates by college, and response rate by college. Table 2 shows the response rates for the Summer 2008 - Spring 2009 data collection compared to the Fall 2008- Spring 2009 data collection. Appendix A provides the Graduating Master’s and Doctoral Student Survey, with tabulated responses for each question.
Statistics. The data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 11.5. In general, a three to five point scale was used for the survey items, with higher scores indicating more positive attitudes. A variety of simple statistics are reported such as percentages and frequency. Correlations (also called bivariate relationships) are used to describe the relationships between two variables. The degree of correlation is denoted by “r” (Pearson Product Moment Correlation). A positive correlation indicates that as scores increase for one variable, they also increase for another variable (or both scores decrease).
Table 1: Return Rates of Summer 2008- Spring 2009 Graduating Master’s and Doctoral Students by College/School
Headcount Population of Graduating Class / Returned Surveys / Return Rate / (% of all returned) minus(% of class)
College/School / # / % of graduating class / # / % of all returned / % / %
Architecture / 68 / 3% / 2 / 3% / 3% / 0%
Arts & Sciences / 338 / 13% / 17 / 24% / 5% / 11%
Business / 705 / 28% / 10 / 14% / 1% / -14%
Education / 369 / 15% / 4 / 6% / 1% / -9%
Engineering / 377 / 15% / 12 / 17% / 3% / 2%
Hospitality Management / 79 / 3% / 0 / 0% / 0% / -3%
Journalism / 38 / 2% / 2 / 3% / 5% / 1%
Nursing and Health Sciences / 205 / 8% / 3 / 4% / 1% / -4%
Public Health / 204 / 8% / 11 / 16% / 5% / 8%
Law / 123 / 5% / 9 / 13% / 7% / 8%
Not Reported / n/a / n/a / n/a / n/a / n/a / n/a
Totals / 2,506 / 100% / 70 / 100% / 3%
Based upon the response rate patterns, it is believed that the respondents were not representative of the 2008-2009 graduating class. The response rates from each college varied widely from 0% in the School of Hospitality Management to 24% for the College of Arts & Sciences. Respondents from the College of College of Arts & Sciences were over represented in the survey responses. These respondents returned 24% of all surveys, but they represented about 13% of the graduating class. Respondents from the School of Hospitality Management were under represented in the survey responses. These respondents constituted 3% of the graduating class, and returned 0% of all surveys.
Table 2: Comparison of Response Rates by College/School 2006-2009
FIU College/School / Return Rate of Surveys Summer 2008-Spring 2009 / Return Rate of Surveys Summer 2007-Spring 2008 / Return Rate ofSurveys Summer
2006-Spring 2007
% / % / %
Architecture / 3% / 7% / 5%
Arts & Sciences / 5% / 4% / 14%
Business / 1% / 3% / 4%
Education / 1% / 4% / 11%
Engineering / 3% / 2% / 6%
Hospitality Management / 0% / 0% / 6%
Journalism / 5% / 4% / 12%
Nursing and Health Sciences / 1% / 1% / n/a
Public Health / 5% / 7% / n/a
Social Work, Justice, Public Administration / * / 5% / n/a
Law / 7% / 0% / 7%
Totals / 3% / 3% / 9%
(* School no longer exists)
It should be noted that it is unclear whether every student filing an intent to graduate form received a graduating survey from the Office of Planning and Institutional Effectiveness as several emails were returned with error messages and the implementation of a new student email was being conducted during one of the semester in which the emails were being sent out to students. Therefore, the response rates that are indicated may be artificially low. The response rates were calculated by dividing the total number of responses to the survey by the number of graduating Master’s and Doctoral students for the pertinent semesters.