• BACKGROUND AND METHODOLOGY
• RESULTS:
  • Results 1: Overall and Differences by Gender, Race, and College
  • Results 2: Differences between Respondents in Different Residence Halls
  • Results 3: Differences between Respondents in Different Fist Year Programs
• SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

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.

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

Ethnicity:
Minority students were more likely than European American students to report that they have taken advantage of mentoring or tutoring groups and were concerned about alcohol use among students. Although they more likely than European American students to claim that they got actively involved with campus activities outside of class, they still feel that it's hard for them to find things to do on the weekends and  they didn't enjoy the social life at BGSU as much as European American students did. They were also slightly less satisfied with their roommates than were European American students.

College:
Among the students in the seven colleges, students in the College of Technology, College of Business Administration, and Academic Enhancement were less concerned about alcohol use among students at BGSU. Students in the Colleges of Musical Arts and Technology were more actively involved with their classes. Musical Arts students were also most likely to be involved with campus activities outside of class. While Musical Arts students were most likely to feel that their classes were challenging, Health and Human Services students were most likely to have taken advantage of mentoring or tutoring groups. Academic Enhance students were most likely to have difficulty deciding on a major or career.