Taking Surveys

I've just finished taking an online survey for our beloved Butler University.  Now don't get me wrong, I feel as if I'm getting a great education here, for the most part, and I am beyond grateful for the opportunity to even get an education, an opportunity that far too many are denied.  Also, to some extent, I do believe that an education is priceless.  (I get the feeling, however, that most of this unseemly money that my family is paying [I applied to Butler.  I was accepted to Butler.  I chose to go to Butler.  I agreed to pay these costs and I understand that.] is NOT going to my education at all.)

Anyway, after getting a second e-mail from someone about taking this survey I decided that, since I am sick in bed, I might as well take it.  I'm in a spot right now with Butler where for a while I just thought I would delete it, but hey, if they want to know what I'm thinking and are actually reaching out and asking me through an anonymous survey, then it would be silly for me to not let them know...no not silly, counterintuitive.  So I click the link to take the survey...wondering what I will be asked.

Mostly, the survey centered around my mental state, whether I drink, and if I drink, whether or not I do things that I either regret or do not remember due to the aforementioned drinking.  Other than the myriad of questions about whether or not I suffer from mental illness, it was pretty much the standard "hey how are you doing" survey.

Then I came upon a question that I'd not seen before.

"If you could do it all again, would you still come to Butler?"

Out of definitely yes, probably yes, definitely no, and probably no, I chose probably no.

Immediately after this question I was asked if I'd be enrolling next semester.  Out of the same options listed above, I chose probably yes.  (I believe that I am here at Butler for some greater reason than just acquiring an education, and so some unhappiness here, while it may not be negligible, may be worth it.)

Regardless, what I took away from these two questions was this:  If you could go back, knowing what you know now, would you still come to Butler?  Either way...are you coming back next year?


I'm glad that the powers that be are asking me if I'm pleased with how things are going, but I kind of felt like the question was a needle in a haystack...and that, when I could only select the appropriate bubble for my answer, I couldn't really express my feelings entirely.  I'd love to see a survey that contains more questions like this haystack dweller.  For example...

If you are unhappy with your experience at Butler, what are your reasons?
Do you feel you were given a false representation of what Butler really is all about?
Do you feel that you are paying to much to attend Butler?
Do you have issues about how Butler is using your money?
Do you have questions about how Butler is using your money?
Do you know how to get more information about how Butler is using your money?
Do you agree with Butler's housing policies i.e. Bobby Fong's push to make this a residential campus?

I have more ideas, but I'm going to head to class.  Anybody else have any ideas about questions?  I'm not looking for university bashing stuff here...I'm being entirely serious.  I wonder if there's a way that we could put together a collaborative survey that would really get to the heart of things.