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Undergraduate
Student Relations Survey 2003
The purpose
of this survey was to learn the reasons that African-American students
are less satisfied than other students (both overall and in specific
areas), and how racial incidents over the past few years may have
affected race relations here at UVa. The survey asked undergraduates
about their relations with other students and their level of satisfaction
with various aspects of life at the University. It was conducted
on the initiative of Institutional Assessment and Studies in fall
2003. A sample of 1,660 students was surveyed and 1,140 students
responded, for a response rate of 69%.
We reported
the results to the President's Commission on Diversity, as well
as to the deans of each school and various other administrators.
Data
Reports
Questionnaire
(MS Word doc)
Methodology
Frequencies
Crosstabulations
of questions for African-American Students
Tables
of Results (.pdf file)
Open-ended Comments Summary (.pdf file)
Text comments, African-Americans only (MS Word doc.)
Report
Full
Report (including all appendices)
(.pdf file)
Introduction
(.pdf file)
Executive
Summary (.pdf file)
Descriptives
(.pdf file)
Analysis
and Discussion (.pdf file)
"Other"
Racial Incidents (.pdf file)
Multiple
Regression Models Predicting Overall Satisfaction with the University
(.pdf file)
Methodology
The study population
for this survey was all full-time undergraduate students at the
University of Virginia in the fall of 2003. A total of 1,660 undergraduates
were selected according to a stratified random sampling procedure
using racial and ethnic background as the strata variable. This
was done in order to ensure a sufficient number of minority respondents,
in particular African-, Hispanic-, and Native-Americans. A total
of 494 students were randomly selected from the racial and ethnic
categories white, unclassified, and other. The rest of the sample
consisted of 198 Asian-Americans, 210 Hispanic-Americans, 40 Native-Americans,
and 718 African-Americans. Because of the smaller percentage of
African-American men in the population, and the historically low
response rates to surveys among African-American men at UVa, all
419 African-American male undergraduates were included in the sample,
as were 299 African-American women.
All respondents were sent personalized letters signed by Vice President
for Student Affairs Patricia Lampkin on October 10, 2003 informing
them of the importance and general purposes of the survey, assuring
them of confidentiality, and inviting them to participate. The survey
was conducted entirely over the web. Respondents were tracked via
an alphanumeric randomized respondent key, and six email reminders
were sent to those students who had not responded, on October 22
and 29, November 4 and 14, December 15, and January 6, 2004. An
additional email reminder from Associate Dean of the Office of African-American
Affairs Sylvia Terry was sent to African-American nonrespondents
on December 1. Another email reminder to student athlete nonrespondents
from Kathryn Jarvis, Associate Director for Academic Affairs in
the Department of Athletics, was sent on January 28, 2004. Four
lotteries were conducted as incentives for re-spondents. A total
of 30 prizes were awarded—10 $50 and 20 $25 gift certificates
to the UVa Bookstore.
When the field period ended on February 6, 2004, 1,140 responses
had been received, for a response rate of 69%. At a 95% confidence
level, the overall sampling error for the survey was 2.9%. Click
here for a chart indicating
the number of responses, the response rates, and the sampling errors
for each ethnic and racial strata group within the survey.
Questions regarding the administration of the survey, the questionnaire,
or the results can be directed to Jonathan Schnyer, Assessment Coordinator
and Assistant Director, Office of Institutional Assessment and Studies,
P.O. Box 400427, Charlottesville, VA 22904-4727 [telephone: (434)
924-3417 or email: schnyer@virginia.edu].
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