In its introductory year, the ImproveND survey ended with successful participation rates, as both undergraduate and graduate students took advantage of the opportunity to provide feedback regarding various aspects of University life, Heather Tonk, director of Strategic Planning, said.
"For a brand new survey of this type our goal was an overall participation rate of 50 percent," Tonk said. "We are very excited to achieve that mark."
Fifty-one percent of undergraduates, 41 percent of graduate students and 58 percent of Law students participated in the survey, which will be given every two years in order to track progress over time.
As an added incentive for completing the survey, the Office of Strategic Planning and Institutional Research sponsored a contest for the residence hall that achieved the highest participation, as well as individual prizes from random drawings throughout the administration period.
"Carroll Hall won the contest for the highest participation rate for a dorm at 94 percent," Tonk said. ‘They won the opportunity to be the first dorm to host a dance in the Purcell Pavilion."
Additional prizes included gift cards to the Hammes Notre Dame Bookstore and local eateries, free personal training and RecSports classes, an iPod shuffle and a private tour of Notre Dame Stadium, Tonk said.
While the data from the survey is still being analyzed, the Office of Strategic Planning and Institutional Research hopes to have the complete results by late March, which they will communicate to the student body via student government.
"Based on the results, various units will spend the summer months considering action plans to address opportunities for improvement," Tonk said.
Students can expect to see concrete changes by next fall, as ideas gathered from the survey will be put into action throughout the summer.
"Results will begin to be implemented in the fall," Julia Sama, the administrator who coordinated the survey project, said. "Some changes may take longer than others, [but] it's hard to predict since we have not yet analyzed all of the survey results."
