SURVEY SHOWS 90 PERCENT OF ODU GRADUATE STUDENTS INTEND TO COMPLETE DEGREES

A recent survey of Old Dominion University degree-seeking graduate students found that 90 percent of the respondents intend to complete their graduate degree at ODU, according to the Office of Graduate Studies.

Philip Langlais, vice provost for graduate studies and research, said that the two areas most frequently reported as needing attention were difficulty in obtaining courses (30 percent of respondents) and inadequate financial support (11 percent of respondents).

Smaller segments of the respondents said they would like to see improvements in mentoring/advising, health insurance and administrative support.

Slightly more than half of ODU's 3,800 degree-seeking graduate students completed the survey, and Langlais said attempts will be made in future surveys to sample the remaining students. "These experiences and suggestions are critically important to enhancing the quality and success of our graduate student training," he said.

Respondents in the recent survey were eligible to win an iPOD, and the winner was Brandi Colter, who is pursuing a master's degree in psychology.