Staff responses and comparisons with other colleges

The response rate for staff at Bates was 46 percent, lower than the average response rate of the comparison group (54 percent), and slightly lower than the response rate had been in 2012. In 2008, there were eight services rated as either “important” or “very important” by the majority of staff members who responded. By 2012, there were more than 20 services rated as “very important,” and in 2017 that number was 18, reflecting the degree to which the college now relies on information and technology services to accomplish the work of the college. Here is what we learned about how their answers compared to those of other colleges:

1. Bates staff member’s trend with our peer groups in rating the importance of services. No particular server ranked significantly higher or lower than our peers.
2. Bates staff members are more satisfied with the following than are staff members in the comparison group:
  • Banner support
  • Garnet Gateway support
  • Email services
  • Web Conferencing
  • Performance of wireless on campus
3. Bates staff members are less satisfied with the following than are staff members in the comparison group:
  • VPN
  • Support for specialized computer needs
  • Support for computer problems
  • The time it takes to resolve a computing problem
  • Status information on computing problems