Syracuse University undergraduate students will have a chance starting Monday to share their collegiate experiences with SU staff through the online, anonymous Orange Survey.

The survey will ask students about their lives at SU in areas such as academic experiences, social experiences, Greek experiences, financial concerns, family and other sources of support among others, said Libby Barlow, assistant vice president of the Office of Institutional Research and Assessment, in an email.

Barlow said research shows that attitudes, behaviors and experiences of students are important predictors of success.

“There is no better way to discover those things than to ask students directly,” she added.

The survey will help university officials improve student success by analyzing what impedes it, Barlow said. It will take about 10-15 minutes to complete.

Each email contains a unique link so that only the population of interest can take the survey, and so respondents can go back in and finish if they don’t finish the survey in one go, Barlow said.

While the survey is not mandatory, participation is highly encouraged so the university is able to address any issues in the overall experience of attending SU, Barlow said.

“If we don’t know about something, we can’t fix it,” she said.

The survey will not be sent to students under the age of 18 due to the need for parental consent, but those students will be able to participate in the survey on Dec. 7, when the university will request the students who turn 18 between Nov. 2 and Dec. 7 to take the survey, Barlow said.

Once the data from the survey is collected, Barlow said the university will locate the areas where the issues are and work to improve them accordingly. As semesters continue, the university will also look into the extent of the factors measured and how they can be related to retention rates, graduation rates and departure, Barlow said.

The survey will also be repeated in following years to ensure the university and the overall undergraduate experience is moving in the right direction, she said.

“We want Syracuse to be great for all students,” Barlow said. “We are collecting data to have clear evidence of what we do well and what can be improved.”

Published on November 1, 2015 at 10:49 pm

Contact Ali: Ali Linan