Sul Ross State University
Entering Student Surveys Report
2004

This report covers the Entering Student Surveys administered to incoming freshmen entering in summer 2004 and fall 2004. Responses from earlier entrants are included for comparison. Responses were obtained from 244 students shown as new freshmen in either summer or fall 2004 on the cb1 report. 303 students were shown as new freshmen on that report, thus the response rate is 80 %. Approximately 30 survey respondents are excluded, most of them because they never enrolled or left Sul Ross before the fall census date.

The ACT instrument used consists of three sections: Section I-Background Information; Section II-Educational Plans and Preferences; and Section III-College Impressions. Selected items from Section I indicate little change in demographic characteristics of these new freshmen, with the exception of the decreasing percentage of males. These survey data are self-reported and may not be consistent with other sources.

SECTION I-BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Ethnicity of new freshmen, according to CB1 reports for these three years, is somewhat different from the self-reports above although the pattern is the same.

Additional background information indicates that most still do not come to us from a college preparatory high school program and that approximately a quarter to a third of them claim to have finished in the top quarter of their high school classes. A substantial number, approximately a fourth of these new freshmen, come from high school graduating classes of more than 400. Of the 2004 entrants, somewhat fewer planned to live in university housing. 81 % say they will be receiving some financial aid.

It appears that students are planning fewer hours per week employment and many more are undecided.

SECTION II-EDUCTIONAL PLANS AND PREFERENCES

Of 18 reasons offered for continuing education beyond high school, respondents rated each as a "Major reason," a "Minor reason," or "Not a reason for continuing my education." Table 5 reports the percentage selecting "Major reason" for each in descending order for 2003 respondents. Most other tables will use that same ordering pattern. It should be noted that the Fall 2002 entering group were more likely, overall, to judge a factor as a "Major reason" than the other two sets of new freshmen. For instance, they chose "Major reason" an average of 42 % of the time. The Fall 2001 and 2003 groups assigned that significance 35 % and 36 % of the time, respectively.

While the top five and bottom several reasons hold their places consistently, there is a good deal of variation from year to year. The top five reasons are clearly much more frequently given "Major reason" status and there is a big gap most years between fifth and sixth place. One change over the four years appears to be a reduction in the significance attached to "Developing and using my athletic skills." That reason was more frequently rated "Major" by fall 2004 entrants, perhaps as a consequence of our 2003-2004 intercollegiate athletic success in basketball.

There is very little change, certainly no noticeable "trends", in the sources of funding incoming freshmen anticipate to pay their bills. Parents, grants, loans, and scholarships are consistently at the top, although grants, loans, and employment were less frequently expected to be a Major source for the fall 2004 group. Since very few incoming freshmen are married, "Spouse's income" understandably ranks last. Also irrelevant for the vast majority are veteran's or social security benefits, other loans, and personal savings. Summer employment occupies the middle position. The percentage selecting each as a "Major source of funds" (instead of "Minor source" or "Not a source of funds") are reported in the following table. "Personal savings" declined sharply in the fall 2003 new freshmen back was back up for fall 2004.

While there is perhaps some ambiguity in the survey item asking "For what purpose did you enroll at this particular college?" the responses are consistent over these four years. Since the question is being asked of entering freshmen, choices such as "Obtain a doctorate or professional degree," or "Obtain a master's degree" seem inappropriate. Only about half say they are here for a Bachelor's degree and 14 to 18 % have "No definite purpose in mind." The small decline in those coming to us with intent to transfer out later appeared last year to be positive for retention. However, for fall 2004 10 % again appear to be planning to transfer out at the time they begin at Sul Ross.

Two questions are asked about preferred class meeting times and class formats. There is a clear preference for morning or afternoon classes and no interest in evening or weekend classes among these incoming freshmen. Many will be disappointed in the format of some of their first year courses since their preferred formats are "Small group," and "Lab or shop," not "Lecture." See Table 10, below for detail.

The next part of Section II asks whether or not the student feels they will need special help in each of nine areas. As might be expected, "Improving math skills" gets the highest percentage of "Yes" responses. It is encouraging that so many realize that they need assistance. Whether or not they end up taking the initiative to secure that assistance, apart from developmental courses, is another matter. There is a decline in the proportion recognizing a need for assistance with reading.

The last part of Section II offers seventeen areas of extracurricular activity, asking (Yes or No) whether the student is interested in participating in each activity. Interest in participation drops off rather quickly from "Varsity athletics," which is at the top. Interest in student government has dropped among new freshmen.

SECTION III-COLLEGE IMPRESSIONS

The first two parts of Section III provide the most potentially useful information for recruiting and retention purposes. The first part of Section III offers 23 possible reasons/factors influencing the student's decision to attend Sul Ross. Each is ranked as "Very important," "Moderately important," "Slightly important," or "Not important." The percent selecting "Very important" for the past four entering freshman groups are reported in Table 13.

Five factors on which there has been substantial change in ranking over these four years are marked with an asterisk in Table 13, below. Increased weight is being assigned to cost factors and academic and residential facilities while less significance is attached to sports opportunities. There is also a wide fluctuation over the four years in some of the factors toward the bottom of the list which will bear watching in the future, especially references to advice of several potential influencers and to the racial/ethnic makeup of the school.

Table 14 includes the same data, reporting the average (mean) response and the average mean of these four years. The midpoint of the four possible responses is 2.5, with "Very important" = 1, "Moderately important" = 2, "Slightly important" = 3, and "Not important" = 4. Those factors (bolded) with a four-year mean response of less than 2.40 could be considered the most significant influences on selection of Sul Ross while those with means higher than 2.60 are the least important.

The declining importance attached to "Sports opportunities (varsity athletics)" over these years is quite striking, although it comes back up in the 2004 group. While the "Type of housing available" is clearly still in the least important category of factors, the trend is toward attaching more significance to it. One should keep in mind, too, that these surveys are mostly completed during orientation sessions, before the new freshmen have had much if any experience of living in student housing. That factor may well become much more important to them after several months in Mountainside. We have not here distinguished between those who expect to living in student housing (75 - 90 % of the respondents) and those who do not. See Table 3, above.

The other major part of Section III offers 23 statements about Sul Ross. Respondents are offered six choices on each: "Strongly agree," "Agree," "Neutral," "Disagree," "Strongly disagree," and "Don't know/does not apply." Many are assertions for which a new student would have little basis for agreeing or disagreeing. Unfortunately, despite instructions on the use of the "Don't know/does not apply" response as opposed to selecting "Neutral," it does not appear that students discriminate carefully.

Table 15 focuses on simple agreement or disagreement with each statement. Those who responded "Strongly Agree," "Agree," "Disagree," or "Strongly Disagree" are the basis for Table 15. "Neutral" and "Don't know/not applicable," and missing data responses are excluded and "Strongly agree" and "Agree" responses are combined to provide the starkest picture of the image these incoming freshmen have of Sul Ross at the time of entry.

One result which is very obvious and has been noted in previous reports is that we appear to have a widely held reputation for "easy" grading. Whether or not this is deserved, it is clear that many of our incoming freshmen come with this perception. There is a very high level of agreement with many of the most positive statements about Sul Ross, as well as less uncertainty about the matter-indicated by fewer "Neutral," "Don't know/not applicable" responses. Responses are quite similar over the four years, at least for the top half of the topics. Beyond that, there is more year-to-year variation, especially in response to perception of student use of drugs and alcohol and holding extreme political views. Note sharp falloff below bolded reason.

Incoming freshmen are asked whether Sul Ross was their first, second, third, or fourth (or lower) choice at the time they applied. The responses suggest some improvement over time. The likelihood of retention would seem higher for those who were more enthusiastic about their selection of Sul Ross. However, examination of retention of those completing the survey for the past three years indicates that it is not quite that simple. See Table 17 below for retention data.

It appeared from last year's survey that we may be succeeding in encouraging earlier decision making by prospective students in that fewer of those entering in 2002 and 2003 said they made the choice of Sul Ross late, after leaving high school. Unfortunately the fall 2004 group included a higher proportion of late deciders.

The last section of the survey asks, pertinent to our recruiting efforts, "Whether each of the following (14 possible selections) was a major source, a minor source, or not a source of your information about this college." There is a good deal more year-to-year fluctuation in these responses than in most other sections of the survey. Some may be related to changes in what materials we make available, e.g., "college brochure or pamphlet," college catalog," and "announcements on radio or television."

The full tables reporting all responses to the survey items can be made available upon request. If further analysis of any of these items is desired, please advise.