It’s human nature to work toward incentives, and Baker University administrators are willing to use incentives in exchange for something they view far more important.

For many students, the chance to win prizes is enough to get them to log into Student Satisfaction Inventory and express their expectations and satisfaction with Baker University.

The Student Satisfaction Inventory is a survey given by Noel-Levitz, a propriety company that gives various assessments to universities.

Students express how important an issue is to them, and how well the university is meeting those expectations.

“It creates the opportunity for gap analysis,” said Judy Smrha, assistant dean for student engagement and success. “The idea being that it’s not so much if the students are satisfied or dissatisfied with something, but relative to their expectations, are they satisfied or dissatisfied with something.”

It is also used to compare trends among universities across the nation.

“It helps us normalize where we are, which is always very helpful,” Dean of Students Cassy Bailey said. “It also gives us the trends of what students are wanting across the country.”

The survey is given every three years and the university looks for areas in which it excels, as well as areas that are in deficit.

The university will then look to develop action plans to improve in those areas.

The questions focus on student services, such as the library, fitness center, grounds and upkeep, food services and other experiences outside of the classroom.

In an effort to get students to respond to the survey, two $50 gift certificates to the Baker Bookstore and one $200 gift card to Target will be given in a drawing of students who have taken the survey.

“We certainly would hope that students would want to tell us, but we appreciate that students are busy, so we want to give them some incentive,” Smrha said.

For freshman Tim Laughlin, the money incentives were a main reason he took the survey.

However, he also took the survey in an effort to help the Baker community.

“It helps out the school and could help to better the students’ time here,” Laughlin said.

This survey was given in the spring of 2008, and during that time students expressed concerns about housing, which encouraged the construction of the New Living Center.

The survey results also showed concern about the food services and recreational opportunities.

“There were some pretty tangible impacts as a result of the survey responses,” Smrha said.

Friday is the last day to take the survey.

“I hope that students can take 15 minutes out of their day to take it,” Bailey said. “I believe it will truly better their university and their experience and future student experiences.”