This week the Orient sent out its biannual approval ratings survey, which asks students about their opinions on various institutions on campus. 518 students responded to this semester’s edition of the survey, and while many of the institutions received similar scores as they did last Spring and this Fall, a few results stood out. The percentage of students who strongly approve of Bowdoin dropped by 10 percentage points in the last five months, and the percentage of students who disapprove and strongly disapprove of Residential Life also increased fairly dramatically. A slightly smaller percentage of students approve or strongly approve of President Rose compared to approval of President Mills last spring, and while there was a 10 percent bump in students that strongly approve of the town of Brunswick compared to this fall, it is still 10 percentage points lower than last Spring’s ratings. Also, over two percent of respondents have no opinion on Bowdoin’s faculty. 

The lowest approval ratings are significantly higher this fall than they were last fall. Fall and spring approval rating responses differ significantly. View the Orient's Spring 2015 Approval Ratings to compare.

The Orient has circulated approval ratings surveys amongst the student body each fall and spring since 2010. This spring, 330 students responded to the survey.

The College’s 96 percent approval rating remained unchanged from the fall, according to the latest installment of the Orient’s semi-annual survey.

Approval of the Office of Student Affairs has reached a three-year low of 76 percent. In May 2011, approval was 87 percent and in May 2012 it was 83 percent.

​“The NAS report has done nothing but strengthen my positive opinion of Bowdoin,” said a sophomore male in response to the survey. “Sure, the school is not perfect, but no one expects it to be.”

Ninety-nine percent of students approve of Bowdoin Dining Services, according to the Orient’s approval ratings survey. The faculty and the College also tracked well, earning the approval of 95 and 96 percent of respondents, respectively. There were 310 respondent to the poll, which is conducted each semester, and polls students on their opinions of notable departments, organizations and individuals in the Bowdoin community, ranging from Student Affairs to Information Technology to the College House System. President Mills, who has polled well historically, received the approval of 88 percent of respondents.

Results from the Orient's latest approval ratings survey indicate growing support among students for Bowdoin Student Government, and increasing dissatisfaction with the performance of the Career Planning Center. Compared to the November 2011 survey, approval of the CPC dropped 16 points, from 74 percent approval to 58 percent. "Saying that they care about fields besides finance and consulting doesn't make it true," one student wrote. "I got no significant help in my job search. [I was] just told over and over to use more action verbs in my resume and given the web page of links that their interns come up with."

According to the Orient's most recent approval ratings survey, the 2012 and 2014 Class Councils are losing the support of their constituents. The 2014 Class Council's rating dropped 13 percentage points to 73 percent approval, while the 2012 Class Council received the second-lowest approval rating, 44 percent.