2008 Woodie Awards
Participation in the Student VOICE project is dwindling
Michael Walker
Issue date: 1/30/08 Section: College News
The IUPUI Division of Student Life launched the second survey in President Michael McRobbie's Student VOICE Project last week, with one clear response from the campus: silence.
Student Life has reported dwindling participation and interest in the VOICE Project, leaving administration with potentially hazy ideas of student opinion.
Robert Aaron, Student Life director of assessment and planning, said about 160 students took the first survey and only 80 students have taken the second.
"It may not seem like a ton when you're comparing it to 30,000 [students]," Aaron said. "But at least it's a source of information."
Last year, McRobbie commissioned departments at IUPUI and IU-Bloomington to promote the VOICE Project - an acronym for Vision of the Ideal College Environment - to give him an idea of what students want on campus. By the end of this semester, each campus must compile findings into a written report for McRobbie.
"I really think this is an honest attempt to learn what's on the students' mind," Aaron said.
Some faculty members, though, question the surveys' ability to paint an accurate portrait of the student body. Brian Vargus, a survey expert and political science professor, called the survey a self-selected opinion poll, which, he said, is known for inaccuracies.
"It's interesting, but not scientific," Vargus said of the survey. "And if it were turned into an undergraduate course of survey research, I'd probably fail it."
Vargus said because Student Life promoted the VOICE survey through the Internet, it didn't represent a realistic student sample. He added that many of the survey questions could be interpreted in different ways.
Aaron said the surveys are only one method to gauge student opinion. The Division of Student Life created five sub-committees, each of which has a different topic and three focus group meetings. A faculty member oversees each sub-committee.
Campus Center Director Dan Maxwell, who oversees a sub-committee, held his second focus group Jan. 23 to gather information on what students enjoy doing off campus. One graduate student attended. And he said his first meeting had a similar turnout.
Student Life has reported dwindling participation and interest in the VOICE Project, leaving administration with potentially hazy ideas of student opinion.
Robert Aaron, Student Life director of assessment and planning, said about 160 students took the first survey and only 80 students have taken the second.
"It may not seem like a ton when you're comparing it to 30,000 [students]," Aaron said. "But at least it's a source of information."
Last year, McRobbie commissioned departments at IUPUI and IU-Bloomington to promote the VOICE Project - an acronym for Vision of the Ideal College Environment - to give him an idea of what students want on campus. By the end of this semester, each campus must compile findings into a written report for McRobbie.
"I really think this is an honest attempt to learn what's on the students' mind," Aaron said.
Some faculty members, though, question the surveys' ability to paint an accurate portrait of the student body. Brian Vargus, a survey expert and political science professor, called the survey a self-selected opinion poll, which, he said, is known for inaccuracies.
"It's interesting, but not scientific," Vargus said of the survey. "And if it were turned into an undergraduate course of survey research, I'd probably fail it."
Vargus said because Student Life promoted the VOICE survey through the Internet, it didn't represent a realistic student sample. He added that many of the survey questions could be interpreted in different ways.
Aaron said the surveys are only one method to gauge student opinion. The Division of Student Life created five sub-committees, each of which has a different topic and three focus group meetings. A faculty member oversees each sub-committee.
Campus Center Director Dan Maxwell, who oversees a sub-committee, held his second focus group Jan. 23 to gather information on what students enjoy doing off campus. One graduate student attended. And he said his first meeting had a similar turnout.
Be the first to comment on this story