Students ask students for views on UD web site

UD students can voice their opinions about the University's web site now through April 23 by completing a survey found by clicking on the survey box on the UD home page at [http://www.udel.edu/]. Developed by students in E410, the student web survey gives students a chance to say what they like, dislike, use and don't use on UD's web site.

The survey was created by students enrolled in a technical writing class taught by Deborah C. Andrews, English, and the results will be considered by the University's Information Technologies group as it looks at refreshing the UD web.

Designed by students Steve Rann, Peggy Cossean and Rachael Fatow, the survey takes only a few minutes to complete and is easy to access from a button on the UD home page. It asks students what site they use for a home page and how many times they use the web each week. It also gives students a chance to say if it is easy to find items on the UD web and which UD pages are the most valuable and informative.

Students also can tell what they feel is missing from the web, can say how the UD web site can be improved and can recommend sites from other colleges that they particularly like or find useful. Other questions ask students how they use the web for academic support and if they use it to find things to do on campus.

The online survey is just one of many methods Andrews' students are using to find out how well the UD web is received by students. Other student teams are running focus groups, and some are using paper surveys to ascertain what students think of the University's presence on the web.

The project came about when Andrews saw a presentation by Joy Lynam, Information Technologies/Management Information Services, about efforts to refresh the web. Andrews said she was looking for a project for her technical writing class, and Lynam was looking for student input on the refreshment project. Lynam visited Andrews' class to talk with students, and the various survey plans resulted from that talk.

On May 9, all of the student groups will make class presentations on their findings, which will then be forwarded to Lynam's web group.

"Our group just thought it was most logical to use the web to survey students about web use," Rann, a junior from Bear, explained. It made perfect sense to Rann, a computer and information sciences major, and his teammates Cossean, a senior environmental engineering major from Staten Island, N.Y., and Fatow, a junior communication major from Norristown, Pa.

"Online surveys are convenient for students, and placement on the University's web site lends credibility to our work," the team said in a memo to Andrews. "We feel that an electronic survey will have the highest response rate, and placing a link to our survey on the UD web site allows us to focus directly on our primary audience."

Students are being alerted about the survey through a number of e-mail messages sent via University distribution lists, through the home page link and by good, old-fashioned word of mouth.

–Beth Thomas