Description:

The 2007 Graduate Student Survey was designed to solicit student feedback about the quality of their academic programs. The primary purpose of the survey was to collect data to help the Graduate Division evaluate graduate departments/programs and ensure that UCSC graduate students obtain the very best education possible. It was developed in consultation with the Division of Graduate Studies. The survey focused on the following topics:

• Decision to attend UCSC
• Quality of department/program & faculty ratings
• Primary advisor
• Department/program curriculum
• Department/program resources
• Student voice
• Department/program climate
• Department/program and career preparation
• TA training
• Overall satisfaction
• Career goals
• Graduate student services
• Financing graduate school
• Housing
• Graduate student organizations and events

Method:

In Spring 2007, survey invitations were emailed to graduate students who were enrolled in the Winter and/or Spring quarters. Initial invitations and four weekly reminders containing login and password information were sent electronically to students’ campus assigned email addresses, and flyers with the survey url were posted at department/program offices. In addition, graduate departments/programs were asked to email their graduate students to encourage them to participate in the survey. As an incentive for participation, students who completed the survey were entered into a random drawing for one of twenty $50 gift certificates.

Results:

Results are summarized by program/department for the following topics:

• Decision to attend UCSC
• Quality of department/program & faculty ratings
• Primary advisor
• Department/program curriculum
• Department/program resources
• Student voice
• Department/program climate
• Department/program and career preparation
• TA training
• Overall satisfaction
• Financing graduate school

Overall, 1,415 graduate students were solicited to participate in the survey. Of these students, 52 had undeliverable emails/survey invitations or refused participation, and thus, the total population surveyed was 1,363 graduate students. The overall response rate was 56% (N=766). Response rates by department/program ranged between 37% and 80%.

Online Results Generator:

This online web generator provides descriptive results including the number of responses, response rates, frequency tables, graphs, and means for each item. Results are presented for each program/department alongside overall campus-wide statistics for comparison. Response rates by program/department for specific items are calculated based on the number of students in the program/department who answered the question divided by the total number of students in that program/department who were invited to participate in the survey. Campus-wide response rates are calculated based on the number of graduate students who responded to the specific item in the survey divided by the total number of graduate students invited to participate in the survey. Means are based on a Likert scale ranging from 1 (very unimportant, very poor, strongly disagree, strongly dissatisfied) to 5 (very important, excellent, strongly agree, strongly satisfied). While values for the response option “Not applicable/Don’t know” are included in the frequency tables, they are not used in the calculation of means.