Benchmarked Survey Results for the Profile of the College Student Experience
Intent of the Survey
The Profile of the College Student Experience was designed to assist campuses with gathering data
about four important topics that affect the student experience:
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Perceptions of campus climate
Perceptions of campus safety
Levels of civic engagement
Use of technology and social media
Approximately 60 questions queried student characteristics and demographics.
Design.
In the spring 2012 semester, a survey was sent to a random stratified sample of 3,500 FHSU students.
The survey was open January 20- February 5, 2012. In addition to the initial email, students were sent
two reminders via email. A total of 215 students completed the survey, for a response rate of 6.14%.
These findings were compared to a national database of 13,464 students from 27 universities across
the nation.
Significant Findings
Perceptions of Campus Climate
The following comparisons between FHSU students and those in the national survey were found to
be statistically significant (p<.05):
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FHSU student respondents were more likely than their national peers to believe their campus
o is diverse
o is accessible to people with physical disabilities
FHSU student respondents were more likely than their national peers to describe their
University as respectful.
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Top three FHSU Underperformers – (5 point Likert scale; not statistically significant)
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I am treated fairly as a student on this campus.
o FHSU
75%
mean
4.24
o National benchmark
87%
mean
4.35
I take advantage of the opportunities provided by my college to learn about diversity-related
issues.
o FHSU
27%
mean
2.87
o National benchmark
35%
mean
2.95
This University is supportive of people who identify as LGBQ.
o FHSU
55%
mean
3.81
o National benchmark
67%
mean
3.89
Top three FHSU Overperformers – (5 point Likert scale; not statistically significant)
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This University is supportive of international students
o FHSU
85%
mean
4.47
o National benchmark
86%
mean
4.36
Note mean is important as none of the FHSU respondents disagreed with this statement.
I would feel comfortable reporting an act of discrimination or harassment that I had witnessed.
o FHSU
78%
mean
4.25
o National benchmark
78%
mean
4.15
This University is supportive of people with diverse backgrounds.
o FHSU
77%
mean
4.24
o National benchmark
80%
mean
4.15
Other information:
 19% of the students in the national survey reported witnessing discriminatory behavior
on campus within the last 12 months; for FHSU respondents the percentage is close to
half of that at 11%
 10% of the students in the national survey reported experiencing discriminatory
behavior on campus within the last 12 months; for FHSU respondents the percentage is
about half of that at 5%
 7% of the students in the national survey reported that they had been singled out in
class because of their identity (e.g., race, gender, sexual orientation) within the last 12
months; for FHSU 4% of the respondents reported they had been singled out
Recommended actions:
This information, and a link to the entire data set, should be shared with the Tilford Committee and
Internationalization Team for further review and action.
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Perceptions of Campus Safety
The following comparisons between FHSU students and those in the national survey were found to
be statistically significant (p<.05):
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FHSU student respondents reported lower feelings of personal safety than did their national
peers for the following:
o walking alone on campus after dark
o waiting alone on campus for transportation after dark
o walking alone in parking lots on campus after dark
o walking alone to a campus residence hall after dark
o working in the library late at night
FHSU student respondents were more likely than their national peers to report that they had a
plan if there was a natural disaster (e.g. earthquake, tornado, fire, flood) on campus.
Top two FHSU Underperformers – (5 point Likert scale; not statistically significant)
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How safe do you feel on campus overall?
o FHSU
68%
mean
o National benchmark
78%
mean
There is an adequate campus police presence on campus.
o FHSU
71%
mean
o National benchmark
76%
mean
3.83
4.09
3.88
4.02
Top FHSU Overperformers – (5 point Likert scale; not statistically significant)
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Campus administrators and staff consistently enforce the security policies on campus.
o FHSU
70%
mean
3.90
o National benchmark
67%
mean
3.88
People who live in my residential community take security seriously.
o FHSU
58%
mean
3.64
o National benchmark
59%
mean
3.63
Other information:
 When asked to identify areas on campus where the lighting at night is not adequate and
makes it feel unsafe, the FHSU respondents identified the following areas:
o Between Jellison Bridge and McMindes
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o Around Rarick
o Behind the trees around McMindes
o Quad
o Parking lots could have better lighting and possibly cameras
o Most of the academic buildings
o Path to the fitness center
o West side of the library
o Sidewalk from the back of McMindes to the street by Stadium Place
o Between Wooster and the science building
o Between the football stadium and the residence halls
FHSU students reported they have been the victim of the following Cyber-crimes while
enrolled at FHSU:
o Cyber stalking
8 students
o Text harassment
4 students
o Cyber bullying
3 students
o Identity Theft
2 students
o Phishing
1 student
Campus Emergency Phones:
o 44% of students indicated that FHSU has campus emergency phones
o 47% of students reported that did not know whether or not we had campus
emergency phones
o 8% indicated that FHSU does not have campus emergency phones
Campus Security Escorts
o Less than 1% indicated they have used this service
o 56% indicated that FHSU does provide this service
o 36% indicated they did not know whether or not FHSU has such a service
o 7% indicated that this service was not available at FHSU
Safe Ride
o 10% reported using Safe Ride
o 48% indicated FHSU provides this service
o 33% indicated they did not know whether or not FHSU has such a service
o 8% indicated that this service was not available at FHSU
Campus Emergency Text Notifications
o 26% indicated they had received an emergency text from FHSU
o 43% indicated FHSU provides this service
o 23% indicated they did not know whether or not FHSU has such a service
o 7% indicated that this service was not available at FHSU
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Recommended actions:
The fact that our students reported lower feelings of personal safety is very interesting in view
of the rural location and the recent press release ranking FHSU as the safest college campus. In
looking at the data, it appears our biggest contributor to diminished feelings of safety is the
lack of campus lighting. Better lighting should be further explored as should a more extensive
marketing campaign regarding safety services (emergency phones, escorts, safe ride,
emergency notifications).
Possible groups to further review this report, and a link to the entire data set, include the
Student Government Association, Partnership for a Safer Community (SafeRide), Facilities
Planning, University Police, Building and Grounds, and the Behavioral Intervention Team.
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Levels of Civic Engagement
This section of the results report only included percentages.
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The majority of FHSU students (74%) reported that none of their courses required volunteer hours; 10%
reported such a requirement in one class. Similar patterns were reported in the national data.
The majority of FHSU students (63%) reported that none of their courses involve collaboration with a
community organization; 19% reported such collaboration in one class. Similar patterns were reported in
the national data.
Top five volunteer service areas for FHSU students:
o Community and economic development (13%)
o Elementary Education (11%)
o Physical and mental health (8%)
o Homelessness and hunger (8%)
o Environment (7%)
Included in the top five of the national data but not FHSU – Arts and culture 11% and middle and
high school education 10%. Included for FHSU but not in the national data top five – homelessness
and hunger; environment
Students were asked how they volunteered (examples of service included raising money, participating in
an event or short term project, regular involvement such as once per week for an entire semester or a
service weekend trip, taking a service course, deep involvement such as an internship, or holding a
leadership role in the organization). For FHSU students involved in the top five volunteer services
identified above – the majority indicated they were engaged by participating in an event or short term
project.
Registered to vote:
 FHSU students
73%
 National benchmark
70%
Voted in most recent election:
o National
 FHSU students
54%
 National benchmark
44%
o State
 FHSU students
50%
 National benchmark
37%
o Local
 FHSU students
44%
 National benchmark
29%
o Campus
 FHSU students
23%
 National benchmark
40%
Both nationally (60%) and at FHSU (61%) – students tend not to be involved with in-person groups
focused on social/advocacy issues; however, 57% of FHSU students (51% nationally) reported
involvement in online groups focused on social/advocacy issues.
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Recommended action
This section of the report should be shared with the Center for Civic Leadership for their review and
possible action.
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Use of Technology & Social Media
The following comparisons between FHSU students and those in the national survey were found to
be statistically significant (p<.05):
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FHSU student respondents reported greater comfort than their national peers with a potential
employer:
o Viewing their Facebook site
o Searching their name on Google or some other similar online venue
FHSU student respondents less comfort than their national peers with a potential employer:
o Running a credit check
Compared to their national peers, FHSU students were less likely to feel anxious and stressed
out when they thought about the last time they did not have access to technology (e.g. no
internet, texting) for several hours.
Similarly, compared to their national peers, FHSU students were less likely to feel
disconnected from their life when they thought about the last time they did not have access to
technology (e.g. no internet, texting) for several hours.
Other Information:
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Types of devices student own
FHSU
National Peers
o Laptop/Notebook
94%
93%
o MP3 Player
74%
74%
o Smartphone with internet access
66%
57%
o Desktop computer
39%
22%
o Cell phone – no internet access
35%
39%
o E-book reader
25%
14%
o Tablet (e.g. iPad)
21%
13%
52% of FHSU students never use university owned computers (such in a lab, library or residence hall)
whereas 90% of their peers do use campus owned computers.
Top four sites for which FHSU students report having an account (same top four for national peers):
o Facebook
91%
o Skype
63%
o Twitter
37%
o Google+
31%
Time spent on Facebook during a typical day:
o Less than an hour per day
 FHSU students
50%
 National benchmark 48%
o 1-2 hours per day
 FHSU students
34%
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 National benchmark 35%
Number of text messages in total sent on a typical day
o 1-25 texts (most frequent response)
 FHSU students
58%
 National benchmark 48%
Number of e-mail accounts actively used:
o 1
 FHSU students
7%
 National benchmark 21%
o 2
 FHSU students
44%
 National benchmark 53%
o 3
 FHSU students
35%
 National benchmark 21%
o 4 or more
 FHSU students
14%
 National benchmark 6%
How students use their University e-mail accounts
o Send or receive e-mail
 FHSU
78%
 National benchmark 71%
o Forward their University e-mail to a different account
 FHSU
19%
 National benchmark 13%
o Do not use their University e-mail account
 FHSU
3%
 National benchmark 13%
Top three ways FHSU students communicate with their parents (mirrors national data):
o Phone
63%
o Text
13%
o Face-to-face 10%
33% of FHSU students have never rated or viewed their professors on a rating website as compared to
37% of their national peers
20% of FHSU have rated or viewed a professors rating for all of their classes compared to 13% of their
national peers.
Use of the Internet
FHSU
National Peers
o Social networking (Facebook, Friendster, etc.)
93%
95%
o Reading an online newspaper
93%
92%
o Online shopping
93%
88%
o Downloading/watching videos
95%
96%
o Download/listening to music
86%
93%
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o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
Online banking
Chatting (skype, Gchat, etc)
Writing or reading on blog sites
Gaming/single player
Gaming/multiple players
Hosting maintaining a personal website
Online dating
Gambling for money
77%
72%
52%
52%
33%
19%
10%
6%
75%
75%
55%
40%
28%
18%
8%
4%
Recommended action
None at this time.
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Student Characteristics & Demographics
There are approximately 60 questions on student characteristics and demographics which allow for cross
tabulations of the data. Reported below are a few excerpts of the FHSU data in an attempt to provide a general
context for this report. Although virtual students are included in the FHSU student data – on-campus or
virtual status was not a stated demographic question.
General Characteristics:
 75% of the FHSU respondents attend full time; 25% less than full time
 61% of the FHSU respondents are female; 39% male
 37% of the FHSU respondents are transfer students
 23% are first generation
Comparative data on number of hours per week (typically worked during the academic year)
Do not work
1-5 hours
6-10 hours
11-15 hours
16-20 hours
21-25 hours
26-30 hours
31-35 hours
36-40 hours
More than 40 hours
FHSU
23%
5%
3%
7%
10%
8%
5%
5%
14%
22%
National Peers
32%
8%
15%
11%
11%
6%
4%
2%
5%
5%
The following comparisons between FHSU students and those in the national survey were found to
be statistically significant (p<.05):
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FHSU student respondents reported less stress regarding their current financial situation
than did their national peers.
FHSU student respondents reported more stress regarding their financial situation while
growing up than did their national peers.
FHSU student respondents were more likely to indicate that if they could start over, they
would attend the same University. For FHSU 49% definitely would and 42% probably would.
Other Information
 52% of FHSU students are concerned that financial issues will impact their ability to continue
at FHSU.
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Participating Universities:
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Arcadia University
Augustana College (South Dakota)
Butler University
College of Saint Benedict/Saint John’s University
Denison University
Duquesne University
Eastern Connecticut State University
Fort Hays State University
Georgia College & State University
Kalamazoo College
Macalester College
Miami University of Ohio
Mount St. Mary’s University
Northwestern University
Portland State University
Samford University
Southern Utah University
Spring Hill College
Texas Christian University
University at Albany
University of Alaska
University of Maine
University of Minnesota-Duluth
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
University of Oregon
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Weber State University
Conclusions
This report provided information about our students in regards to their perceptions of campus
climate and campus safety, levels of civic engagement, and use of technology and social media. This
summary provides a limited view of the data – additionally, the generalizability of the report itself is
limited by a response rate of about 6%. However, the report provides a snapshot of student
perspective as well as some actionable items to improve the FHSU student experiences. The report
and corresponding data also provides a perspective which may be useful to several standing
University committees and departments.
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