Assessment Results

A longitudinal student was conducted to understand how students rate their well-being while attending Texas A&M to help Student Health Services maintain high quality health services and plan for new ones to enhance the health and well-being of all Aggie students. The electronic survey was administered once a month in September, October, November, February, March, and April. The survey link was emailed to a sample of students on or close to the 1st of each month and it was closed about the 15th of the month. This report provides results for all six surveys.

The Texas A&M University Police Department (UPD) is required to survey “citizens” as a part of national accreditation requirements with the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators (IACLEA). UPD surveys the campus community regularly to gather input from the community, identify and improve practices, and address attitudes that might contribute to tension and grievances. The process for gathering that information can be determined by the department. The broad description of the assessment content includes:

• Overall departmental performance
• Overall competence of department employees
• Officers’ attitudes and behavior toward citizens
• Concern over safety and security within the department’s service area as a whole
• Recommendations and suggestions for improvement

Student Life Studies initially worked with UPD in 2010 to address specifically the accreditation requirements and topics using a campus-wide survey of students, faculty, and staff. UPD has collaborated with Student Life Studies to conduct this assessment in 2010, 2013, 2016, 2018, 2020, and 2022.

According to its website (http://fishcamp.tamu.edu/), Fish Camp strives to “welcome freshmen into the Aggie Family by sharing the traditions and values of Texas A&M University and building long-term relationships that embody the Aggie spirit.” Fish Camp operates as a student organization and is housed in the Department of Student Activities. This year, eight sessions were held in person from July 25th through August 17th, 2021. Fish Camp is typically a four-day camp at Lakeview Methodist Conference Center in Palestine, TX. However, this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Fish Camp was three days to allow one day between each camp for cleaning.

Fish Camp wanted to understand the participants’ camp experience and how Fish Camp affected, if at all, the start of the fall semester for those who attended. Fish Camp has worked with Student Life Studies to assess participants’ camp experience since 2000.

The 69th Annual Memorial Student Center (MSC) Fall Leadership Conference (FLC), themed Harnessing Happiness to Lead with Success, was held August 24 through August 26, 2021. Student leaders (delegates) attending the conference were surveyed to assess their experiences at the conference, including listening to various speakers, participating in group discussions, and opportunities to network with other student leaders, former students, faculty, and staff. This is the 20th year MSC FLC has worked with Student Life Studies to assess their conference.

The Department of Recreational Sports (Rec Sports) offers a variety of group exercise classes, called Group RecXercise classes, at its facility to members for an additional fee. Approximately every other year Rec Sports assesses the exercise classes of members who purchased a pass offering unlimited access to classes by semester. The feedback guides Rec Sports staff to address concerns and make improvements to Group RecXercise. This is the sixth time Student Life Studies has assisted with assessing the Group RecXercise classes.

Howdy Week is a series of events held just before the fall semester to welcome primarily new students to campus and is coordinated by New Student and Family Programs (NSFP) in the Offices of the Dean of Student Life. Howdy Week 2021 was August 22-29, 2021, and included a combination of virtual, hybrid, and in-person events. NSFP wanted to understand the event coordinators’ experience, specifically with the process to submit events for Howdy Week and how organizations find out about submitting events. Additionally, NSFP wanted to assess students’ experiences with Howdy Week. Student Life Studies has worked with New Student and Family Programs assessing event coordinators for Howdy Week since 2017; however, this was the first time assessing students.

The purpose of this assessment was to understand the experiences of students who participated in T-Camp. T-Camp, sponsored by Aggie Transition Camps (ATC), is an extended (three-day) optional orientation camp for students who are transferring to Texas A&M University. There were two sessions held, from August 2 through August 8. Following the camps, one survey was sent to co-chairs, counselors, and teamers, and a few weeks into the semester another survey was sent to participants (campers) to assess their camp experience. The report summarizes the surveys' results, key findings and provides recommendations for improvement.

The LGBTQ+ Pride Center hosted the Pride Center Open House on Monday, August 23, 2021. The Pride Center wanted to assess the experiences of those who attended the event. This is the first time Student Life Studies has helped the Pride Center assess the Pride Center Open House. The attached report summarizes the survey results, key findings and provides recommendations for improvements based on those finding.