Western Washington University Student Survey Series: Western Washington University Students Volume One

Preface to the WWU Student Survey Reports, Volumes One to Five The Surveys During Summer, 1986, Western\u27s Vice President for Academic Affairs requested that the Office of Survey Research, located in the Sociology Department conduct three inter-related surveys: A five year follow-up of 632 1982 Western graduates. A five year follow-up of 364 Individuals who attended Western but left In 1982 without graduating and remained out of Western for at least one year. A survey of 1280 seniors enrolled during Spring, 1987, who had completed at least 155 credits. A discussion of samples and research methods is included in Volume One of the reports based on these surveys. The purposes of these surveys are to provide information to faculty and staff concerning students\u27 background and orientations, to provide feedback about the relative quality and success of a Western education by asking about students\u27 experiences while at Western and their evaluations of Western, and to describe the quality of former students\u27 occupational and personal lives five years later. These issues are discussed for Western students as a whole, and, where appropriate, for students in each collegiate unit within Western, as well as for transfer versus natives, man versus women, and other background differences. The Organization of Reports The reports are divided into five brief volumes. Each of the first three focuses on one sat of measures. The fourth reviews the comments offered by students in response to open-ended questions about their experiences at Western. The fifth is a summary of the first four, written with the larger off-campus audience in mind. Each volume moves segment-ally from one topic to the next, keeping each section as free-standing as possible so that the reader can locate the issues of greatest concern and focus on the appropriate sections