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Polls
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Students share thoughts about KPIs |
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Monday, 20 April 2009 |
By Jonathan Krenz
Staff Writer
Student satisfaction is high at Niagara College, according to formal and informal surveys.
The official Colleges Ontario website describes the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) survey as performance data “gathered by an independent research company.” As listed on the website, this performance data covers graduation rate, employment rate, employer satisfaction, student satisfaction and graduate satisfaction.
According to Colleges Ontario, the Ontario government gave the province’s colleges a mandate in 1998 to collect and report the data as a way of measuring the colleges’ performance. The KPIs have been administered ever since.
The survey placed Niagara College student satisfaction at 86.1 per cent in 2008. Current students are responding in a similar manner. Many believe the college’s staff is a major factor in keeping Niagara College at the top for student satisfaction in the KPIs.
“Definitely, in our field, the ECE staff is fabulous,” said Lynn Euesden, 28, a student in the Early Childhood Educator (ECE) apprenticeship program. “You can’t walk down the hall without a ‘Good Morning’ or ‘Hello’ from a faculty member, which is really nice.”
Luc Laroche, 20, a first-year Construction Engineering Technology – Architecture student, agreed. “I’ve noticed that most of the teachers go out of their way to help their students go above [with] ways that they can improve,” he said. “[The faculty] does a great job, actually.”
Euesden also mentioned the benefit of Niagara College’s support staff. “Even the cafeteria staff – everyone seems to work really well together and they’re happy to be here, which is nice to see,” she said.
José Gonzalez, 23, is a first-year English for Academic Preparation (EAP) student. He said the teachers at Niagara College contributed to a friendly environment. Gonzalez also gave other reasons for the college’s student satisfaction rating: “The programs that Niagara College has [are] very good programs, very competitive programs,” he said. “Also, the facilities, especially at the other campus, [the] Niagara-on-the-Lake campus, is a good campus.”
At least one student disagrees with Niagara College’s KPI ranking. “There’s a lot of things that need to be changed, I find, in my program,” said Melissa Gilmour, 21, a Dental Assisting program student. “I don’t know how we’re still number 1.”
However, the majority of students interviewed had a positive opinion regarding the ranking.
Matt Power, 21, a first-year General Arts and Science student, said “good teachers” are responsible for the college’s number 1 ranking four years in a row.
“I like all my profs,” he said. “They do a good job with their programs.”
Devon Oleniuk, 18, is a first-year Business Administration student. He agreed with Power regarding the college’s teachers.
“I think that the teachers are actually pretty smart,” he said. “They know what they’re talking about 95 per cent of the time. I like that a lot.”
“I’m definitely getting taught a lot of stuff I never even knew existed,” he continued. Oleniuk concluded that “it’s definite the teachers are good.”
Students had varying opinions about KPI results benefiting the college.
Oleniuk said KPI results led to more funding for Niagara College, while Gilmour stressed the advertising angle. “It puts it out there that [we’re] the number 1 college in student satisfaction,” she said.
Power said the benefit was a combination. “[The] more students who say they’re satisfied,” he explained, “[the college] can advertise it ... and get more funding from more positive reviews.”
Euesden agreed with this assessment. “Even if we don’t achieve number 1 this year, it’s still a nice way of advertising our college,” she said. “If we’re number 1, we’re going to get more funds.”
Gonzalez was also in agreement and said the college can benefit by purchasing more technologically advanced equipment. “Also, you can have more advertising,” he continued. “It’s good because more students will come here. You will be proud of being a part of Niagara College.”
“As long as the students are happy,” explained Laroche, “then the school’s making money and everyone’s happy.”
Although most of the students interviewed agreed on funding and advertising being major benefits of a positive KPI result, the perceived importance of the student survey varied.
Students place value on the survey with relation to their instructors, according to Laroche.
“Some [teachers] I knew were doing a good job, and I felt that I had to agree on that,” he said. “It shows that their work is [getting] noticed.”
Students only take the survey “half-serious,” said Oleniuk. “It just seems so lightly treated,” he explained. “They just said, ‘Tell us what you think’ and that’s it. Like, ‘Here you go,’ so it wasn’t like it was made out to be serious, really.”
Gilmour agreed, saying younger students “just don’t care. [They] want to get it done and over with.”
Power is one of those younger students who wanted to get it done and over with; however, he still believes in student satisfaction. “I don’t really take them seriously,” he explained. “I usually go to class and it’s one more thing to fill out. I’m fairly satisfied with my program anyway.”
Gonzalez believes the students’ opinions matter to those asking for the opinions, so the survey should be treated seriously.
“What I have to say [on the survey] is important,” added Euesden, explaining why the KPIs matter to her. “It affects future students. The people that took it before me affected where I’m at in the school. I hope everyone takes it seriously.”
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