Senior Survey

Swarthmore College
2006 Senior Survey

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Your comments will be welcome, read, and considered carefully ... and will remain confidential when reported to policy makers at your school.

Please use the space below to comment on what your school could have done to improve your undergraduate experience or what you wish you had done differently, or both.
TEXTBOX: IMPROVE.TEXT

Please use the space below to describe the most important outcomes of your time as an undergraduate. Where possible, be specific about how your college or university contributed to these accomplishments, changes or other developments.
TEXTBOX: OUTCOMES.TEXT

Please use the space below to elaborate on any of the questions above (refer to the question by number) and to comment on any other aspect of your undergraduate experience not covered in this questionnaire.
TEXTBOX: COMMENT.TEXT

PART G. Additional Questions from Swarthmore College

Section I – Workload in One Typical Course
Please select one particular lower or upper division course that you are currently taking or have recently taken, to use as the basis for answering this section. (Please select a course that you regard as typical in terms of workload expectations.)

1. What is the level of the course you have selected?
LOCAL01=1 -- Lower level (mostly first-year students and sophomores)
LOCAL01=2 -- Upper level (mostly juniors and seniors)

2. What is the Division of the course you have selected?
LOCAL02=1 -- Humanities (Arts, Music, Dance, Theatre, Languages, Classics, English Literature, Philosophy, Religion)
LOCAL02=2 -- Natural Sciences and Engineering (Life Sciences, Physical Sciences, Math, Computer Science, Engineering)
LOCAL02=3 -- Social Sciences (Economics, Education, History, Linguistics, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology and Anthropology)

3. To be adequately prepared for this class, how many hours per week do you, or did you, study, read, write, rehearse, and do other activities related to your class? (Do not count scheduled class timeor lab periods.)
LOCAL03=1 -- 0 hours
LOCAL03=2 -- 1-2 hours
LOCAL03=3 -- 3-4 hours
LOCAL03=4 -- 5-6 hours
LOCAL03=5 -- 7-8 hours
LOCAL03=6 -- 9-10 hours
LOCAL03=7 -- 11-12 hours
LOCAL03=8 -- More than 12 hours

4. How much time per week do you think the instructor expects, or expected, students to spend preparing?
LOCAL04=1 -- 0 hours
LOCAL04=2 -- 1-2 hours
LOCAL04=3 -- 3-4 hours
LOCAL04=4 -- 5-6 hours
LOCAL04=5 -- 7-8 hours
LOCAL04=6 -- 9-10 hours
LOCAL04=7 -- 11-12 hours
LOCAL04=8 -- More than 12 hours

5. What do you feel is the right workload expectation that an instructor should have of students in this typical course so that meaningful learning takes place? That is, how much time per week do you think an instructor should expect students to spend preparing for class?
LOCAL05=1 -- 0 hours
LOCAL05=2 -- 1-2 hours
LOCAL05=3 -- 3-4 hours
LOCAL05=4 -- 5-6 hours
LOCAL05=5 -- 7-8 hours
LOCAL05=6 -- 9-10 hours
LOCAL05=7 -- 11-12 hours
LOCAL05=8 -- More than 12 hours

Section II. Coursework in General
Thinking back over your time as a student at Swarthmore (not just the particular course selected for the previous section), what is your view of the workload expectations that faculty members typically have of students?

6. How do you think Swarthmore faculty expectations for the time students should spend preparing for a typical course compare to faculty expectations at similar colleges?
LOCAL06=1 -- Swarthmore faculty expect significantly less preparation time
LOCAL06=2 -- Swarthmore faculty expect somewhat less preparation time
LOCAL06=3 -- Swarthmore faculty expectations are about the same
LOCAL06=4 -- Swarthmore faculty expect somewhat more preparation time
LOCAL06=5 -- Swarthmore faculty expect significantly more preparation time

Section III. Academic Work and Balance
A question earlier in the survey asked about balancing academic and extracurricular activities. We'd like to know a bit more about your views on this. Would you please indicate the degree to which you agree or disagree with the following statements?

Strongly Disagree Somewhat Disagree Neither Disagree nor Agree Somewhat Agree Strongly Agree

7. I am effective at managing my time. LOCAL07=1 LOCAL07=2 LOCAL07=3 LOCAL07=4 LOCAL07=5

8. When faculty members assign work in a course, it is clear to me which reading requirements are essential and which are supplemental. LOCAL08=1 LOCAL08=2 LOCAL08=3 LOCAL08=4 LOCAL08=5

9. Course reading assignments should be taken very seriously and completed on time in order to get the most out of a class. LOCAL09=1 LOCAL09=2 LOCAL09=3 LOCAL09=4 LOCAL09=5

10. I typically over commit myself. LOCAL10=1 LOCAL10=2 LOCAL10=3 LOCAL10=4 LOCAL10=5

11. For the most part, my academic workload has been manageable. LOCAL11=1 LOCAL11=2 LOCAL11=3 LOCAL11=4 LOCAL11=5

12. I have been able to participate in extracurricular activities to an appropriate extent. LOCAL12=1 LOCAL12=2 LOCAL12=3 LOCAL12=4 LOCAL12=5

13. Students’ complaints about workload are exaggerated. LOCAL13=1 LOCAL13=2 LOCAL13=3 LOCAL13=4 LOCAL13=5

14. I feel burnt out. LOCAL14=1 LOCAL14=2 LOCAL14=3 LOCAL14=4 LOCAL14=5

15. I generally feel excited and challenged by my work. LOCAL15=1 LOCAL15=2 LOCAL15=3 LOCAL15=4 LOCAL15=5

16. When I work hard in a course, I usually earn the grade I deserve. LOCAL16=1 LOCAL16=2 LOCAL16=3 LOCAL16=4 LOCAL16=5

17. I have generally been able to find enough time for recreation and social activities. LOCAL17=1 LOCAL17=2 LOCAL17=3 LOCAL17=4 LOCAL17=5

18. Most Swarthmore students are too narrowly focused on their work. LOCAL18=1 LOCAL18=2 LOCAL18=3 LOCAL18=4 LOCAL18=5

We'd appreciate any comments you may have about academic workload, extracurricular activities, balance, and time management, especially as they may related to your overall experience at Swarthmore.
TEXTBOX: LOCAL41.TEXT

Section IV. Intercollegiate Sports Program

Very Negative Somewhat Negative Neutral Somewhat Positive Very Positive

19. What effect does the intercollegiate sports program have on your overall experience at Swarthmore? LOCAL19=1 LOCAL19=2 LOCAL19=3 LOCAL19=4 LOCAL19=5

20. What do you feel is the effect of the intercollegiate sports program on the overall quality of campus life? LOCAL20=1 LOCAL20=2 LOCAL20=3 LOCAL20=4 LOCAL20=5

21. How do you feel most members of the campus community feel about intercollegiate sports? LOCAL21=1 LOCAL21=2 LOCAL21=3 LOCAL21=4 LOCAL21=5

Click FINISH to save your entries on this page and complete the survey.

Thank you very much for contributing to this research!

	Strongly Disagree	Somewhat Disagree	Neither Disagree nor Agree	Somewhat Agree	Strongly Agree
7. I am effective at managing my time.	LOCAL07=1	LOCAL07=2	LOCAL07=3	LOCAL07=4	LOCAL07=5
8. When faculty members assign work in a course, it is clear to me which reading requirements are essential and which are supplemental.	LOCAL08=1	LOCAL08=2	LOCAL08=3	LOCAL08=4	LOCAL08=5
9. Course reading assignments should be taken very seriously and completed on time in order to get the most out of a class.	LOCAL09=1	LOCAL09=2	LOCAL09=3	LOCAL09=4	LOCAL09=5
10. I typically over commit myself.	LOCAL10=1	LOCAL10=2	LOCAL10=3	LOCAL10=4	LOCAL10=5
11. For the most part, my academic workload has been manageable.	LOCAL11=1	LOCAL11=2	LOCAL11=3	LOCAL11=4	LOCAL11=5
12. I have been able to participate in extracurricular activities to an appropriate extent.	LOCAL12=1	LOCAL12=2	LOCAL12=3	LOCAL12=4	LOCAL12=5
13. Students’ complaints about workload are exaggerated.	LOCAL13=1	LOCAL13=2	LOCAL13=3	LOCAL13=4	LOCAL13=5
14. I feel burnt out.	LOCAL14=1	LOCAL14=2	LOCAL14=3	LOCAL14=4	LOCAL14=5
15. I generally feel excited and challenged by my work.	LOCAL15=1	LOCAL15=2	LOCAL15=3	LOCAL15=4	LOCAL15=5
16. When I work hard in a course, I usually earn the grade I deserve.	LOCAL16=1	LOCAL16=2	LOCAL16=3	LOCAL16=4	LOCAL16=5
17. I have generally been able to find enough time for recreation and social activities.	LOCAL17=1	LOCAL17=2	LOCAL17=3	LOCAL17=4	LOCAL17=5
18. Most Swarthmore students are too narrowly focused on their work.	LOCAL18=1	LOCAL18=2	LOCAL18=3	LOCAL18=4	LOCAL18=5

	Very Negative	Somewhat Negative	Neutral	Somewhat Positive	Very Positive
19. What effect does the intercollegiate sports program have on your overall experience at Swarthmore?	LOCAL19=1	LOCAL19=2	LOCAL19=3	LOCAL19=4	LOCAL19=5
20. What do you feel is the effect of the intercollegiate sports program on the overall quality of campus life?	LOCAL20=1	LOCAL20=2	LOCAL20=3	LOCAL20=4	LOCAL20=5
21. How do you feel most members of the campus community feel about intercollegiate sports?	LOCAL21=1	LOCAL21=2	LOCAL21=3	LOCAL21=4	LOCAL21=5