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Report of the Results of the 2003 New Student Transition Questionnaire

BACKGROUND AND METHODOLOGY

The BGSU New Student Transition Questionnaire was developed in Fall 1997 as a means of gathering information about how well first year first time students were becoming acclimated to college life within their first six weeks at BGSU. This report describes the results of the seventh administration of the survey in Fall 2003.

The 2003 survey was administered to all new freshmen who enrolled in English 110, 111, and 112H classes in early October. Two thousand seven hundred and fifty one surveys were returned, resulting in a response rate of 78% (2751/3509). Of the 2,751 respondents, 1,780 provided PID numbers, which allowed us to identify respondents' gender, ethnicity, college, as well as the residence hall where they are living, and the first year program in which some of them are participating. There was a high degree of similarity between the respondents and the population in terms of gender, race, college and first year program (see tables below). Respondents who live in Offenhauer West, however, were under represented.

Table 1. Student Characteristics (Overall, and by Gender, Race and College)
  Overall Gender Ethnicity College
Female Male Minority White A&S ACE BA EDHD HHS MUS TEC
Population of New Full-Time Fall 2003 Main Campus First Year Students 3509 2044 1465 404 2995 864 731 468 860 310 87 189
Percentage in Overall Population 100% 58% 42% 11% 85% 25% 21% 13% 25% 9% 2% 5%
Survey Respondents 2751* 1061 719 192 1542 451 369 241 433 162 33 91
Percentage in Survey Sample 100% 60% 40% 11% 87% 25% 21% 14% 24% 9% 2% 5%
*Survey respondents included those who reported PID numbers and those who didn't.

Table 2. Student Characteristics (by Residence Hall*)
  Conklin
North		 Foun-ders
Quadr.		 Harsh-
man
Bromfield		 Harsh-
man
Chapman		 Harsh-
man
Dunbar		 Kohl
Hall		 Kreis-
cher
Ashley		 Kreis-
cher
Batchelder		 Kreis-
cher
Compton		 Kreis-
cher
Darrow		 Mc-
Donald
 East		 Mc-
Donald
North		 Mc-
Donald
 West		 Offen-
hauer
West		 Rodgers
Quadr.
Population of New Full-Time Fall 2003 Main Campus First Year Students 50 57 268 289 281 202 256 205 201 207 380 256 419 419 44
Percentage in Overall Population 1% 2% 8% 8% 8% 6% 7% 6% 6% 6% 11% 7% 12% 12% 1%
Survey Respondents 32 28 143 143 145 69 132 110 106 82 231 131 231 34 21
Percentage in Survey Sample 2% 2% 9% 9% 9% 4% 8% 7% 6% 5% 14% 8% 14% 2% 1%
* Residence halls with fewer than 20 respondents were excluded.

Table 3. Student Characteristics (by First Year Program*)
  ARTS_
VILLA		 BATCH_
MUS		 BA
150		 BG_
LINKED_		 BGX CHAP-
MAN		 HSRC HONORS LSL MAI PLA Q_
COURSE		 SPRING_
BOARD		 UNIV
100		 UNIV
131		 UPAS
Population of New Full-Time Fall 2003 Main Campus First Year Students 46 65 242 128 283 136 89 223 88 319 20 2464 266 893 42 275
Percentage in Overall Population 1% 1% 4% 2% 5% 2% 2% 4% 2% 6% 0% 44% 5% 16% 1% 5%
Survey Respondents 23 31 131 102 151 55 51 82 43 163 12 1295 141 494 23 134
Percentage in Survey Sample 1% 1% 4% 3% 5% 2% 2% 3% 1% 6% 0% 44% 5% 17% 1% 5%
* First year programs with fewer than 12 respondents were excluded.

The survey results were analyzed by noting the percentages of participants who provided various responses to each questionnaire item. Percentages may not always sum to 100 due to rounding. In addition, group differences were investigated and significant differences are noted where they occurred.

RESULTS

Results 1: Overall and Differences by Gender, Race, and College

  Overall Gender Ethnicity College
Female Male Minority White A&S ACE BA EDHD HHS MUS TEC
% % % % % % % % % % % %
I am finding it easy to adjust to the University

Strongly Disagree

 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 3 0
Somewhat Disagree 5 6 4 5 5 5 7 3 6 2 6 4
Neutral 11 11 12 14 11 12 11 12 11 11 9 9
Somewhat Agree 45 44 47 44 45 45 48 50 43 38 41 47
Strongly Agree 38 38 37 38 38 38 34 35 39 48 41 40
                         
I have figured out how to study effectively

Strongly Disagree

 3 3 2 3 2 2 1 0 4 3 9 2
Somewhat Disagree 16 16 16 20 16 19 19 12 17 14 12 7
Neutral 34 32 37 34 34 35 35 37 32 33 27 32
Somewhat Agree 40 42 37 35 41 35 37 44 43 39 42 54
Strongly Agree 8 7 8 9 7 9 7 6 5 12 9 6
                         
I am satisfied with my roommate

Strongly Disagree

 5 6 6 7 6 5 6 6 6 6 6 3
Somewhat Disagree 7 8 6 6 7 9 6 6 7 5 13 6
Neutral 16 15 16 22 14 16 14 13 15 11 28 24
Somewhat Agree 22 19 27 22 22 19 25 28 22 20 22 25
Strongly Agree 50 53 46 43 51 51 50 47 51 59 31 41
                         
I am satisfied with my living accommodations

Strongly Disagree

 3 3 3 4 3 3 2 4 3 2 3 2
Somewhat Disagree 9 9 7 9 8 9 8 9 8 8 9 7
Neutral 22 20 20 22 20 23 20 21 18 20 16 17
Somewhat Agree 40 40 45 37 43 35 46 43 44 40 50 47
Strongly Agree 26 28 25 29 27 30 25 23 27 31 22 27
                         
I am making friends easily

Strongly Disagree

 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 3
Somewhat Disagree 5 6 4 3 5 7 5 4 5 3 3 4
Neutral 15 13 13 14 13 13 15 10 14 11 12 10
Somewhat Agree 36 36 36 28 37 32 37 43 36 34 33 35
Strongly Agree 43 44 46 53 44 46 43 43 44 51 52 47
                         
I am not concerned about alcohol use among students

Strongly Disagree

 6 6 4 4 6 5 5 6 5 7 6 3
Somewhat Disagree 9 9 8 14 8 11 9 6 7 11 9 4
Neutral 26 30 21 35 25 28 23 21 30 25 38 24
Somewhat Agree 23 23 24 24 24 23 19 28 24 22 34 28
Strongly Agree 36 32 43 24 37 33 44 40 34 35 13 40
                         
I feel lonely, left out, or isolated

Strongly Disagree

 55 54 58 57 56 53 58 61 54 61 50 50
Somewhat Disagree 24 25 22