The Student Satisfaction Inventory (Noel-Levitz, 2002) was administered for the purpose of measuring expectations and satisfaction with campus services and experiences. The sample consisted of students enrolled in Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning classes during the spring 2002 semester. Surveys were implemented by Institutional Assessment staff and Testing Center staff during class time, and a total of 376 students completed the survey for a 54% response rate. Demographically, the survey sample was representative of the overall student population at OSU Institute of Technology.

Students were asked to rate levels of importance and satisfaction for 98 items on a scale of "1" to "7", with "1" representing the lowest level of importance or satisfaction and "7" representing the highest level of importance or satisfaction. Results revealed positive affect for OSU Institute of Technology services and experiences. Students reported satisfaction levels above the midpoint for 97 items. A gap analysis of student perceptions was conducted by calculating the difference between mean importance and mean satisfaction for each item. Students reported highest importance and highest satisfaction for the scales "Instructional Effectiveness" and "Academic Advising/Counseling," the latter with a positive mean difference superior to the national average for community and technical colleges. Items for which the performance gap was significantly greater than the national average are shown below.

*Difference statistically significant at a=.05; **Difference statistically significant at a=.01 level; ***Difference statistically significant at a=.001

Only one item resulted in a mean satisfaction score below the midpoint of 4.0. Item #39, "The amount of student parking space on campus is adequate" had a satisfaction score of 3.71. The mean difference from the national average was -0.56, which is statistically significant of the .001 level. This indicates that college students are unhappy with parking space nation-wide, and it deserves particular attention at OSU Institute of Technology. Further analysis revealed a negative correlation between the number of semesters at OSU Institute of Technology and satisfaction with parking. In other words, the longer students attend college, the more inconvenienced they feel regarding parking.

Although students reported positive levels of satisfaction with all other aspects of their college experience, ratings on some items were below that of the national norm. For instance, items #7, "Adequate financial aid is available for most students," #20, "Financial aid counselors are helpful," and #60 "Billing policies are reasonable" all deal with financial aid services. Mean ratings for these services were above the midpoint; however, there were statistically significant gaps between OSU Institute of Technology student perceptions and those of the national group. Ratings may have been affected by a higher need for financial assistance by many OSU Institute of Technology students; nearly 85% of all enrolled students receive financial aid.

Further, ten items were asked of students dealing with issues specific to OSU Institute of Technology student life and academic/career advisement. Students expressed satisfaction for all items, resulting in a performance gap of less than one standard deviation. No national standards exist for these campus-specific items, and the mean satisfaction rating as well as the performance gap between importance and satisfaction ratings are displayed below.

In summary, students have strong expectations for most campus services and experiences, and they are fundamentally satisfied at OSU Institute of Technology. Instructional effectiveness and academic advising and counseling are major strengths for the college. Parking remains the single area of dissatisfaction, with student ratings of most aspects of college life similar to those of other community and technical colleges.