Accountability Report
Appendices
Appendix L
Advising
Professors and T.A.s
Skills
Classes and Majors
Preparation for Life
Requirements and Access Issues
Intellectual Development and Personal
Enrichment
Campus Life
Diversity
Internships and Volunteer Opportunities
Research
Practical Experience in the Classroom
Summary
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In what ways do you feel UW has successfully helped you prepare for the future and in what ways has it not been successful? |
Respondents provided a wide variety of answers to this question. What follows is a summary of some of the most common ways in which respondents felt the UW had succeeded or failed in preparing them for the future. Categories are presented in order of the frequency of comments so classified.
Advising. This category was mentioned most frequently overall. Unfortunately, the vast majority of the comments were negative. Respondents complained both about academic advising and about the advice they received concerning their post-college plans. Some of the reasons that students found academic advising at the UW unhelpful include incompetent and rude advisors, an insufficient number of advisors, and difficulties in scheduling appointments with advisors. Several people suggested that there should be mandatory academic advising for freshmen. A number of people commented that better advising services would have facilitated and, in some cases, shortened their college careers. Complaints about post-graduate advising included the ineffectiveness of the Career Center and a call for more career placement assistance. A very few stated that they were pleased with the academic and career advising they received.
Professors and T.A.s. This was one of the most frequently mentioned themes and the one about which students seemed most ambivalent. Responses that mentioned professors were almost evenly divided between positive and negative comments. Indeed, many students mentioned professors as both the most successful and least successful factor in helping them prepare for the future. Positive responses focused on high quality teaching, good advice received from individual faculty members, and interactions with professors both inside and outside of the classroom. Negative responses mentioned poor quality teaching, indifference or hostility toward students, involvement with research and publishing at the expense of attention to teaching, and a lack of opportunities for student - faculty interaction outside of the classroom. A few respondents mentioned T.A.s. These comments generally tended to be negative, focusing either on poor teaching abilities or on the inability of some instructors to speak English fluently.
Skills. One of the ways in which many respondents felt the UW had successfully prepared them for the future was by providing them with important communication, analytical, technical and other skills. In order of frequency mentioned, writing, team work, and speaking skills were identified by respondents as crucial communication skills the respondents had gained at UW while a few others indicated that they would have liked more emphasis in these areas. Acquisition of critical thinking and problem-solving skills was mentioned by several respondents as helpful in preparing them for the future while only a couple of people felt that critical thinking and questioning were discouraged at the UW. A few students appreciated the technical and computer skills they gained at UW while a couple of others felt these needed more attention and suggested that technology be better integrated into the classroom. Finally, a number of respondents commented positively on the work ethic, study skills, time management skills and money management skills they developed.
Classes and Majors. Respondents who mentioned classes were quite evenly divided in their assessment of whether these had contributed positively or negatively to their future. On the positive side, students mentioned the high quality of the classes they had taken and the wide variety of classes from which they could choose. On the negative side, students focused on large class sizes, especially in introductory classes. Many respondents mentioned their majors as the most successful way in which the UW had prepared them for the future. A few respondents felt their majors had not been helpful.
Preparation for Life. Many respondents made comments about the general preparation for life after college they received. There were an average of two negative responses for every positive one in this category. Most of those who responded negatively said they simply felt the UW had not prepared them to enter the work force or to contend with the "real world" after graduation. In contrast, a number of respondents commented, some sarcastically and some seriously, that having to negotiate a large, bureaucratic institution and fend for themselves within the impersonal atmosphere of the UW had prepared them well for dealing with the outside world that awaited them. On a more positive note, several students noted that the UW had done a good job in preparing them for the work world or for graduate school.
Requirements and Access Issues. Graduation requirements and access to classes or majors were common sources of complaints for many respondents. Most complaints about requirements focused on the irrelevance or number of distribution requirements while a few comments addressed foreign language or major requirements. A couple of respondents appreciated the distribution requirements. Access to classes was a problem for a number of students. Of more minor concern were scheduling problems, access to majors, registration problems and the general bureaucracy.
Intellectual Development and Personal Enrichment. For many students, the UW succeeded in preparing them for the future by contributing either to their general intellectual development or to their personal enrichment. The UW helped some students determine their interests, discover their abilities, or enhance their self-confidence.
Campus Life. Interactions with other people on campus was an important factor for many students in terms of preparing them for the future. Responses in this category tended to be somewhat more negative than positive. The biggest complaints students had concerned the impersonal atmosphere at the UW which was sometimes expressed in their feeling of being "just a number." Related to this theme were comments about the lack of community or solidarity in the student body, the difficulty of meeting people and making friends, and the need to look out for and take care of yourself because no one else would do it for you. In addition, a couple of people were disappointed by the lack of information they received concerning opportunities and resources at UW. On the positive side, some respondents found their involvement with student organizations or activities, such as participation on the crew team, very helpful and several said they were pleased with the opportunities they had to meet new people and interact with other students on campus.
Diversity. A number of respondents mentioned that the UW had successfully prepared them for the future by allowing them to interact with and gain an appreciation of students from diverse backgrounds. Some students also appreciated the opportunity they had at UW to learn about different cultures. A few students felt there needed to be more opportunities for interaction with members of diverse ethnicities, more diversity awareness, or more ethnic clubs and activities at UW.
Internships and Volunteer Opportunities. Responses in this category reflected a strong desire among many respondents for more internship opportunities and an appreciation of those opportunities that existed by students who had participated in internships, practica, and co-ops. The same sentiments were expressed by fewer students with regard to volunteer opportunities, especially those based in the larger community.
Research. A number of students mentioned their personal involvement in research as the most successful way in which the UW had prepared them for the future. A couple of respondents said they appreciated being at a university that emphasized research while others felt that there was too much emphasis on research rather than teaching at UW.
Practical Experience in the Classroom. Several students expressed a need for more practical, hands-on experience in the classroom and for more links between the classroom and the business world. A few students found the practical experience they gained through labs, studio work or field trips very helpful.
Summary. If there is any overall theme that unites these responses, perhaps it is a focus on the importance of connections. Respondents appreciated the opportunities they had to establish connections with professors, students and other members of the diverse campus community. They were sometimes disappointed by an impersonal atmosphere and by a priority given to research over teaching that could make these connections difficult. Students appreciated the chances they had to become intellectually "connected" to and actively involved in particular fields of study through their classes and their majors. They regretted obstacles such as large class sizes, poor advising, and unhelpful requirements that made intellectual connections harder to establish. Finally, students sought ways to establish connections between their UW experience and the world that awaited them after graduation by participating in hands-on classroom activities, research projects, internships, volunteer opportunities and other work experiences. They appreciated the opportunities they had in these areas very much and would have liked to find even more ways to bridge the gap between college and the "real world."
Accountability Report
Appendices
Appendix L
