93-11-04 Report on Third-year Students Finds Overall Satisfaction, Lack of Consensus With Faculty Over Educational Goals REPORT ON THIRD-YEAR STUDENTS FINDS OVERALL SATISFACTION, LACK OF CONSENSUS WITH FACULTY OVER EDUCATIONAL GOALS, AND RACE-RELATED CONCERNS CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., Nov. 4 -- A comprehensive survey of third-year students at the University of Virginia finds them on the whole to be well-satisfied with their academic experience and college life and to be deeply engrossed in their major. But the study, part of a continuing assessment of undergraduate education using the class of 1992 as a case study, also cites several areas of potential concern, including: a lack of consensus between students and faculty about educational goals a lack of student contact with faculty outside the classroom an apparent increase in racial separation, with many black students citing dissatisfaction with treatment of minorities at U.Va. and especially with the honor system The assessment, involving numerous faculty and staff in gathering and analyzing data, is based on detailed surveys and interviews with approximately 20 percent of all third-year students in 1991. Previous reports have focused on their experiences as first- and second-year students, and a report on the fourth-year experience is being prepared. The fact that close to 90 percent of third-year students were satisfied with academic life at U.Va. and that more than 90 percent were satisfied with their overall college life "reflects very positively on the University," commented W. Edmund Moomaw, executive director of the University's Office of Planning, Assessment and Studies and author of the report. In general "students are both happy and quite successful in their undergraduate careers" and become increasingly satisfied as they progress. An important concern in the first- and second-year reports was dissatisfaction with academic advising, and as a result the University made changes in the undergraduate advising system, having students meet with an adviser at least twice a year. In the third year, despite their generally low level of involvement with faculty, the number of students satisfied with academic advising rose significantly, this latest report found. But those who said they were satisfied with advising are still only 54 percent of the third-year students surveyed, and "students may have been more satisfied with academic advising as a result of beginning intensive work in the major," the report notes. By the third year, students grow even more satisfied with their classroom experiences and the teaching they receive, the report emphasizes. But despite deep involvement in their major field of study, a significant finding of the assessment, Moomaw said, is that many students rated personal, intellectual and career development as more important than the acquisition of traditional academic knowledge. Rather than wanting specific academic knowledge, the third- year students "were most interested in learning to learn on their own, gaining a sense of independence, gaining self-confidence, and learning to write clearly." Students "were least concerned with learning foreign languages, understanding non-Western history and understanding the nature of science. . . . Seventy percent of the third-year students agreed that good writing and speaking skills were important, yet only 15 percent felt similarly about understanding the scientific method and scientific developments." Because of students' emphasis on personal development rather than on academic knowledge, there is an apparent "conflict between student's educational goals and the faculty's organization of the area requirements in the College of Arts and Sciences," which emphasize specific knowledge. Better communication between students and faculty is clearly needed to resolve this lack of consensus about educational goals, Moomaw said. Another significant finding of the report is that third-year students, like those in the first and second year, continue to have little involvement with faculty outside the classroom. Consequently, faculty were seldom cited as influences on students' important decisions, including what courses to take, what major to declare, and what career to pursue, Moomaw said. "Students rely far more on one another than on faculty when making important decisions," the study found. This is not necessarily a problem, Moomaw said, because "one of the hallmarks of this University has always been student independence." In keeping with national trends, racial factors "appear to affect students' experiences strongly," even though "all of U.Va.'s undergraduates continue to be more alike than they are different," the report says. "More than 90 percent of both white and black students and 88 percent of Asian students said they were satisfied with their overall adjustment" to college life. Race is also apparently affecting students' choice of a major, the report says, with, for example, Asian students in this class slightly over-represented in commerce, twice as likely as whites or blacks to major in engineering, and dramatically over-represented in economics. Black students tended to major in social sciences, psychology, the humanities and arts, and education, choosing those at a somewhat higher rate than whites or Asians. White students were the most evenly distributed among majors. As at many other schools, racial separation within the student body appears to be increasing. By the end of their third year here, African-American students, the largest minority group among U.Va. undergraduates, expressed particular dissatisfaction with treatment of minorities on-Grounds. Only 23 percent of African- American students were satisfied with treatment of minorities, while 51 percent of whites and 48 percent of Asian students said they were satisfied with treatment of minorities. Black third-year students were especially unhappy with the workings of the honor system, with more than 60 percent voicing dissatisfaction. "While very few students report direct experiences with racial incivility, many students express concern about the increasing frequency of such incidents," the report says. Many students said they wanted more opportunities to interact with students of different races, the report adds, noting that if the University could design more such opportunities, perhaps "it can promote an understanding and appreciation of others that transcends racial boundaries." Although most students had chosen a major in their third year and said they were happy in it, slightly more than half were not majoring in what they thought they would when they arrived, the survey found. Science and math are the two main areas that students consider majoring in but change their minds about. Finally, in contrast to commonly held perceptions about U.Va., third-year students show a significant drop in satisfaction with their social lives. Instead they "are much more serious in the third year about making important academic and career decisions and about utilizing their time here to ensure later success." Copies of the "Report on the Third Year" are available from the Office of Planning, Assessment and Studies at (804) 982-2320. ### November 3, 1993 [For additional information contact W. Edmund Moomaw or Laura Hawthorne at the above number.] Karen Castle, Office Services Specialist, University News Office P.O. Box 9018, Booker House, Charlottesville, VA 22906 (804) 924-7116, kac@virginia.edu [Submitted by: Karen A. Castle (kac@uva.pcmail.virginia.edu) Wed, 3 Nov 93 16:36:21 EST]