Approval ratings up for BSG, down for dean’s office and CPC

Approval ratings: Approval ratings vary little in fall semester

2012 and 2014 Class Councils suffer most in recent survey conducted by the Orient

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.

Approval ratings: In survey, students give College high marks

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.

Approval ratings

Approval ratings up for BSG, down for dean’s office and CPC

May 4, 2012

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." (See front page story.)

Approval of BSG was up 10 percentage points, and BSG President Derek Brooks was up 12 points.

The senior Class Council also showed dramatic improvement. In the November survey, one student wrote, "What is the 2012 Council doing? Are there any events planned? It seems like everybody is doing something except for the senior class."

But in this week's survey, the 2012 Class Council had jumped 18 points to 55 percent approval. Still, it was the lowest approval rating recorded.

Notably, approval of the 2014 Class Council was up 19 points, to 89 percent, for the largest gain of any measured entity.

As usual, the highest approval ratings went to the Dining Service (98 percent), the faculty (98 percent), Safety and Security (97 percent), and the College as a whole (96 percent).

Approval of the Registrar declined by four percentage points. According to the comments, course registration was an issue of contention.

"I feel like there could be a better way of registering for classes and avoiding the chaos of Phase II," one student wrote.

Another wrote, "Bowdoin needs to update its procedures for course selection and the housing lottery. The paper forms and physical lottery in Daggett are extremely outdated."

"We need electronic course registration," another agreed.

Approval of Athletics fell nine percentage points, residential life fell eight points, and the Health Center fell six points.

One student took the opportunity to lament a campus myth.

"As a first year entering, it was disappointing not to see the famed 'Bowdoin hello,' as I realized it was just a marketing hoax," he wrote.

The survey was distributed on the Orbit and class email lists on April 30, yielding 223 replies.

-Toph Tucker contributed to this report.

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