A personal and social responsibility survey conducted by the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AACU) in the fall of 2007 showed that more than half of students, faculty and staff believe that personal and social integrity should be a major focus at Miami University.
Despite these findings, Denise Krallman, director of institutional research, said that Miami doesn't do enough in these areas.
"Right now we perceive that there is not as major a focus as we would like on this campus," Krallman said.
Krallman described the Personal Social and Responsibility Inventory (PSRI) as an online survey distributed via e-mail. She said it was created by the Center for the Study of Higher and Post Secondary Education at the University of Michigan.
"The survey is designed to measure the views of students, faculty (and) staff about issues of integrity and social and personal responsibility," said Dean of Students Susan Mosley-Howard.
According to Krallman, the PSRI was administered to approximately 1,600 Oxford undergraduates, 300 faculty members and 100 professional staff members, such as academic advisers, staff in the office of the registrar and other staff that interact with students on a regular basis.
"(Student were given) approximately 150 questions that covered everything from work ethic in the classroom to academic integrity to their feelings on their own personal responsibility and responsibility to others (i.e. social responsibility)," Krallman said.
According to Krallman, similar questions were asked of the faculty and staff from the perspective of how they view Miami's support of those responsibilities and their impressions of the students on particular issues.
The results of the survey were extremely varied. According to Krallman, 54 percent of first-year students think the climate at Miami cultivates academic integrity, but only six percent of faculty agrees.
Despite the marked variation at Miami, Mosley-Howard said that she was not surprised by the results at Miami.
"(I) was not deeply surprised by the results, but was amazed at the consistency across universities," Mosley-Howard said.
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Many other surveyed universities showed similar findings across the age groups and Mosley-Howard said she believes this similarity with more than 20 other universities nationwide is a testament to the fact that students entering college have strong opinions.
"Students come to college with deeply held views about many things," Mosley-Howard said. "These views are tested during college and continue to evolve."
Mosley-Howard said she sees the results of the PSRI as "a hallmark of Miami."
She added Miami strives to address the "whole student."
"(They) attempt not to bifurcate their lives and parts of themselves ... thus the fusion of curricular and co-curricular experiences (occurs)," Mosley-Howard said.
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