Sacramento State students representing the graduating class of 2007 were more satisfied with their campus experience, in comparison to graduates of 2003 and 2006, according to a survey published by the Office of Institutional Research last June.

Students were happier last year with the service they received in 17 different areas, including job placement services, quality of programs of study, and services for victims of crime.

In addition, students worked nearly twice as many hours per week as students four years ago.

Satisfaction dropped in only two areas-the variety of classes offered and veterans’ services.

Students were most satisfied with the library, which had an 82 percent satisfaction rate.

Jing Wang, director of OIR, said it can be hard for one office to satisfy everyone, especially if that office serves a large student population, as the library does.

“That really shows the quality of their work,” she said of the library’s high satisfaction rate.

A category on the survey worded only as “Veteran’s services” held the lowest satisfaction rate on campus, with a 35 percent satisfaction rate, which decreased 9 percent from last year.

Wang said it is uncertain why the number was so low.

When the online questionnaire is e-mailed to graduating seniors in the spring, they have a chance to write personal comments about their experience at Sac State. Comments can be used to look beyond a simple satisfaction percentage for clearer feedback about a specific department, the director said.

She said they did not see a lot of comments specifically about veterans’ services, so it is hard to know why the number dropped.

Jeff Weston, director of Veterans’ Affairs, said it’s possible for some of the low satisfaction results on the survey to come from veterans who have not necessarily been involved with or informed about the Veterans’ Affairs Office.

Weston said one of his office’s challenges is to find veterans on campus who haven’t labeled themselves as veterans in their applications, but may have labeled themselves as veterans on the survey.

The VAO serves veterans and their dependants who qualify to receive benefits for schooling, but has no direct role in helping veterans who no longer qualify for educational aid.

Weston is in the process of starting a student organization for veterans, which would let him reach out to other veterans who may not be served by the VAO. Through the student organization, he hopes to spread the word about presentations on relevant issues, or veterans’ programs in the Sacramento region.

The Graduating Seniors Survey results are published online. Hard copies of the numbers, along with the personal comments, are delivered to the school’s presidential cabinet-the president, vice president, and associate vice president, etc.

Faculty members are not given a hard copy of the report. An announcement is sent to them with a link to the web site.

If the announcement is missed, a department might not see the survey results; this was the case with Veterans’ Affairs, the director said.

Although the survey is supposed to be used to measure performance improvements, there is no way to ensure that everyone reads it, Wang said.

Lacey Waymire can be reached at [email protected].