Student Experience in the Research University, a survey site geared toward undergraduate students, has been experiencing a low response rate this year.
At the second Student Senate meeting of the Summer, Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs Kim Pace gave a presentation on SERU’s low response rate.
She said in 2015, SERU had a response rate of 34 percent from UF students, but in 2017, it had a rate of 16 percent.
“SERU launched right after Spring Break, and from pretty early on, we noticed that the results were a little bit lower than in past years,” Pace said.
Noelle Mecoli, the associate director of analytic services at UF’s Office of Institutional Planning and Research, said she believes the biggest reason for SERU’s low response rate is because the survey is too long.
“Does the average student have a full 25 minutes to dedicate to this survey?” she said.
Pace said that while she regrets the survey being too long, it is the best way to get the most information out of students.
She said she believes one way to get more students to participate in this survey is through cash prizes.
“If we had more money to incentivize it, I think that would hopefully make students feel like they had a better chance of getting some sort of reward for their time that they’ve taken for (SERU),” she said.
Contact David Street at dstreet@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter: @dstreet177.
Irina Javaheri, left, a data analyst for the Office of Institutional Planning and Research. Noelle Mecoli, right, Associate Director of Analytic Services for the Office of Institutional Planning and Research. They’re both viewing SERU response rates.
