Can't get no satisfaction

Langara needs to provide more information on the outcome of their strategic plan for 2020.

The results for Langara’s strategic plan for 2020 are in, and it shows a seven percent drop in overall student satisfaction.

The four year plan was started in 2016 and wrapped up at the end of 2019, and is meant to outline strategies and benchmarks for success and improved student experience.

Opinion

The full report can be found on Langara’s website and gives statistics. The 95 per cent baseline is an aspirational “internal target” set by the college, according to Courtney Fabri, Langara’s manager of institutional research.

The problem is that the 2020 report doesn’t provide any information on why there has been a dip in satisfaction year over year. And, from 2016 to 2019 although student satisfaction is relatively high, there has been a dip of seven per cent in satisfaction among Langara students.

The survey outlines the satisfaction levels of recently graduated students approximately nine to 20 months after graduating.

Fabri states that roughly 40-50 per cent of recently graduated students reply to the survey. This is a good response rate and higher than what I would have expected.

It’s unfortunate that more information is not included on Langara’s website about why there has been a decrease in satisfaction.

Based on what I’ve heard amongst students, financial strain is one of the main factors.

Langara is already one of the more affordable post-secondary schools in B.C., but the increase in cost of living in Vancouver and the addition of student fees, like the student union fee, to tuition fees adds up fast for students.

At the very least, a more comprehensive representation of the data should be provided to us all in order to better understand and work together towards the 95-100 per cent target that Langara says they wish to achieve.