Academic Technology
Customer Satisfaction Survey - Spring 2006 - Results
The Student Computing Cluster Customer Satisfaction Survey was conducted April 11-24, 2006. 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 | 33% | 32% | 16% | 19% | 2.21 (n = 160) | |
| Printers | 22% | 31% | 19% | 28% | 2.53 (n = 153) | |
| Software | 26% | 39% | 19% | 15% | 2.23 (n = 151) | |
| Consultants | 26% | 25% | 19% | 30% | 2.54 (n = 148) |
For comparison, here are the mean scores for Fall 2004 and Fall 2005. Lower values represent higher satisfaction.
| Item | Fall 2004 | Fall 2005 | Spring 2006 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Computers | 2.04 (n = 218) | 2.18 (n = 246) | 2.21 (n = 160) |
| Printers | 2.42 (n = 218) | 2.42 (n = 242) | 2.53 (n = 153) |
| Software | 2.06 (n = 216) | 2.02 (n = 241) | 2.23 (n = 151) |
| Consultants | 2.38 (n = 212) | 2.27 (n = 237) | 2.54 (n = 148) |
Open Response Questions
The Spring 2006 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 71 out of the 167 total surveys. We grouped these comments into several categories.
The most common comment (n = 11) was in regard to the pay-to-print system. Here's an example:
way too expensive for printing services.....I'll bet it costs the University less than 1 cent to print a page at a cluster
Actually, our costs breakdown like this:
| Paper | 0.60 cents |
| Toner | 1.09 cents |
| Printers (Purchase and Maintenance) | 0.96 cents |
| Copy Card System and Support | 1.90 cents |
| Pcounter System and Support | 2.71 cents |
| Total Cost Per Page | 7.26 cents |
This analysis also doesn't include Student Consultant support (restocking the printers, addressing problems), Ethernet network costs, or the costs of the print station computers. In addition, there are tremendous savings of both money and resources from having controlled printing that nearly eliminates accidental waste and intentional abuse that would take place with free printing. Background on the printing system is available. Users can review this information for an historical understanding of the reasons charging was implemented.
The next most common negative comment (n = 9) was a request for more computers along with 3 additional comments about the "non-cluster" computers in Dimond. That's 17% of the comments. This was down dramatically from the fall when 36% of the comments were requests for more computers.
As for the issue of why there are non-cluster computers in Dimond, the reason for those machines remains the same. Here's the info from the fall survey:
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 repository, 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 are also pleased to have received many positive comments (n = 11)! Thanks! We appreciate hearing that you like the facilities and that they meet your needs. Here's one of the most positive ones:
Overall, the clusters are fantastic. CIS has done a great job at getting them set up (both software and hardware) and maintaining them.
The remaining comments covered a range of topics. We have listed some of them below for responses. If you left your e-mail address when taking the survey, you will receive a personal response to your questions and feedback.
Comments and Suggestions
We received several comments that were requesting software:
Would like yahoo instant messenger in the internet applications
We will check into Yahoo Instant Messenger this summer. We are interested to see what this and other chat/IM programs that have voice and video capabilites will bring to the Clusters.
AutoCAD!
clusters are great, but they don't contain electronics workbench's multisim for electrical engineers.
I would personally like to see MultiSim 9 which is used by the Electrical and Computer Engineers.
Sibelus 4 (Music Notation Software)
It would be great if the clusteres had the latest version of Sibelius (4th edition), a music writing program. The clusters are currently two versions behind.
PC GIVE and the modules for it!!!
We have two groups of software in the Clusters. The first are the programs that are paid for by the Student Technology Fee and are for all of the machines we manage. These include Microsoft Office, Adobe Creative Suite, Macromedia Studio, and a variety of WWW and Internet applications. A full list is available.
The other group of software are programs that have been provided by various departments or individual faculty for their students. All of the programs in the list above fall into this category. AutoCAD and MultiSim, for example, are available on computers in the Civil Engineering and Electrical Engineering departments, but they have not provided us with a license to make the available publicly. Sibelius has been purchased by the Music department, but they had not kept current with the newer releases; they are checking into upgrading. Since these programs are only relevant to a sub-set of the campus population, we do not purchase them through central funds.
The bottom line is that if there are programs you are using in your department that you would like available in the Student Computing Clusters, please talk to your faculty. Ask them to contact us and request we make the software available. We have a webpage dedicated to our service of making course-specific software available.
all programs from all schools available everywhere on campus
Our policy and general practice is to do exactly this. When we work with a department to maintain their cluster or install their software, we make those programs as widely available as possible. It is easier for us to have everything everywhere, and it is better for the users! The only time we cannot do this is when a software license is tied to a specific group of computers. For example, the AutoCAD LT licenses in the Civil Engineering cluster are locked to their machines. The license terms do not allow them to use used elsewhere. If there is a program that you are wondering why it is not available in all of the Clusters, let us know.
I'd like to have the software that is available on the mac for my own computer such as Adobe Photoshop and Microsoft Office since I think my tuition pays for a license I should get to use it on my own computer.
Well, that would be nice, but the licensing agreements do not work that way. Our license with Microsoft specifically does not cover student computers. The Adobe licensing is based on a limited number of concurrent users that we have to regulate. We have not way to doing so if the software were on computers outside our control. Also, the overall argument does not stand up. Actually, it is the Technology Fee, not your tuition that pays for the Clusters. You pay other fees too. Does the Health Services fee mean you should get all of the medical supplies you need to keep in your own room, or does the Student Recreation fee allow you to take workout equipment to your dorm? These fees, the Tech Fee included, are all about providing a shared resource for the entire campus and student population.
We also received several comment pertaining to departmental clusters. We manage department-owned labs and clusters for 11 different groups around campus. While we setup the computers and provide support, the machines are purchased by the individual departments:
enough computers for more than 4 people to use at once would be nice. it would also be nice if we had a printer the way everyone else does. the cluster is far to small to fit more than 4 people at once. the building it is located in (morse hall) locks its doors at 9 pm which is unacceptable. in comparison with other engineering cluster this seems like a bad joke with no punch line. we chemical engineers pay just as much money to be here as anyone else, it would be nice to be treated as if we actually exist. it is suprising to be discriminated against so severly on a campus that is so dedicated to reducing discrimination against minorities. and the chemical engineering major is by far the minority in regards to other engineering majors.
Yes, the Chemical Engineering Cluster only has 4 machines in it. That, actually, is an increase of two this past year. If you feel there should be more, please talk with the department. We will forward this comment to them.
Not that anyone cares, but there is no engineering cluster and no chemical engineering cluster with a printer and paper
Actually, we are listening and replying! If by "no engineering cluster", you refer to the old Kingsbury 128, that location closed due to the renovation to the building, and the machines were relocated elsewhere on campus until a new Cluster in Kingsbury opens in Fall 2007. We publicized this heavily on our website. Also, we do not view any of the Student Computing Clusters are being reserved for any group of majors. They are a public, campus-wide resource.
As for a printer and ppaer for Chemical Engineering, since that is a department-owned facility, that is a choice they have made. We will pass this comment along, but you may wish to discuss it with the Chemical Engineering faculty.
Not enough computers, and
there is never enough paper
in or around the printers.
I hope the merging of the
Mechanical cluster and the
Civil cluster will not be
permanent because there
doesn't seem to be enough
room for everyone sometimes.
This is a temporary measure due to the Kingsbury renovations. By Fall 2007, Mechanical and Civil Engineering are slated to have separate computer clusters again. As for paper, that is supplied by those departments. We don't stock their printers. We will pass along the comment to both departments.
more computers at the gables, with so many students on this site you would think that they would at least help us out and have more than just 4 computers....its a mess over here!!!
Housing owns the computers in the Gables. They have told us that there will be an additional computer space added to the Gables along with the new buildings for next fall. We will pass your comments on to Housing.
The only complaint I have regarding the clusters is that certain, smaller, more remote ones such as the one at the Woodside Community Center could greatly benefit from very small, basic upgrades - the first that comes to mind being more memory in the computers there. Working on those machines, often late at night and for extended periods of time, is very frustrating - most of them only have 128 to 256MB of RAM - many tasks take ages to complete. All three machines could be easily upgraded to 512MB for a fairly small price.
These machines are owned by Housing. We have told them that they do need to be upgraded, and Housing has told us they plan to purchase new machines this summer. We have also been told that as part of the changes to the Woodside apartments, that the Cluster in that location will be closing with the machines moving to the Gables. We will pass your comments on to Housing.
It would be nice to have a computer cluster for the engineers in Kingsburry. I don't understand why the one computer cluster over there is for Mechanical Engineers only. I guess the University doesn't give a damn about the needs of the other majors.
As mentioned already, the Kingsbury Cluster closed due to the renovations of the building. The machines were relocated and are still available. The Mechanical Engineering cluster is owned by the Mechanical Engineering department. Since department funds purchase the hardware and software in that room, they have decided to restrict the use of those machines to their students only.
More wireless.
good wifi signals in all of the clusters
Better wireless access all around campus, including lawns on beautiful days.
Yes, it is nice to be able to get outside and not freeze again! As for wireless access, there are projects underway to expand Wi-Fi network coverage on campus. This is mostly targeting academic buildings, but some courtyard and other common spaces are included.
double sided printing on the library cluster printers.
The printers in Dimond Library, as well as the McConnell and MUB Student Computing Clusters, do support duplex printing. You save both trees and money by printing double-sided since you pay 50% less per page image printed.
Another computer to release print jobs in McConnell. There are two printers, there should be two computers so you don't have to wait as long.
We will consider this. We specifically put two stations in Dimond because we knew that there would be lines due to the number of computers. There are, however, costs to do so.
Consultants fail to enforce computer cluster rule against eating.
Thanks for the feedback. We actually will be reviewing this policy this summer to see if we are even going to keep it in place.
4 pin firewire cables at all of the clusters for connecting video cameras to the Macs
We do have FireWire cables available on the 3 iMacs in McConnell that are setup for doing video editing. If you think we need more than that, please let us know.
power strips in more locations for plugging in laptops, cameras, etc.; more places to plug laptops into the network
We do the best we can here. The Clusters primarily provide computers (ones already in place, plugged in, etc) for use. In trying to get lots of computers into a room, we often don't have either desk space or network connections left over for laptops and the like. We will be reviewing our layouts in the Clusters this summer and will keep this in mind.
Air Conditioning. The clusters are almost completely unusable because it is way too hot to even think. It is even hot in the winter. Please do not use "the computers creates the heat" as an excuse. These are computer labs, they should be equipped accordingly to handle the additional haet load of the PC's and body BTU's generated.
Unfortunately, some of the rooms we are in, especially McConnell 104, were not designed for the number of computers and people we have in them. The AC systems are not matched for the job. We do work with Facility Services to keep the existing rooms as comfortable as possible, and when planning for new spaces, we make sure that the heating and cooling will be sufficient.
Is it possible to save files from a cluster machine to our home computer? Alot of students who use these machines are off campus so it would be rather handy.
Generally, you cannot do this directly, but if you save files to your home directory, you can get to that space from off-campus to retrieve files or put them there to use when in the Clusters. We have documentation available on how to do this.
disks for sale
We have checking into ways to sell blank CD's and DVD's in the Clusters several times, but we haven't found a system that will meet all our requirements yet. We'll keep looking into this.
automatic blackboard sign in
You would think this would be simple, wouldn't you. You have already logged into the computer with the same user name and password that Blackboard needs. Why shouldn't it just work. Well, it doesn't. We are looking into it, but no promises at this point.
It would be nice if the software on cluster computers that is course specific be put onto a network drive so that us as students could access it in there dorm rooms. I know this would be a great resource for me as I am a mechanical engineer and we use a lot of different software packages such as: matlab, MathCAD, ProEngineer, and maple. I know that you can do this currently with matlab but not any of the others. I am guessing that you could but these programs on a network drive with a floating license that can be accessed if you are on campus. Let me know that you think. - Mike
Mike, there is a set of software that is available to the entire campus. This includes Matlab and Maple. The other packages you mention are owned by the Mechnical Engineering department, and they have licensed them in such as way that they are only available on their machines or in the Clusters. See the list of programs available to everyone's machines. We do keep adding to this list slowly.
A few computers in the 24 hour lab available for use with programs that need extra memory...like movie editing software, so that students outside scan-tv and the arts program can be creative at any hour.
McConnell is our only space that is open 24 hours a day currently, and it does have computers setup specifically for audio and video work. See our documentation for more info.
all im saying is that; why would anyone want their home page to open to "clusters.unh.edu" its pretty rediculous and this survey is the only purpose that it couold possibly serve.
We hope that the Clusters home page is a useful resource for people using the Clusters and other facilities we maintain. We post news and documentation there. Having it be the default page gives us a channel to get information directly to use, our users, instead of spamming the entire student population. The website will be getting redesigned this summer, and hopefully, your opinion of it will improve next year.
It would be nice to have computer dedicated to commuters since we are the large majority that rely on these cluster machines. Most other students are just to lazy to back to their dorm.
I bet the on-campus students would disagree with this statement. The Clusters are a shared resource for the entire campus. We have software, hardware, and other resources such as group working space that are needed by all students and are not necessarily available in someone's dorm room.
more deskspace for papers/books (or the suspended clips to hold papers while you type)
This summer, we plan to setup many of our locations with CPU's mounted under the desks with flat-panel displays or all-in-one systems. These measures should mean a lot more free desk space at each station.
More ram in computers, especially the macs. How do we make a mac happy? Add ram. I think I think the new Intel macs would be nice and atleast one or two powermacs for advanced graphic work would be awesome.
Most of our Macs have plenty of RAM. It is not the limiting factor, the network home directories are. This summer, will be looking at settnig up the computers differently where you should see signficant performance improvements on the Macs. The new Macs in McConnell will be Intel-based iMacs.
Remote computing resource.
Could you be a bit more specific and descriptive?
dual core computers
We buy new machines each summer. The computers in the main Clusters are on a three-year replacement cycle. Last summer, dual core processors were not available. This summer they are. You should see them in the new machines we have in place for the Fall. The Intel Core Duo processors really give great performance with low power consumption and heat output.
The printers do not remind you to take your card and a kid like me usually forgets it
One of many things we preferred about the new Pcounter system we put in place in January is the fact that it automatically spits out your card once you print a job. This saves a step and help people not forget their Copy Cards. Dimond Library still runs the older UnipriNT system but plans to switch to Pcounter this summer.
I don't like the new print servers -- if you have more than one document to print out you have to insert your copy card each time.
We need better documentation! You can drag-select multiple jobs at a time and print them all together. This is easy to do if you click the user name column header to sort the jobs by account names. Then, just click on the background and drag a box over your list of jobs to print. You then click Print to send them all to the printer at once. We will post this info near the print stations.
It would helpful if there was a posted list of when there are classes in the McConnell cluster so we would know when it was likley to be really crowded.
We do not allow any of the public Student Computing Clusters to be scheduled or reserved for classes. There are certainly times when projects are due or computer-based tests are taking place that the Clusters do have an influx of students all from one course, but we do not know when these are going to happen. We are going to be putting a system in place this summer that will let you check on the availability of machines in any Cluster remotely.
I think it would be really fun for students to have a gaming cluster for online games. Tournaments could be set up on the weekends. Playing video games is a huge thing for students and I think it would be a great social event for most, especially on the weekends to give them something wicked fun to do for the weekends besides always partying.
This idea has crossed our minds before. The MUB Cluster is closed Friday and Saturday evenings so it might be a perfect place. If a student group or someone could provide the software licenses (sorry, we don't own licenses for all the cool games), handle security and staffing needs, and so on...well, if so, then we should talk.
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 during the Fall 2006 semester.