The results of the 2006 UW-Madison Undergraduate Survey were released Wednesday and showed an overwhelming majority of students are satisfied with the university.
Sixty-one percent of students said they were extremely satisfied when it came to the overall rating of UW-Madison, 91 percent said if given the choice they would attend UW-Madison again, and 97 percent said they were proud to be a Badger.
""This is what we like to brag about,"" said Margaret Harrigan, UW-Madison senior policy and planning analyst. ""Our students really do think they're getting a great education here.""
According to Harrigan, a random sample of students was polled—one out of every 20—by telephone with 1,303 students responding to the survey, bringing the total response rate to 64 percent.
The spectrum of satisfaction ratings on student services and facilities was broad, with the highest ranked being campus libraries, followed by rec sports and campus unions.
The lowest ranked was Associated Students of Madison student government, followed by summer course availability, career advising and the SOAR program.
Percentages were high for UW-Madison students participating in out-of-classroom learning activities: 76 percent attended a varsity sports event, 79 percent attended a cultural event on campus, 44 percent were involved in a club related to their major and 33 percent worked on campus.
There were significant differences in responses from certain groups—minorities, transfers and residents—in regard to issues of diversity and campus climate.
Fifty-five percent of minority students said they interact with people who are different from them ""very often,"" compared to a lower percentage for the overall group.
Yet, group differences had no barring on how easy it is for students to find a professor that they really feel comfortable talking to. Twenty-five percent of all students polled found this to be somewhat difficult.
Faculty and staff can take pride in their work based on student satisfaction with the university overall.
This is the ninth undergraduate survey sponsored by the Office of the Provost and is intended to maintain UW-Madison's accountability and bragging rights and to obtain data on what is working well and what needs improvement at the university.
