OFFICE OF INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH

1
OFFICE OF INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH STUDENT
OUTCOME ASSESSMENT COMMITTEESENIOR EXIT
SURVEY2008

• NUMBER OF RESPONSES 157
• RESPONSE RATE 86

2
PART 1

• TEAMWORK

3
What role do you normally take when you are
assigned to a group or team?
4
Which activities at AUBG have helped you the most
to develop and enhance your teamwork skills?
5
The overall AUBG experience has helped me to
develop teamwork skills to
6
Describe one experience that has been most
important in developing your teamwork skills.

• In class group projects, presentations, group
  studies, simulations, marketing research,
  tutoring etc. 55.4
• Co-curricular activities, student government,
  student clubs, RA team, student media, plays and
  musicals, sports etc. 31.8
• none or n/a 7.0
• Other 5.7

7
Describe one experience that has been most
important in developing your teamwork
skills.(continued)

• Examples
• Basically all university projects helped me
  develop my team skills. Every time I had to deal
  with different issues which helped me become more
  prepared of what I can expect when working in a
  team.
• Being the president of More-honors for 2 years,
  Program Director of AURA for a year, Music
  Director of AURA for half a year.
• For the presentation of one of my projects one of
  the team members has not come (without giving any
  notice in advance).I believe this case helped us
  be better prepared for future unexpected
  situations that arise constantly in the real
  business world.
• I signed-up for the Renault-Nissan competition
  and I had to form a team. Therefore, I tried to
  find the appropriate persons for that and also to
  manage the whole process. By working with fellow
  students for an outside the university project
  made me understand the values of a team.
• The RA team taught me how to take responsibility
  of my actions as well as others actions. It also
  taught me that I could rely on the person next to
  me for help and advice in a difficult situation
• Well, this is mostly available for all group
  presentations or group project, where you have
  been assigned to work with people you have never
  worked with before - in this case, everybody is
  supposed to take his/her role seriously and
  manifest his/her true team work skills.
• I had to work in a group where we had a problem
  with one of the members and we had to find a way
  to get the job done.
• Mostly course team projects, especially in the
  COS courses, due to the very practical nature of
  the deliverables.
• Presentations and group projects are very helpful
  because they build team responsibility, give
  experience, and develop skills for presentations

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PART 2

• LEADERSHIP

9
What is your definition of leadership?
10
Which activities/opportunities did AUBG provide
you with that helped you the most to develop
your leadership skills?
11
How important was AUBG for developing your
leadership skills?
12
Give one example of a situation at AUBG when you
took an active role as a leader.

• In class group projects, presentations, group
  studies, simulations, marketing research etc.
  41.4
• Co-curricular activities, student government,
  student clubs, conferences, RA team, student
  media, plays and musicals etc. 38.9
• none or n/a 15.3
• Other 4.5

13
Give one example of a situation at AUBG when you
took an active role as a leader. (continued)

• Examples
• Always during team work I ended up organizing my
  group, distributing tasks, multitasking, doing
  reality checks,assigning deadlines etc.
• I gave tutorials in mathematics to more than 200
  students in 4 semesters.
• I organized a tutoring team of 15 students in
  Accounting.
• The Faculty search committee gave me the
  opportunity to take an active role in the
  choosing of new professors
• The role as a team leader in all cases and
  projects in Corporate Finance II, where I had to
  coordinate all the work our team did.
• Being an editor in chief for Verve this academic
  year was quite the active role as a leader. I
  initiated the creation of the website and
  introduced many new ideas that other media don't
  have.
• For the past year I voluntarily created and
  instructed Pilates classes for the students of
  the AUBG. I consider that physical well-being is
  an important factor in learning abilities. In
  this sense, I wanted to add value to my peers
  learning experience. I initiated the classes,
  ordered the necessary equipment and hold classes
  at convenient hours so that the majority of
  interested parties could join.
• I was chosen the team leader for one of my
  courses' group cases. In this respect, I had to
  coordinate all the other members of the team, to
  stimulate them to work hard and to submit the
  work on time, and also to solve some conflicts
  between members of the team.
• The most common situations were when team members
  of a project were not performing satisfactory and
  were reluctant to do their part. This often
  required me to take more active role for control
  of the entire team and the way they done their
  responsibilities.
• There were a number of cases throughout the four
  years in the university when I was the leader in
  our group projects and simulations. I believe,
  this was quite useful case and I have
  substantially improved my interpersonal and
  organizational skills.

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PART 3

• CIVIC RESPONSIBILITY

15
In what ways do you think individuals should
demonstrate their civic responsibility?
16
What activities were you involved in while you
were at AUBG?
17
To what degree does AUBG provide encouragement
and opportunities for students to understand and
help in the wider community?
18
Name one thing that AUBG can do to further
promote an awareness of the wider
community/environment issues among AUBG students.

• Most of the graduates feel that the
  communication between AUBG and the Blagoevgrad
  community needs to be improved by joint events or
  projects. Another significant number of
  graduates believe that topics like
  "Environmentalism", "Recycling", "Civic
  Responsibility" etc. need to be incorporated in
  the academic program and be required for
  graduation. There are respondents who advise
  AUBG and its students to concentrate only on the
  Scaptopara region, by cleaning, recycling, and
  declaring it environment friendly. Some students
  think AUBG does enough to encourage Civic
  responsibility, others believe it is an
  "individual" thing and there are several
  graduates who do not have an opinion on the
  subject or consider it irrelevant.

19
Name one thing that AUBG can do to further
promote an awareness of the wider
community/environment issues among AUBG students.
(continued)

• Examples
• Advertise AUBG's carbon footprint and how to
  reduce it (save energy, stop using plastic bags
  and recycle)
• AUBG needs to be somewhat more dedicated in
  inspiring students to take action on
  environmental/community issues.
• Emphasize the impact the AUBGers have if
  involved. take a proactive approach and encourage
  students to take part and make a difference.
• Encourage cooperation with and participation of
  AUBG students in non-AUBG organizations as well
  such as regional NGOs and NGOs operating on a
  national basis example AIESEC, "Student
  Initiatives for European Development", etc.
• Get the university involved more in the
  Blagoevgrad environment. Make more business
  projects directly related to the local business
  culture.
• I think AUBG does a fairly good job at this. If
  you would just continue in the same spirit,
  you'll be fine. However, if you could organize
  some kind of event, like the Olympics, when the
  students are obliged to help clean some area of
  the city, it could help educate civil
  responsibility in students more than by just
  creating clubs and letting the joining of the
  club to the students' discretion.
• Include environmental issues in the handbook, set
  rules about recycling, place separate trash and
  recycling bins in the rooms, because you cant
  expect someone to walk to the end of the hallway
  to dispose of each plastic bottle, for example.
  They need to be collected somewhere first.
• Make community service as part of the curriculum.
• Keep at least the area around Skapto clean -it's
  a step alert people to turn off the light when
  they are not in the rooms or not leave the water
  on if not needed organize fundraising campaigns
• Organize and inspire students to get involved in
  the community's well being - regular trips to the
  orphanage, maintaining a clean environment around
  Scapto to provide an example worth to be followed
  to the Blagoevgrad community.
• Organize appealing volunteer work, through the
  university and try to balance opportunities for
  Bulgarians and internationals. Also, make it part
  of class work.

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PART 4

• INTEGRITY

21
How would you define integrity?
22
Which of the following behaviors have you engaged
in while at AUBG?
23
To what degree has the overall AUBG experience
refined your personal values and integrity?
24
In what way has your experience at AUBG
strengthened or weakened your understanding of
personal integrity?
Almost 60 of the graduates who filled out the
survey state that AUBG had strengthened their
understanding of personal integrity in various
ways, such as courses in the program, academic
policy, plagiarism and personal integrity
lectures by professors. Only 15 students said
that AUBG had not helped them at all in this
matter, another 14 are neutral. 7 graduates have
stated, that they had witnessed cheating go
unpunished on several occasions during their
study at AUBG and see it as a problem.
25
In what way has your experience at AUBG
strengthened or weakened your understanding of
personal integrity?(continued)

• Examples
• Academic integrity standards at AUBG, as
  presented by Dean Sullivan during the orientation
  week, struck me as harsh in the beginning. But
  that was the attitude of a student coming from
  the former USSR. Later, I thought these
  guidelines are not harsh enough. Interesting...
• I believe that AUBG is one the the very few
  universities in Bulgaria that truthfully promotes
  integrity. I believe that strict rules for
  plagiarism have definitely enhanced students
  integrity.
• I have learned to rely only on myself and my
  personal abilities which helped me consolidate
  and further develop those abilities and skills so
  I can have more self-confidence and achieve more.
• I have much higher awareness of this issue and my
  behavior has been modified.
• In the way that I understand how important is the
  work of everyone by giving full credit to all
  sources I use in defending my point.
• My integrity has strengthened seeing how students
  from disadvantaged economic backgrounds force
  themselves to get excellent results without
  resorting to anything unethical.
• AUBG has helped me strengthen my understanding of
  personal integrity by the expectations set by the
  faculty, by courses such as Business Ethics, and
  by making us understand that everything should be
  our own work even if it is not the best one.
• AUBG has taught me, most of all, to respect other
  peoples work. This has proven to be of much help
  not in AUBG specifically, but in the outside
  world (after AUBG).
• I saw many students cheating in various ways. I
  did not weaken my understanding of integrity, but
  made me hope that the university will address the
  issue.
• I would say that spending two years here has
  neither strengthened nor weakened my personal
  integrity, but rather given me a certain moral
  flexibility that I did not possess before.
• It helped me understand how important it is to
  treat everyone with respect and advance on the
  base of my knowledge and skills,not through
  cheating and fraud
• I've noticed that a lot of people choose saving
  time over integrity, I've done that myself too,
  and I'm not proud of it.
• The anti-plagiarism policy and the constant
  interaction with people with different
  backgrounds made me realize the importance of
  having a constant set of moral values that would
  guide me in any situation.

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PART 5

• INTELLECTUAL COMMUNITY

27
What is your definition of a vibrant intellectual
community?
28
Which of the following activities have you
engaged in while at AUBG?
29
What credit would you give to AUBG for your own
level of intellectual vitality?
30
Describe one experience that you found
particularly intellectually stimulating.

• Almost all respondents have given an in-class
  example for a particularly intellectually
  stimulating experience. Senior thesis, class
  projects, in-class debates, presentations,
  lectures, final papers etc. dominate the
  responses. Some students have been impressed by
  outside lecturers and guests. A few graduates
  have described their student club or other
  extracurricular activities and even fewer have
  described conference or workshop participation.

31
Describe one experience that you found
particularly intellectually stimulating.
(continued)

• Examples
• All the activities mentioned above such as
  debates and discussions with classmates and
  professors as well as attending different
  cultural events has really contributed to the
  creation of an environment that stimulates
  individuals intellectually.
• In a group of three we had to improve the current
  FASB statement No. 52 regarding the treatment of
  financial translation that our professor found
  inadequate. The challenging part was not the
  fulfillment of this objective, but the fact that
  the members of my group had three different
  opinions. I handled the situation so these
  disagreements would be healthy, would not disrupt
  our communication and would contribute to a
  better decision making process.
• The class projects were mostly related to current
  topics which made it stimulating and challenging
  knowing we are dealing with an actual real-time
  case.
• The senior thesis experience was the most
  valuable one academically, because it shows
  students that everything they have done up to
  then is tiny and insignificant compared with the
  workload of producing an academic research paper
  which can turn out to be the foundation of your
  career.
• Working with a professor on a research project
  outside of class.
• Interaction with professors was certainly the
  primary reason for increased interest in subjects
  that were outside of my major field of study.
  Certain faculty members can very effectively
  encourage more involvement from students.
  However, AUBG did not have a lot of them during
  the years of my education.
• My introduction to the world of literary
  criticism in Dr. Coleman's class. That was very
  stimulating. I had never approached literary
  works with such a wide range of tools for
  analysis, as well as theoretical perspectives.
• Seeing representatives from the real business
  world. There nothing like first hand experience
  with them.
• The long coffee talk with professors in the cafes
  of Blagoevgrad. Over there we were stripped off
  the boundaries student-professor and were talking
  freely not only about world-issues but even
  personal ones.

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PART 6

• CROSS CULTURAL COMPETENCE

33
What is the value of going to school with a
diverse group of students and faculty?
34
Which of the following activities have you
engaged in while at AUBG?
35
To what extent do you feel you understand others
from different backgrounds?
36
To what extent has AUBG achieved a culturally
sensitive community?

• A little over a third of the respondents think
  that AUBG has done a great job in achieving a
  culturally sensitive and diverse community. These
  graduates, during their education at AUBG, had
  interacted a lot in and out of class with
  colleagues from different nationalities, races,
  and ethnic backgrounds. Around 27 of the
  graduates think AUBG has done a moderate job and
  say there is room for improvement. As described
  in these responses, students are still divided
  into groups from different nationalities and
  interact too seldom with people from other
  groups. Also, some international students feel
  there is too much Bulgarian language spoken and
  feel isolated. Close to 14 of the respondents
  think that AUBG has achieved nothing in promoting
  diversity and cultural sensitivity. These
  students describe different issues for the
  university regarding the matter, the strongest
  again being the division of the student body into
  different "closed groups" or communities.

37
To what extent has AUBG achieved a culturally
sensitive community?(continued)

• Examples
• AUBG is culturally sensitive in some areas, like
  ethnicities, religions, but not in others.
  However, AUBG does practically nothing to make
  LGBQ (gay) students feel comfortable and want to
  come out. Aside of diversity training, the issue
  is never mentioned, there are no periodical
  subscriptions in the library, and the Balkan
  attitudes of students regarding the subject are
  allowed to prevail. That is why I have known of
  maybe 2-3 gay students, which is not normal for a
  student body of over 1000.
• AUBG still has to work on achieving a culturally
  sensitive community. The different ethnic groups
  often keep separate from the community and
  interact more with its members rather than other
  ethnic groups. The Bulgarian majority is often
  intimidating for the international students.
  There is often a feeling of being an outsider.
  Even with grants and scholarships, the great
  majority offered are for Bulgarian students
  specifically, which is a bit discriminating.
• AUBG succeeded to attract students with diverse
  cultural backgrounds. In this sense, it had to
  ensure a healthy interaction among its students.
  AUBG managed to create an inclusive culture
  through its diversity training, promoting working
  in teams, offering opportunities for socializing
  etc. These efforts ensured the creation of a
  healthy community where there is no place for
  prejudices or disrespect.
• Bravo, AUBG taught me that it is the person that
  matters and not the nationality. I can say that I
  am a citizen of the world. I would never ever
  think of fighting for a national cause, only
  human cause.
• I can gladly say that AUBG has achieved this to a
  great extent, because it is an amazing community
  where many different cultures are brought
  together, which really fulfills the purpose.
• It's location in the first place. AUBG mostly
  targets students from the Balkan, who had to face
  prejudice and discrimination up to an extent many
  times. Having in mind, that at AUBG, such
  problems do not manifest themselves to that
  extent, I think AUBG achieved to make a
  culturally sensitive community.
• To the extent that when I saw one day whom I was
  having dinner with, I noticed a Serbian, a
  Moldovan, a German, another Bulgarian, and an
  Albanian. And it was fun. HOWEVER, not everyone
  at AUBG would do that. There is still a lot to be
  done. A huge problem is that nationalities still
  stick together too much.
• There's a lot to be done, especially on behalf of
  Bulgarian students, faculty and staff, as most of
  the time they neglect the fact, that they are not
  just at home, in Bulgaria, but are a part of an
  INTERNATIONAL university, where there are many
  non-Bulgarians.

38
PART 7

• PREPARATION FOR CAREER

39
What attributes are important for career success?
40
Which of the following AUBG activities will help
you most in your career?
41
To what extent do you feel prepared for work when
you graduate?
42
What changes should AUBG make in order to improve
the career preparation of the students?

• Many of the graduates feel that their education
  at AUBG lacked practice and give several types of
  suggestions to solve this problem - mandatory
  internships in each major, more practice oriented
  courses, guest lecturers from companies, more
  class projects and case studies etc. Another
  significant number of graduates are not satisfied
  with the "lack of variety in the courses offered
  in their majors" on the benefit of "too many Gen
  Ed courses." Hiring of more and practice
  oriented faculty is another suggestion that
  appears often in the responses. As seen in the
  second question of this section, students need
  more interaction with the Career Center and many
  of the respondents have given their suggestions
  here - better presence and interaction of the
  center with the students starting in their
  freshman year, bigger variety of companies at the
  Job Fair, more frequent Job Fairs, more job
  opportunities at the Job Fair for graduates with
  other than BUS and JMC majors, etc.

43
What changes should AUBG make in order to improve
the career preparation of the students?
(continued)

• Examples
• Students should start learning about career
  options from Freshman year on. There should be a
  whole campaign targeted toward freshmen/sophomores
  /juniors.
• AUBG should do more in clarifying the career
  prospects of each major.
• AUBG should organize courses so that they are
  more practically oriented.
• Every major should have a required internship.
• Facilitate job placement and internship placement
  for international students as well. The majority
  of companies invited at job fairs and career
  events are interested to hire locals for
  Bulgaria. Internationals are left out on their
  own.
• Force courses to be more career-wise and be aware
  with modern trends and career opportunities
• Give students a better understanding from the
  beginning. From orientation week and keep
  reminding them of why they're learning. maybe
  even start before student come to AUBG, so they
  can have a better preparation of their own.
• Improve the job fair event, so that it is not
  only booths with employers, but also
  presentations, more employers interested not only
  in Bulgarian students.
• Invite alumni students to share their individual
  and work experience after graduation.
• Pay more attention to and concentrate on the
  practical exercises in class in order to prepare
  students for real life after AUBG and not only
  for theoretical issues.
• The relationship between the professor and the
  student should be closer when it comes to career.
  The students should feel comfortable to go to
  their professors for advice regarding their
  future career.
• Update students constantly and help them choose
  their majors in the first place. Also ask
  professors to discuss such topics with their
  students while in class, or outside of class.

44
FINAL QUESTION
45
Taken altogether, what is the main competitive
advantage of AUBG?

• Multicultural environment and diversity 30.7
• Quality of the education, faculty, students 36.1
• Style of education 28.9
• Other 4.2
• Note Students who left this question without an
  answer are not included. Some students gave more
  than one answer.

46
Taken altogether, what is the main competitive
advantage of AUBG?(continued)

• Examples
• A diverse student body, rich in ambitious and
  intellectually curios students and also a very
  active extracurricular life.
• AUBG gives the opportunity to develop knowledge
  in more than just one field. Having the option to
  do a double major is a great advantage.
• AUBG is a multicultural institution, which
  promotes honesty and creates the necessary
  environment for personal development of its
  students.
• International students, liberal education (you
  can choose what to study), it's all about choice
  (life is about choice), student has the
  responsibility of all his actions, world class
  professors.
• It definitely opens up your mind and way of
  thinking. You don't just learn new material you
  create a framework of analyzing and doing things
  that goes beyond mere content.
• Liberal arts education that provides students
  with transferable skills and encourages active
  citizenship.
• Multicultural environment Diversity of courses
  (liberal arts curriculum) Visibility in the
  region -- attracts prominent guest speakers Great
  opportunities to network/opportunities for
  personal development Lively out-of-class
  environment Nice geographic location (not too far
  from other countries and other parts of Bulgaria)
• The community spirit and the motivation to
  advance and strive to achieve excellence
• The main advantage of AUBG is that it makes you
  become an open-minded and "out-of-the-box"
  person, to use a cliché. I believe that what is
  important for the success of a person is not the
  ability to do something well, but the confidence
  that he can do anything he sets his mind on. This
  attitude comes naturally at AUBG.

47
Taken altogether, what is the main competitive
advantage of AUBG?(continued)

• Examples
• The Credibility that this university has among
  the people in the region. Good Faculty, multi-
  ethnic community, wide network of activities that
  happen in order to promote its graduates as
  people ready to take responsibility in the work
  force
• Unique for the region education and experience
• The career realization of AUBG alumni is its best
  advantage
• AUBG is a multicultural institution, which
  promotes honesty and creates the necessary
  environment for personal development of its
  students.
• Great education in a friendly and at the same
  time competitive environment great lecturers, a
  wide variety of extracurricular activities,
  demanding curriculum, multicultural environment
  having the opportunity to interact with a great
  number of professors not necessarily in one's
  field of study.
• Its campus orientation and vibrancy of
  extra-curricular activities, together with the
  U.S. diploma and the good reputation. The alumni
  network!!
• Its culture sits in between eastern and western,
  especially American. AUBG provides American style
  education, with a more relaxed, European
  atmosphere.
• The fact that it provides a unique set of
  resources, be it people, clubs, classes, all at
  the same place, all helping an individual find
  his way.