Like the Mellon effort, the Higher Education Data Sharing Senior Survey is a means of assessing Hamilton students' satisfaction with their college experience. Under the direction of Assistant Dean of Faculty for Institutional Research Gordon Hewitt, the "exit poll" survey is given to seniors each spring beginning in early April. It measures students' responses to areas of interest such as writing and communication skills, study abroad and other academic-related activities, as well as campus life. Though voluntary, the Senior Survey is typically answered annually by 75 percent to 85 percent of the senior class at Hamilton.
In terms of academic success:
The majority of Hamilton seniors who responded to the 2007 survey indicated that they felt their abilities to write effectively and think analytically and logically were greatly enhanced.
Exactly half felt that their abilities to speak well were greatly enhanced.
Fewer than half of the respondents, however, felt that their abilities to lead and supervise groups, formulate creative ideas and solutions or develop awareness of social problems were greatly enhanced.
Seniors in the 2007 class had very positive experiences with their first-year advisors, their major advisors, and campus computer services, yet were unlikely to participate in activities such as sexual harassment programs, independent study or residence hall apprenticeship.
Half the respondents to the 2007 survey indicated that they had participated in study abroad.
"The data consistently show … that students are highly satisfied with the personal-contact engagement they have with the faculty," Hewitt says, "which is what we are all about as a small liberal arts institution."
The Senior Survey also prompts students to evaluate campus services and residential life. In 2007:
76 percent of the Hamilton respondents expressed satisfaction with social life on the Hill.
59 percent expressed satisfaction with ethnic and racial diversity on campus, and 58 percent expressed satisfaction with the climate for minority students.
The respondents were also satisfied with career services (75 percent), health services (65 percent) and campus safety (72 percent).
Both the ratings and the open-ended responses of the 2007 Senior Survey indicate that 91 percent of Hamilton seniors overall felt satisfied with their college experience. The survey found that 74 percent of the respondents would select Hamilton College again if given the chance. This percentage is higher than that of respondents at peer institutions. On the other hand, some students voiced dissatisfaction with what they identified as a lack of diversity in the student body and faculty, with social life on campus — and with the cold weather and Hamilton's geographic isolation, a modern reminder of Ezra Pound's lament about "exile in upper New York." Furthermore, the 2007 survey revealed a feeling on the part of some seniors that the current Hamilton administration is too bureaucratic.
Still, the most recent Senior Survey notes that student satisfaction has been on the rise throughout the past three years. There also is a difference in overall satisfaction between women and men, and between white students and students of color. Women at Hamilton were generally more satisfied with their education, their advisors and their social lives than men. In fact, the student who tends to be most satisfied with the Hamilton experience is white, female, an "A" student, a sorority member and a natural sciences major. On the other hand, women students expressed less satisfaction with racial and ethnic diversity on campus.
"Are we a perfect college across the board? No, we have areas in which we can improve," Hewitt says. "But what we do extremely well — fostering the teacher-student relationship — is instrumental to a high-quality academic experience."
Although more than 100 years have elapsed since Ezra Pound studied on the Hill, hallmarks of his Hamilton education, along with the more recent contributions of Kirkland College's pedagogical legacy, still remain: close advising and mentoring, an emphasis on writing and speaking, small classes and an open curriculum. With the help of such assessment tools as the Mellon Assessment Project and the Senior Survey, Hamilton's approach to liberal arts will continue to evolve in the 21st century. Yet despite objective assessments and judicious policy shifts, Hamilton's students ultimately bear the responsibility of making the most of their educational opportunities. As Pound himself said, "Real education must ultimately be limited to one who insists on knowing, the rest is mere sheep-herding.
