Office of Disability Services
Spring 2007 Quality Survey
Executive Summary

In an effort to ensure customer satisfaction, as well as, efficient methods in accommodating students with disabilities, the Office of Disability Services (ODS) conducts an annual quality survey. This survey is dispersed among faculty, staff and students, on both the main San Marcos campus and the Round Rock Higher Education Center (RRHEC). This year respondents included 156 faculty and staff and 118 students.

I. Demographics
Of the faculty and staff surveyed, 137 (87.8%) individuals responded as faculty, 17 (10.9%) responded as staff and 2 (1.3%) did not indicate their position within the university. Of the students, 25 (21.2%) had only been registered with ODS for one semester; 58 (49.2%) have been registered for two to three semesters; and 32 (27.1%) have been registered for four or more semesters. Only 2 (1.7%) of the students attend the RRHEC, the other 109 (92.4%) attend the main campus in San Marcos. Since the number of students attending RRHEC is so small, we are unable to conduct a comparison analysis between campuses.

II. Customer Service
Faculty and staff overwhelmingly responded that they are satisfied with ODS, with 130 (87.8%) marking ‘Very Good’ or ‘Good’ in regards to their satisfaction overall. In examining individual questions on customer service, a similar pattern is present. The majority (greater than 90%) of respondents marked ‘Strongly Agree’ or ‘Agree’ for the questions concerning the helpfulness of and treatment by the staff, timeliness of returned phone calls, and appropriate referrals.

The students responded in a similar pattern with approximately 70% (or more) marking the ‘Strongly Agree’ or ‘Agree’ categories. Students answered questions covering topics such as, the helpfulness and professionalism of staff and specialists, the appropriateness of referrals, plans to further use ODS, and the role of ODS in the student’s college success. Question C-12 asks if the student would be interested in a disability support group. The responses to this question are quite spread out, with a mean of 3.33, suggesting a neutral or undecided feeling towards a disability support group.

III. ODS Services
Both faculty/staff and students are enjoying the new online scheduling of exams. In both groups, more than 80% ‘Strongly Agreed’ or ‘Agreed’ that the system is convenient and/or helpful to use. Similarly, faculty widely enjoys the options of exam delivery, the electronic reminders, documentation of tests and accommodations, and provisions of scantrons and bluebooks. In examining individual services, faculty and staff are pleased overall with sign language/ oral interpreters and with captionists; almost all respondents marked ‘Strongly Agree’ or ‘Agree’ for all of the questions . However, the majority (50.6%) of faculty and staff are still unaware of the faculty resource guide available to them on the ODS website. Of those that were aware of this valuable resource 83.6% found it to be helpful.

Students feel that the services provided to them are, in fact, helpful to them, personally and academically, especially the ability to participate in advanced registration (mean = 4.48), testing accommodations (mean = 4.26), and the initial intake interviews (mean = 4.24). Students ranked parking information and services (mean= 3.77), assisted listening devices (mean= 3.75), oral interpreting services (mean= 3.80), and books on tape (mean = 3.75) as moderately helpful.

IV. Additional Comments-Faculty and Staff
A few faculty members suggested expanding the list of scantrons available from ODS.
A few professors request an improved method of handling testing accommodations, including having a deadline for all pertinent forms at the beginning of the semester.

Several faculty using the online scheduling of exams complained that they are unable to print the approval form after clicking submit; they would like to be able to print out the form, even at a later time. They also mentioned that email notifications do not include the course number for the student. For professors with large classes, it becomes a task to look up that information.

The faculty and staff propose a change in the survey instrument to include the option of ‘Non- Applicable’ for those instances in which the question may not apply to everyone.

V. Additional Comments- Students
Some students claim that they are not aware of the online sign up for advanced registration.

Students using ‘book to tape’ services encourage the university to move forward in technology and investigate possible CD, MP3, or Podcast formats. This would enable them to listen to the book at many more places, on and off of campus.

At least two students mention that the library staff is not properly trained in using Kurtzweil reader, and request that this issue be resolved.

Students complained about the lack of space for testing accommodations. This may be alleviated by possible remodeling during the summer.

VI. Conclusion
In conclusion, the Office of Disability Services continues to provide essential support for our students. The majority of faculty, staff and students agree that the ODS is doing a good job! The Quality Survey responses offer further suggestions to provide faculty and students with both proper accommodations, and efficient methods.