Undergraduate Student Experience Report
Recommends Changes to Enhance Quality of Life At UCSD

By Dolores Davies I September 26, 2005

A committee charged last fall by campus leaders with examining areas of student dissatisfaction and gauging the quality of the undergraduate student experience at UCSD has completed a 59-page report detailing areas of student discontent and making a series of recommendations for enhancing campus life for students.

The committee was impaneled by UCSD vice chancellors for student affairs, academic affairs and external affairs. It includes representatives from all the undergraduate colleges and the Associated Students (A.S.) and the Graduate Student Association (GSA), as well as the faculty, Student Affairs, Academic Affairs, Alumni Relations, and External Relations, consulted extensively with current students, alumni and other campus groups. The director of student research and information served as a consultant to the committee.

"While past student surveys have shown that students choose to apply to UCSD because of its positive reputation, academic rigor, and the strength of its research and academic programs," said Joseph Watson, vice chancellor for Student Affairs, "in the past, students have expressed that they are not as satisfied as they could be with the overall social and cultural life on campus. The Undergraduate Student Experience and Satisfaction Committee (USESC) was charged with uncovering the latent sources of student dissatisfaction and proposing recommendations on how to improve the student experience."

USESC gathered opinions and suggestions from interviews and contacts with numerous undergraduates as well as professional staff, administrators and educators who work closely with students at UCSD. The committee also met with a wide range of campus and student groups and reviewed a number of student surveys and reports on the student experience.

According to the report, students feel a need for a richer and more varied cultural and social life, a more energized physical environment, increased student-faculty connections, and a stronger school identity. While students expressed a variety of perspectives on "the overall social experience" at UCSD, they reported being less satisfied and having less interaction and direct engagement with the faculty than students at other UC campuses. Overall, student satisfaction was higher for those who participated in campus activities, including study abroad, UCDC, and independent research. Also, students with higher grade point averages reported greater levels of satisfaction. When asked "if they could do it all over again," approximately 75% of students said they would still choose to attend UCSD.

According to Gabriele Wienhausen, Provost of Sixth College and a co-chair of the committee, specific student concerns raised include: large class sizes, the fast pace of the quarter system, the emphasis on science and engineering (at the expense of the social sciences, arts and humanities), unapproachable faculty, the emphasis on research at the expense of teaching, and inadequate social activities.

"The need for a greater physical, social, and emotional community, intellectual and student-faculty connection, and school identity are at the core of most problems the committee discovered," said Wienhausen. "Although we are certainly aware that cultural and organizational obstacles exist, the committee is very optimistic that this report and its recommendations can effect real change. We are committed to enhancing the quality of life for students, and realize that that will require us to think creatively and do things differently than we have before. The campus leadership is committed to this and perhaps that is the most important thing."

The committee's other co-chair, Joe Leventhal, a 1999 alumnus of UCSD, added, "All members of the committee felt strongly that, to improve undergraduate satisfaction, UCSD must seize on those things that make it unique and build upon them. What is important now is that UCSD's many communities work together to review, discuss, and respond to the report."

USESC made a wide variety of recommendations to enhance the campus climate for students, including increasing communications among various campus constituents via the Web, revamping the campus Web site, creating a campus village, revamping the way UCSD presents itself, and encouraging greater faculty involvement with students.

The committee also identified nine principles for "propelling UCSD from greatness to excellence."

"Part of making UCSD work is taking pride in the distinctive character of what we have and what we are. Essentially, these are ideals to strive for," according to the report. The nine principles are: advancing education through curricular and co-curricular activities; supporting the transition to adulthood; valuing students as important members and stakeholders of the UCSD community and opening avenues for ongoing interaction and involvement with alumni; building pride through promotion of the institution's accomplishments; increasing coordination, integration, and communication; cultivating community spirit and fostering the roles of on-campus and off-campus communities; recognizing the importance of the physical environment on campus; focusing on student housing options that build community; and allowing access to the university and its neighborhoods.

"Just the establishment of this committee shows the administration is willing to work with the student body on undergraduate satisfaction issues. However, it can't stop here," commented Jared Feldman, (Revelle), an A.S. representative on the committee. "It is important that we continue this process by having ongoing discussions about campus climate and take active and deliberate steps to improve undergraduate satisfaction. The next step is to implement the recommendations in the report."

Some of the specific steps listed in the report to accomplish the committee's objectives include: personal invitations from faculty to students and vice versa, creating faculty fellow positions at the various colleges, increase promotion of freshman seminars, increase the promotion of social sciences, arts and humanities, reward quality teaching, and provide community-building grants for student organizations, increase faculty participation in student organizations, and setting and meeting standards for teaching.

"We are committed to enhancing the quality of student life on campus, and this report is the first step toward our achieving one of our most important priorities," said Chancellor Marye Anne Fox. "This report marks the beginning of a campus dialogue we will have over the next several months to consider the recommendations and identify action plans to build and enhance our campus community. Students and other members of the campus community will be integral partners in this dialogue."

Fox added that it was heartening that some of the recommendations, including revamping the campus Web site, initiating a UCSD marketing/branding initiative, creating a vibrant campus "downtown," and upgrading athletics were already under way. "It shows we are on the right track."

Vice Chancellors Chandler, Woods, and Watson are now in the process of distributing the report to the campus leadership and key administrators, including the Academic Senate and student government representatives for review, broad discussion, and comment, so that all segments of the campus community are actively engaged in the development and implementation of a coordinated response to enhance the academic and co-curricular experiences of UCSD students.

The USESC report can be viewed in its entirety at: http://studentresearch.ucsd.edu/Satisfaction/