The football ticket lottery closed Friday, but UF students still have the opportunity to put in their two bits about their university experience.
The Student Experience in the Research University survey, a requirement to register for the lottery, will remain open until July 1.
As of Monday afternoon, 18,748 students had responded - about 61 percent of undergraduate students.
"It's really hard to ignore that amount of data," said Marie Zeglen, the assistant provost and director of institutional planning and research.
This is the second time UF has employed the SERU survey. The first was in 2009, when approximately 69 percent of undergraduates responded.
Not everyone takes the survey seriously. Stefan Rodriguez, a 21-year-old civil engineering student, said he Christmas-treed the 25-minute-long survey so he could register for tickets.
But he is in the minority, Zegler said. Most survey-takers fill it out completely.
Software programs review the surveys for signs of careless responses. Those that appear to be Christmas-treed are thrown out.
Zegler said, to her team's surprise in 2009, almost all of the participants provided valuable, serious responses.
About 20,000 included constructive comments and suggestions in the optional fill-in boxes.
These suggestions have led to changes to peer-adviser training and on-campus tutoring opportunities.
"I hope students really do care about their undergraduate experience," Zegler said. "With that many students having an opinion, that's powerful. It really is."
