Does Chicago Make the Grade?
How do campus students feel about the GSB? Whatever they think, the majority are apparently pleased to make it known. The first Searchlight Survey garnered a 54 percent return rate, more than double the response rate of previous student surveys. Below are highlights of the results.
Overall satisfaction: Students are generally content with their GSB experience, rating
it 4.0 on a five-point scale.
Room for improvement: While academics and recruiting were highly rated,
students criticized the GSB for its lack of a strong community.
More social time: Students would like to build community through nonbusiness events,
such as cultural events and casual social gatherings.
More cohorts: Students are interested in more opportunities to work within
teams, although there was little consensus about when.
Thumbs up to recruiters: Recruiters received overall high marks (4.1 out of 5).
More career help, please: Students’ top recommendations for improvement included providing
“truly expert” career advice, more personalized services, and
a better explanation of the Placement Bidding System.
Who are you? While students said the Office of Student Affairs takes an interest
in their problems, many don’t know what the office does.
Praise for admissions: The admissions office was rated highly and credited with giving
a good impression of Chicago.
Lukewarm report for financial aid: Students were not always happy with financial aid services, in
part due to difficulties with the central loan office.
Keep talking: In general, students reported satisfaction with the school’s
communication efforts.
CHICAGO HAS A NEW WAY of taking the pulse of the student body:
the Searchlight Survey.
The survey, developed with input from students, questions students
in the campus program about issues they consider important, such
as the recruiting process, career services, and financial aid.
The plan is to ultimately find out what all GSB students think,
not just students in the campus program, said Tessa Burton, chief
marketing officer, who headed the effort with Mark Zmijewski,
deputy dean for full-time programs.
“The idea is that if we developed a good survey for the campus
program, we would develop surveys for all the programs. We’re
still working the bugs out [on the campus survey]. We had some
sampling problems and we’re still tweaking the methodology, but
the process is evolving.”
The survey is much more detailed than past student surveys, Burton
said. Also, by giving the survey a name and standardizing the
way it is issued, it has been introduced as a regular and constant
measure of the GSB.
“The value in all this is in institutionalizing a way of measuring
how well we’re meeting students’ needs so there are no surprises
for the administration,” she said. “The survey puts us in a position
to pay attention to students and to respond to their concerns
before problems reach critical mass.”
A timely response is essential to the survey’s success, Burton
said. “If we do this right, not only will we have satisfied customers
who are upbeat about the school when they leave but we will have
no surprises in the rankings.”
The survey is issued to a representative sample of the campus
student body once during each of the three quarters of the campus
program (fall, winter, and spring), with every student surveyed
once a year.
The top line results of a survey issued in one quarter are published
on the GSB’s Web page within ten days of receiving the data, with
more detailed responses to open-ended questions and student recommendations
issued by the middle of the following quarter.
The first survey, issued in fall quarter, sought evaluation and
recommendations in five areas: overall performance of the school
in meeting student needs; career services; administration (student
affairs, computing services, financial aid, facilities maintenance,
admissions, and student visas); communications; and community.
“The first survey basically asked about everything but the kitchen
sink,” Burton said. She added that the fall and spring surveys
likely will remain longer, more comprehensive questionnaires,
while the winter survey may be shorter, touching upon the most
essential information.
Although the first survey was relatively time consuming–it took
about thirty minutes to complete–students were given incentives
to participate, such as a coupon for a free beverage at the Stuart
Hall café and entry into a drawing for ten American Express dinner-for-two
gift certificates. In return, administrators were rewarded with
a 54 percent participation rate, more than double the response
rate of any prior student survey.
While acknowledging that more than half is an excellent response
rate for any survey, Burton said the goal is 100 percent participation.
“I feel it’s a terribly important piece of marketing to know what
our key constituents think,” she said.
Student reaction has been positive so far. “Students have said
‘this is great,’” Burton said, “but what they’re really interested
in is what we’re going to do with the data. They want to see action.
“The good news is we have a whole lot to work with: we know where
we’re succeeding, where we’re failing, where we’re communicating
effectively, and where we’re not. Now it’s important that we be
nimble enough to respond to the student body and address the issues
that are raised.”