Approximately half of the student body received a BlitzMail message yesterday asking for responses to a dining and retail service survey.
"A random sampling of students," selected from among the members of the Class of 2000, 2001 and 2002, received the BlitzMail request which will also be sent out to graduate students, Dean of Residential Life Holly Sateia said.
The dining feedback will be used to gain feedback directly pertaining to the Social and Residential Life Initiative and the prospect of decentralizing and expanding dining options, according to Dean of the College James Larimore.
Clearwater Research is conducting this survey -- the first of two -- as part of the Centerbrook architect project which will determine the structure of the College's dining and shopping options.
Although tedious, the 19-page survey is thorough, asking those polled to evaluate all angles of dining options including quality, quantity, cost, hours and location.
The survey also requests feedback on the possibility of using a meal plan in off-campus eateries, similar to the new Dartmouth Card plan.
Although separate from the Trustee steering committee, the Centerbrook project also aims to make improvements in student life related to the Initiative.
In the BlitzMail message, Larimore stated, "The responses we receive will be crucial in advising the administration and Trustees about particular aspects of social and residential life at the College and will help guide the architectural firm that will be compiling and presenting the various alternatives."
The second survey Clearwater will conduct regards recreation facilities at the College.
Although some of the questions may resemble Task Force proposal suggestions including expanded hours, new facility locations the availability of beauty care and clothing merchandise, campus groups did not formulate the questions, Sateia said.
"Clearwater drafted the questions on the survey," Sateia said, mostly taken from questions used on other campuses.
Following the initial draft the group met with students and faculty involved in the Centerbrook architectural project to "make it pertinent to Dartmouth."
Larimore said that the Centerbrook interview sessions with students have formed the basis of the questions that appear in the survey.
Typically when an organization or a college has an interest in gaining information on a topic it hires a research group to formulate general standardized survey questions.
The questions are fed back to a working group, so the group can give feedback on whether the questions are inappropriate for the college or steer the respondent in a particular direction.
According to Larimore, it is also standard practice in a marketing-type survey to offer a reward for responding. Students who respond will have their ID numbers entered into a contest to win a television set.
When market research requests time and input, the award is a concrete way to recognize effort put into responding.
Sateia said the Centerbrook architects will be back on campus to meet with students in focus groups on August 11 and 12. Interested students should contact Sateia for more information about times and locations.
