Studying Penn State's Class Of 2000

3-20-98
Hershey, Pa. --- An on-going study of Penn State's Class of 2000 will help the University assess students' needs, understand their experiences, and do a better job of tailoring services and programs.

Patricia Peterson, assistant vice president emerita for student affairs, presented a report on the study with the Board of Trustees at its meeting today (March 20).

"The longitudinal study is following undergraduates who enrolled at University Park in summer or fall 1996," said Peterson, who is coordinating the study in the Student Affairs Research and Assessment Office. "The purpose is to develop a profile of the Class of 2000 by following these students from their initial enrollment and beyond. We hope that this data combined with data from other questionnaires, focus groups and Penn State Pulse surveys will help us answer many questions about students and student life."

Questions include: What are students' expectations about the Penn State experience at the time they enroll, while they are students, and after they have graduated? How involved with their academic lives do students become? How involved with their out-of-class social lives are they? Is involvement related to success or satisfaction? Do some groups of students fare differently than others?

The study also will provide baseline data that will enable us to note changes, over time, in the characteristics of Penn State students, she added.

The Class of 2000 Project is a collaborative effort among Student Affairs, Undergraduate Education, University Libraries, several colleges, International Programs, Center for Academic Computing, and Office of the Vice Provost for Educational Equity.

Highlights from surveys taken during freshmen's first week on campus and again at the end of their first year include:

-- At the beginning of the year, 60 percent of the students said they were very interested in interacting with faculty and staff outside the classroom, but at the end of the year, only 20 percent reported having interacted often or very often.

-- Abilities and areas of knowledge that were top-ranked in importance by students before and after the first year are: acquiring new skills and knowledge, making logical, rational judgments, speaking ability, making moral decisions, and using computers and information technology.

-- Students report being satisfied or very satisfied with many aspects of their first-year Penn State experience: 77 percent with their choice of Penn State, 69 percent in social, 51 percent in classroom and 42 percent in advising. Some first-year students were still neutral about their classroom and advising experiences, 38 percent for classroom and 29 percent for advising.

"When asked what added most to the quality of their education at Penn State, the students ranked the following experiences: (1) opportunity to make their own decisions (2) learning from their own mistakes and (3) interacting with other students," Peterson said.

The findings are available on the web site: http://www.lions.psu.edu/psu/sa/research.html

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Contact: Vicki Fong (814) 865-9481 (office) (814) 238-1221 (home) vyf1@psu.edu