Academic

5 = very satisfied; 4 = satisfied; 3 = neutral/no opinion; 2 = not satisfied; 1 = very dissatisfied
 
 
 

	5	4	3	2	1
Overall quality and rigor of coursework 1996-97 ave. = 4.52, std. dev. = .67  1997-98 ave. = 4.40, std. dev. = .61  1998-99 ave. = 4.43, std. dev. = .58 1999-00 ave. = 4.49, std. dev. = .63 2000-01 ave. = 4.48, std. dev. = .57	58%  45% 47% 56% 52%	38%  50% 50% 37% 45%	02%  04% 03% 07% 03%	01%  01% 00% 00% 00%	01%  00% 00% 00% 00%
Professors 1996-97 ave. = 4.38, std. dev. = .72 1997-98 ave. = 4.27, std. dev. = .68 1998-99 ave. = 4.38, std. dev. = .68 1999-00 ave. = 4.38, std. dev. = .62 2000-01 ave. = 4.25, std. dev. = .72	48%  38% 47% 45% 36%	45%  57% 46% 48% 57%	05%  03% 05% 07% 02%	01%  01% 02% 00% 05%	01%  01% 00% 00% 00%
Reference materials 1996-97 ave. = 3.83, std. dev. = .92  1997-98 ave. = 3.62, std. dev. = 1.00 1998-99 ave. = 3.56, std. dev. = 1.10 1999-00 ave. = 3.69, std. dev. = .94 2000-01 ave. = 3.91, std. dev. = .91	27%  17% 19% 19% 27%	37%  42% 43% 44% 44%	30%  29% 19% 25% 22%	05%  08% 14% 11% 06%	01%  03% 05% 01% 01%

Comments: (representative comments)
 

• I really love the professors and their extensive amount of commitment to their students. I love the courses, I have learned more than I ever have.
• Professors added so much to my year at Houghton; their willingness to be involved in our lives while pouring themselves out in particular areas of study is inexpressible.
• Thought very highly of some professors (ie. Spanish); however Western Civ. professors seemed removed from  students and their needs
• Some professors are outstanding.  I have heard a few comments from my son about some weaker ones.
• You have some outstanding professors but you also have some poorer professors.  It would be nice if the ratio was a little higher (good/poor).
• Quality of some courses is very high, some courses that are required liberal arts courses should not be ìrequiredî.
• Music Ed.-too many credits required to fit into regular 4 years with manageable number of credits, and excluding Mayterm (some students need to work during Mayterm), some classes too difficult- students who do well in other classes and work real hard still canít achieve Aís (for instance Western Civ.)
• I am concerned with the grading scale as opposed to the scale other private colleges use.  Our other daughter goes to a different private college and was getting higher grades although the girlsí averages were the same.  Our Houghton daughter felt less than adequate, while getting the same grades as her sister, and having less to show for it.
• The grading system seems too hard.
• In this day and age when we have a lot of research that shows certain styles of testing are really a poor test of a studentís knowledge.  Why do many of Houghton Professors still use these kinds of tests?  If we gain knowledge, I expect all to use it.
• Lab materials are not up to date.
• The no. of materials available online is very limited.  The method for retrieving magazine/journal articles is quite tedious.
• Hard to find good information in Periodical section of library.
• Library reference books are out of date.