At the most politically active school in the United States, students like to give their opinions - whether protesting on the quad or debating the great issues of our time. And every semester, we give feedback to the registrar to evaluate the performance of our professors. I figured that since we are such an opinionated student body, our desire to influence non-political things, like decisions about AU, would be high as well.
I contacted several AU offices regarding recent campus surveys and was surprised at the response. Last April, when Housing and Dining Programs and Auxiliary Services asked the entire AU community about on-campus food service, the student response rate was 15 percent.
Last June, when the Career Center asked all students who had made an appointment in the prior year for feedback, the response rate was 19 percent. Another recent Career Center survey, facilitated by the Office of the Registrar, was sent to students registered for internships; the response rate was 53 percent.
In October, when the Student Government sent out an AU issues survey to all 5,609 undergraduates, the response rate was 0.025 percent.
We claim to be politically active, but what about AU active? What really strikes me is the data from Housing and Dining. Stand in line at the Tavern and you'll hear a fair share of complaining about poor service, few options and short hours. Considering this, why are students so reluctant to give their opinions, even when prompted?
At least Housing and Dining asks students for input. Transportation Services hasn't asked student opinions in a campus-wide survey as long as I can remember. Yet opinions on shuttle service are strong at AU - practically everyone has a shuttle horror story tucked away. So why hasn't quantitative data been collected on them?
There are two problems afoot. First, most departments don't even bother to ask student opinion about the service they provide. Second, of those who do, the student response rate is dismal.
To remedy these issues, I propose an annual university-wide student satisfaction survey to gauge student opinion on a wide variety of services here at AU.
It will produce data to track performance and improvement, to hold departments accountable. It will ensure we get what we've been promised, what we've been paying for. And administrators will take it seriously.
The survey would be administered online at my.american.edu, and analyzed by an AU office without a stake in the results - the Office of Institutional Research would be well suited to the task.
It will ask questions about a variety of campus departments.
It would take no more than 15 minutes, would offer a performance measure for countless offices on campus and results will be publicly available. Each department head will have the responsibility to consider the results, and it will be AU President Neil Kerwin's prerogative to ensure appropriate changes are made.
Surveys, though, are useless without response. That's why I propose the annual survey be mandatory; your participation each fall is required before you are cleared to register for spring classes.
Until the survey is completed, a stop is placed on your account. But to counter nervous registrants, it would be available with the release of the spring class schedule; you can take it when convenient to you.
You pay this institution more than $40,000 per year to live here, take classes and be a part of the community. Is 15 minutes, once a year too much to ask to ensure you're getting your money's worth?
Carl Seip is a senior in the School of Public Affairs and the AU issues columnist for The Eagle. You can reach him at edpage@theeagleonline.com.
