The following data visualization is an initial foray into trend analysis of student satisfaction at the College of Staten Island. Our IR office conducts the Noel-Levitz Student Satisfaction Inventory (NLSSI) every two years in the spring semester in order to meet a university performance management goal of measuring and improving student satisfaction with academics and non-academic services. We sought a representative sample of undergraduates by stratifying and randomly sampling course sections by course level and department. Through outreach from the Provost’s office, a web-based registration system for those whose courses were selected, and an in-class collection method, we obtained a 10% sample in both collections thus far (Spring 2011, Spring 2013). Additional years worth of data will help confirm the trends we see across these two years. While largely representative of the demographic distribution of the undergraduate population, we intend to eventually weight the data (i.e., non-weighted data is presented here). 

This discrete area bar chart display was created in Tableau. It displays the percentage of responses in each of the seven satisfaction categories (from Very Satisfied to Not Satisfied at all) for the item “The quality of instruction I receive in most of my classes is excellent.” The distribution is broken out by collection year, gender, and class level. For clarity, satisfaction levels are portrayed using “stoplight” colors with Neutral represented by cool blue. Shades of green denote some degree of satisfaction and shades of yellow through red equal some level of dissatisfaction. Thus, one can quickly ascertain trends in general and specific satisfaction levels across the two time periods. For example: Among freshmen, female general satisfaction with quality of instruction has decreased, while that of males has increased; general dissatisfaction with this item has increased slightly for juniors and seniors; sophomores appear to take a more neutral stance on this item; etc.