A year after the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate launched Tufts Polls - an online survey resource for student opinion - the complicated and expensive software program remains unused by the Senate and administration alike.
A statistical analysis system purchased jointly by the administration and the TCU that allocated student activities funds to the project, Tufts Polls cost well over $5,000. The program was originally intended for use by Senate committees to poll the undergraduate student body on various campus issues. Many senators also saw it as a tool for the troubled Elections Board (ELBO) to conduct Senate elections online.
But amid concerns about the integrity of the software and confusion about its usage, Tufts Polls never caught on. The TCU launched its first and last Tufts Polls survey - a poll on student diversity set up by the committee on Cultural and Ethnics Community Affairs (CECA) - more than one year ago.
Sophomore Jill Bier was one of two senators trained to operate the complicated program by the Department of Institutional Research. "Learning how to use the program and setting up the survey took most of last year," Bier said. "When we sent it out it was like 'Tufts Polls actually works!' Then it turned out the questions were too vague and people didn't know how to answer them."
The software package, comprised of a "data entry builder" add-on component to a statistical program called SPSS, lacked a "wrapper" - a filter that allows system operators to determine who has taken the survey. Since students were not required to fill in a password or verify their identity, the accuracy of the poll was compromised.
Bier, along with Andrew Potts, participated in two days of survey development and statistical analysis training at the expense of the Department of Institutional Research. Professional trainers were flown in from SPSS, Inc. in Chicago to instruct the senators.
Despite the training, Potts and Bier had difficulty understanding the complex system. "I sat through two days of training and still had no idea what I was doing," Bier said. Potts said a further understanding of statistics and survey procedure was necessary to use the product.
Department of Institutional Research Director Dawn Terkla assisted the TCU in acquiring the Tufts Polls program. Terkla said her department was available to help senators set up a Tufts Polls survey but interest was minimal. "We were willing to do whatever we could but we never heard from anybody," Terkla said. "It's kind of hard to do a survey if nobody's talking to you."
She attributed the disinterest in Tufts Polls to change in Senate membership. "There's so much turnover in the Senate that what's been in the interest of a particular senator isn't necessarily on the agenda of the next Senate or senator."
Two instrumental forces in the creation of Tufts Polls - former Senate president Larry Harris and former assistant dean Michaela Whelan - are no longer at Tufts, and documentation of the purchase seems to be unavailable.
The Department of Institutional Research, which is responsible for gathering statistical information for the University, now uses newer software to create web-based surveys for the student body. "We've moved on to a different software package that we're using just for ease and flexibility," she said. This past year, the library satisfaction survey, Residential Life (ResLife) survey, international student life survey, and sophomore experience survey were entirely web-based. The senior survey will be online for the first time this year.
Although Tufts Polls is no longer in operation, online surveys are still being held. The Senate Services Committee recently polled students about restaurant delivery options on the Merchants on Points (MOPS) program. The TCU Judiciary plans to put group recognition procedures online. Earlier this month, ELBO facilitated successful Senate elections online using a website developed by Student Services, and tomorrow's presidential election will occur online.
Bier was optimistic about the future of online Senate polling. "I definitely think we're keeping up with the times," Bier said. "We have to do things online; everything's online these days - ticket sales, elections, registration."
"As the University keeps up with it, we have to keep up with it," she said.
