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Students Rate DSU High in Computer Integration

DSU students rated a high degree of satisfaction with the computer usage in their courses, their ability to adapt to changes in the computing environment and their ability to utilize their overall computer knowledge.  Students’ also gave a very high rating to “the campus is safe and secure for all students.” DSU students’ average satisfaction ratings were significantly higher than the national user norms on 52 of the 73 items rated.

In addition, DSU students rated a significantly higher degree of satisfaction on all twelve scales when compared to the national normative data (See figure 1). Only two areas, “There are a sufficient number of weekend activities” and “The amount of student parking space on campus is adequate” were rated significantly lower than the national norms.

“According to the Student Satisfaction Inventory, students chose to enroll at DSU because of its academic reputation,” said Carrie Ahern, assessment specialist at Dakota State. “The students also rated a very high degree of satisfaction with the computer usage in their courses. This is a tribute to DSU's faculty who use innovative methods to integrate computers into all of the courses.”

The students also rated the importance of each area. The five areas of highest importance to the DSU students were: “the content of courses within my major is valuable,” “I am able to register for classes I need with few conflicts,” “the instruction in my major field is excellent,” “the quality of instruction I receive in most of my classes is excellent” and “computer labs are adequate and accessible.” The most important factor in students’ decision to enroll at DSU was the academic reputation.

“In addition, the survey indicated that students at DSU feel very safe and secure on the campus and are very satisfied with the "caring and helpful" staff,” added Ahern.

This information is obtained from the Student Satisfaction Inventory, produced by Noel Levitz, Inc. Last fall, over 400 DSU students participated in the pilot test of the web version of this satisfaction survey. DSU’s ratings are compared to over 200,000 students from four-year public universities around the country. The students rank their level of satisfaction and the importance of these items on a seven point scale, ranging from 7=Very Satisfied or Very Important to 1= not satisfied at all or not important at all. The following figures show the 12 scales and the top ten areas of satisfaction.