The Office of Academic Affairs fielded a survey in the second week of October to understand student preferences for course format (teaching mode) and plans for returning to Syracuse University in the Spring semester. Students were asked, “Please indicate your preferences for course instructional format in the spring 2021 semester given current pandemic social distancing and other public health guidelines. Answers were scaled as: ‘Do Not Prefer’, ‘Slightly Prefer’, ‘Moderately Prefer’, ‘Strongly Prefer’, and ‘Very Strongly Prefer’.
Students were also asked, “Do you currently plan to enroll in the spring 2021 semester?” Answers were scaled as ‘Definitely Yes’, ‘Probably Yes’, ‘Probably No’, ‘Definitely No’.
The survey received a 43.1% response rate (8212 respondents). The respondees were distributed as follows:
Undergraduate 5996 (73.02%)
Graduate 1919 (23.37%)
Law 297 (3.62%)
Calculating the numerical averages, with 1 for ‘Do Not Prefer’, 2 for ‘Slightly Prefer’, and so on, the order of apparent preference was:
Undergraduates (n=5996)
| Option (Wording from Survey) | Average Score (undergrads) |
| Hybrid In-Person: Students attend some class sessions in person, with masks and social distancing; remaining course content is delivered via online instruction | 3.08 |
| Face-to-Face: Students attend all class sessions in-person, with masks and social distancing; no online component | 2.95 |
| Online Synchronous: Students are part of a real-time virtual classroom where they interact with instructor and classmates during scheduled live sessions | 2.73 |
| Online Hybrid: Students are part of a real-time virtual classroom where they interact with instructor and classmates during scheduled live sessions (synchronously) and use tools like email and discussion boards that allow them to interact asynchronously | 2.54 |
| Online Asynchronous: Students take the course online without in-person or live class interactions | 2.43 |
| Hy-Flex: face-to-face and online students move through learning experiences at the same time in live sessions, while going at their own pace in asynchronous course components | 2.38 |
Among undergraduates, 95.74% (5,709) responded that they are “definitely” or “probably” going to register for the spring term. A large proportion of students indicating that they will not return are graduating or planning to study abroad.
All Students: Undergraduate, Graduate and Law (n=8212)
| Option (Wording from Survey) | Average Score |
| Hybrid In-Person: Students attend some class sessions in person, with masks and social distancing; remaining course content is delivered via online instruction | 3.02 |
| Face-to-Face: Students attend all class sessions in-person, with masks and social distancing; no online component | 2.81 |
| Online Synchronous: Students are part of a real-time virtual classroom where they interact with instructor and classmates during scheduled live sessions | 2.89 |
| Online Hybrid: Students are part of a real-time virtual classroom where they interact with instructor and classmates during scheduled live sessions (synchronously) and use tools like email and discussion boards that allow them to interact asynchronously | 2.64 |
| Online Asynchronous: Students take the course online without in-person or live class interactions | 2.44 |
| Hy-Flex: face-to-face and online students move through learning experiences at the same time in live sessions, while going at their own pace in asynchronous course components | 2.41 |
Overall, 95.08% (8,277) responded that they are “definitely” or “probably” going to register for the spring term. A large proportion of students indicating that they will not return are graduating or planning to study abroad.
Data collected from October 2020 student survey