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Academic Technology

Customer Satisfaction Survey - Fall 2007 - Results

The Student Computing Cluster Customer Satisfaction Survey was conducted November 29-December 17, 2007. The information below represents aggregate results from all responses to the survey questions. We also have responded to several specific comments and suggestions.

Satisfaction Questions

Respondents were asked to rate their satisfaction with the following aspects of the Clusters on a four-point scale (4 = Lowest, 1 = Highest).

Item 1 2 3 4 Mean
Computers 50% 34% 7% 9% 1.74 (n = 302)
Printers 36% 31% 20% 13% 2.09 (n = 292)
Software 51% 35% 10% 4% 1.68 (n = 295)
Consultants 36% 35% 14% 15% 2.07 (n = 286)

For comparison, here are the mean scores for Fall 2004, Fall 2005, Spring 2006, and Fall 2007. Lower values represent higher satisfaction.

Item Fall 2004 Fall 2005 Spring 2006 Fall 2006 Fall 2007
Computers 2.04 (n = 218) 2.18 (n = 246) 2.21 (n = 160) 2.02 (n = 132) 1.74 (n = 302)
Printers 2.42 (n = 218) 2.42 (n = 242) 2.53 (n = 153) 2.23 (n = 132) 2.09 (n = 292)
Software 2.06 (n = 216) 2.02 (n = 241) 2.23 (n = 151) 1.82 (n = 131) 1.68 (n = 295)
Consultants 2.38 (n = 212) 2.27 (n = 237) 2.54 (n = 148) 2.33 (n = 129) 2.07 (n = 286)

The responses these year are the highest we have ever achieved!

This past Fall's survey was the first time we asked the participants to list which Cluster they were currently in when completing the survey. In this way, we can get a sense of satisfaction with different locations. Here's the breakdown by the locations that CIS fully controls:

Location Computers Printers Software Staff
Dimond 1.76 (n = 96) 1.88 (n = 93) 1.74 (n = 94) 1.82 (n = 88)
Kingsbury 2.00 (n = 17) 2.25 (n = 16) 1.50 (n = 16) 2.19 (n = 16)
McConnell 1.53 (n = 49) 1.91 (n = 46) 1.56 (n = 48) 1.81 (n = 48)
MUB 1.58 (n = 38) 2.03 (n = 38) 1.53 (n = 38) 1.97 (n = 37)
Spaudling 1.82 (n = 11) 2.36 (n = 11) 1.73 (n = 11) 2.91 (n = 11)
All SCC 1.73 (n = 240) 2.00 (n = 231) 1.68 (n = 234) 1.96 (n = 227)
All Department 1.81 (n = 62) 2.43 (n = 61) 1.67 (n = 61) 2.51 (n = 59)
The "All SCC" item covers all of the Student Computing Clusters locations (Dimond, Kingsbury N130, McConnell 104, MUB A140, Spaulding G68 along with the responses from individuals who said that they were not currently in a Cluster or did not indicate. The "All Department" line covers the locations that Academic Computing Systems manages for other departments, but ACS does not purchase the computers or printer or provide staffing for the room.

Open Response Questions

The Fall 2007 survey also asked two open ended questions: 

    What resources or technologies would you like to have in the Clusters that are not available currently?

    Additional comments:
We received responses to these questions on 147 out of the 309 total surveys. We grouped these comments into several categories.

The most common comment (n = 30) was a request for more computers. This included a large number of comments specifically referencing the desire for more "Cluster" computers or computers with Microsoft Office in Dimond Library (15 of the 30 comments).

This is a perennial comment. It is important to know that between the Dimond Academic Commons project and the reopening of the Kingsbury Cluster, we increased the number of Student Computing Cluster computers on campus by 20% compared with last year!

As for the reason why there are non-cluster computers in Dimond, here's some background. The Library has a mission to both the students and to the general public. They have to make library resources such as the card catalog and electronic databases available to all patrons. The Library's status as a government documents depository, in fact, makes it an absolute requirement. There have to be computers that provide the general public, who do not have UNH computer accounts, access to these electronic resources. At this point, Library feels that the best way to meet this need is to have computers dedicated to web-only access that do not have all of the software available in the Clusters and that do not require users to have UNH accounts.

We also received a number of complaints about the printing system and having to pay to print (n = 17). Many of the comments simply request "free printing".

UNH did used to have "free" printing, but that really just means that the costs for the printers, toner, and paper were not paid by students directly, but were included in part of the tuition. There was a tremendous amount of waste and abuse. Rather than have that continue, the pay-as-you-print system allows the costs to be shared equitably. If someone really wants to print 100's of webpages, that user can do so, but that person also pays for it. There are options to make printing less expensive. Print duplex to save you 25% of the cost. You can also print multiple page images per sheet to save even more money and paper. All in all, having individual students pay directly for the real costs involve has proven to be the best solution on this and many college campuses.

We are also pleased that we received several (n = 12) positive comments about our staff and the Clusters. For example:

The clusters are great. Keep up the good work!

I really like the large computers with the group tables.

Love that it's open 24 hours!

We appreciate the good words!

The remaining comments covered a range of topics. We have listed some of them below for responses.

Comments and Suggestions

First, we had several requests for things that we in fact do have already!

Let's see. Firefox, Dreamweaver, and Photoshop have been available on all of the Cluster computers for years! We also do have AOL Instant Messenger on the Windows computers. On the Macs, use iChat or Adium. As for more powerful statistics software, check out SPSS, JMP, or SAS! Those are actually all available to install on your own computers as well as use in the Clusters. Media editing software is available, too. We actually have special stations setup in McConnell for digital audio and video work.

On the hardware side, we haven't done anything to make the machines that have dual-core processors not both cores so I'm not sure what that's about. The "printer" comment is also confusing since we have a printer in each location. Any of the iMac computers that we have purchased in the last two years do have built-in webcams. As for a copier, well, McConnell did get one installed in late November, just before we started the survey!

Lastly, if you want to get to files you have save to the Documents or Desktop or other places on your home directory in the Clusters, check out the Home Directory Access instructions on our main webpage, too!

I think that it is inappropriate for a public institution such as UNH to use proprietary technologies when non-proprietary alternatives exist. I believe that all of the clusters should use Linux or BSD technologies or at least have them as an option. I resent being obligated to pay the Microsoft tax by being matriculated at a public institution.

You can certainly have a philosophical debate about this, and we have nothing against Free Software. We have some Linux computers available, and we do use Linux for some of our servers. We also provide a range of open source programs such as Firefox, OpenOffice.org, and VLC. On the other hand, we have to be responsive to the needs of students and faculty. Those needs are driven by what people know and by what people need to know as they move into the workplace. The reality is that today, it is very much a Microsoft computing world out there. This is slowly changing, but having someone graduate without any experience with Word or Excel is a complete failing in some disciplines. We certainly don't like paying the "Microsoft tax" as you describe it, but believe me that we do everything possible to pay as little as possible to Microsoft or any other companies by taking advantage of every volume purchase and educational discount we can!

The monitor holders in the Hubbard Reading room are HORRIBLE! They move everyone?s monitor is 1 person adjusts it, and some of them don?t hold the monitors up, they just slide down on their own

Yeah, those haven't worked out too well. The computers in Hubbard are going to be replaced this summer. At that time, we will definitely be looking at what we can do to change that situation.

there should be a way to add prining dollars to your card at ALL printing stations, it is crazy that i have to go to the mub to add money so i can print!!!!!

I'm not sure that there needs to be a way to add to your Cat's Cache account at all printing stations. Is there a Cat's Cache service machine next to every washer and dryer on campus that takes Cat's Cache? I do agree, though, that McConnell does need one, especially since it is a 24 hour facility and the other Cat's Cache service points on campus are not available at, say, 2 AM. We are working on that.

In the meantime, please check out the Cat's Cache website where you can add funds to your account on-line using a credit card.

There have been some problems with the new versions of Word and Excel. If I save something as a .docx file or .xls file (the default save extensions), I can't open it on a Mac sometimes.

Office 2007 introduced the new file formats you mention. Technically they are known as Open Office XML. Most people think of them as .docx, .xlsx, .pptx, and so on. The issue with not being able to open them on the Macs is that Office 2004 that we currently have on the Macs simply does not understand these new file formats. There is not add-in or whatnot that we can install to make them work. For this and other reasons, we do have the Office 2007 applications in the Cluster set to use the older .doc, .xls, etc formats by default. You only get the new file formats if you start with a file that is already in that format or you specifically select to save as that format.

As for a permanent solution, Office 2008 for the Macs will be installed this coming summer, and it speaks Open Office XML.

The switch to word 2007 was a bad move because word 2007 has a terrible layout.

Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 are different. Again, we needed to upgrade because of the new file formats. If we didn't, then we would have lots of people who had files from other students or faculty that they could not open and work with. Like it or not, we do have to live in Microsoft's world to some extent. While the programs and new and different, that are rapidly becoming the new standards. I, too, did not like the new interface at first, but after some time with it, I do believe that it is actually more efficient for many things. I just wish it was a bit more consistent in its behavior and appearance.

color printing

DUPLEX/DOUBLE SIDED PRINTING! I wasted 30 minutes trying to save paper and couldn't do it! What a waste of time and trees!

These were mentioned specifically in regards to the Spaulding Cluster. Good news! The new printer we put in there this Spring semester does support color printing and duplex (aka double-sided)!

the side where there are more computers..to the left when you walk in the door..is way too hot. Maybe too many computers and not enough ventilation..but I find it difficult to do any work when it's so uncomfortable.

I could bore you with a really long tale of why McConnell is this way, how squirrels like to live in the AC system (yes, really), and how long we have been working on this problem. I won't. I will say that this will definitely be improved this summer!

cool edit or adobe audition

We don't have either of these available. They are audio editing tools for those who don't know them. We do, though have Audacity available on the Windows computers now, and we have Sound Studio and GarageBand available on the Macs. Come to think of it, Audacity is another open source program we make available!

I would like to have Fetch and right clicking mice on all the Mac computers.

We don't have Fetch available. We do have both Cyberduck and Fugu available for FTP, SFTP, and SCP file transfers. Check them out.

As for the right-clicking on the Macs, we have tried to make that the default. It is a setting that gets stored on a per-user basis, though, so if you want to change the mouse settings, just open the Keyboard & Mouse System Preference pane and set them to what you like. That should get saved to your account when you logout and restored again when you login.

I would like to see all the older iMacs be replaced eventually, and it would be great if the crappy Mighty Mice could be replaced with a regular two button mouse with a real scroll wheel. Thats about it, really.

We do replace all of the computers on a 3-year cycle. So, the oldest iMacs, the ones in the McConnell Cluster, will be replaced this coming summer. In fact, we will hold a sale in late May to get rid of the old ones! Check our website for details if you want to buy a good used computer at a good price!

The scroll balls on the Mighty Mice have been an issue. We know that some of them have stopped working reliably. We don't have a solution for that yet, but we will be addressing that this summer when we do a through cleaning of all of the computers.

More PC's less Mac's. People prefer PC's, they will take them to the Mac's most of the time.

And now for the annual Mac vs. Windows debate. I'll simply report that Mac use has been going up and that this year we had 6 comments asking for fewer Macs and 5 comments asking for more Macs.

Windows Vista

Given all of the discussion about Microsoft and updates, this is probably a good place to mention that we do not plan to upgrade to Windows Vista for quite a while. It will not be happening during this academic year or next (08-09). Windows Vista simply doesn't give us many improvements to balance off the issues of the work required to upgrade, the possible software incompatibilities, and the fact that it is often slower than Windows XP on the same hardware. Sorry, but we are not going to pay Microsoft for that right now.

Our thanks go to all of our users who took the time to provide this feedback. You can always feel free to let us know what you are thinking. The next round of this customer survey will be conducted in late April 2008.