Association plans second Ackerman Student Union questionnaire

By Mason Stockstill

Daily Bruin Senior Staff

The Associated Students of UCLA want to know what you want.

ASUCLA is getting ready to send out its second student union
survey, asking students about what kind of services they would like
to see in Ackerman Union.

The first such survey took place two years ago, and its success
fueled the association’s decision to perform another one this
year.

“We were very happy with the results” of the last
survey, said Student Union Director Jerry Mann.

“In order to have a successful student union, we need to
ask our customers more than we did in the past,” Mann
said.

Two potential services for Ackerman Union that were largely
suggested in the previous survey were a post office and a hair
salon, both of which have been or are being implemented by ASUCLA
now.

The first survey was sent out two years ago to 2,000 students
via e-mail. The participants ““ 400 from each undergraduate
class and from graduate students ““ were chosen at random.

The survey asked students questions about how often they shopped
at the UCLA Store and other area shopping centers, and it asked
students to rank potential services they would like to see in
Ackerman Union that were not already there.

“The response rate was around 37 percent, which is
great,” Mann said. “I got most of the responses within
about four days.”

This year, the survey will take a slightly different form. The
most significant change is that students who are chosen to
participate in the survey will receive an e-mail with a link taking
them to the survey’s Web site, instead of receiving the
entire survey over e-mail.

As an incentive to fill out the survey, students who take part
will be entered in a drawing for gift certificates at the UCLA
Store.

“Last time, we tabulated the results by hand,” Mann
said. “This year, the responses will go right into a
database. It’s more timely and makes it easier to handle the
information.”

Additionally, Mann said some of the questions from the previous
survey were worded ambiguously, and will be changed slightly this
year.

But many of the questions on the survey will remain the same, in
order to track how student attitudes and preferences have changed
since the last survey was taken.

“It’s still essentially the same basic
survey,” Mann said. “We need to keep some of the same
questions to get consistent benchmarking.”

Most students say they’ve been pleased with the results of
ASUCLA’s effort to reach out.

“The post office is a good idea,” said Lawrence
Lombard, a second-year mathematics student. “The lines are
too long, but at least it’s more convenient than having to
walk down to the Federal Building.”

The survey is only one part of an effort by ASUCLA in the past
two years to increase the amount of input they get from students
and employees.

In addition to the student union survey, ASUCLA has implemented
workplace surveys for its employees as well as comment boxes at
ASUCLA’s operations across campus.

ASUCLA officials are hoping this year’s survey ““
which will probably take place in the next few weeks ““ will
be as successful as the previous one.

“Hopefully, students will respond positively to the
questions about services ASUCLA provides so that those services
will remain in place,” said undergraduate board member Cori
Shepherd.

After the survey is completed, Mann said he will put together a
report and present it to ASUCLA’s Services Committee for
review. The committee will then decide whether the survey holds any
answers to ASUCLA’s questions.

“There may be some conclusions worth presenting to the
board,” Mann said.