Students and Alumni Comments on Teaching
The Alumni Survey (Fall/Winter 2003-2004)
Two hundred and twenty-two (222) questionnaires were sent to Art
alumni who had graduated from CSUS between 1997 and 2002 (Appendix
L). Forty (40) surveys were returned for a response rate of nearly
20% (19.4%). Each of the alumni was sent a packet that included
the survey instrument, a memo explaining the reason and importance
of the survey, and a newsletter with a report about the Art Department.
As art majors, most of the respondents had been primarily interested
in Studio Art (78%), and most had
transferred to CSUS after completing their first two years in the
community college system (74%).
Most of the respondents said that they had been either “satisfied”
(41%) or “very satisfied” (33%) with the quality of
instruction in the Art Department; most (65%) had been either satisfied
or very satisfied with the scheduling of Art classes; and most (71%)
had been either satisfied or very satisfied with their interaction
with Art faculty. General areas that could have been improved during
their years at CSUS, judging from the
increased percentage of neutral or dissatisfied responses, were
“access to Art faculty” (which had satisfied 66% of
the students) and the “availability of academic advising”
(which had satisfied 55% of the students). Assessing the quality
of the knowledge and skills they had gained through their education
in the Art Department, most of the students were either satisfied
or very satisfied with their overall artistic ability (61%), expertise
in their preferred discipline or medium (56%), knowledge of art
history (63%), ability to
analyze or critique art (60%), skills in critical thinking (73%),
skills in written communication (78%), and skills in oral communication
(58%; another 5% had no opinion). Fewer than half of the respondents
were satisfied with their ability to teach art (40%), but 15% of
the group had no opinion in this area (i.e., probably are not art
teachers), and another 30% were neutral. Nearly three quarters of
the respondents said
that they would recommend CSUS to someone considering an art major
(73%), citing such factors as the quality of the faculty and the
variety of courses offered.
