In May 2008, the residents of the Mercator College again participated in the college’s quality control survey. The data were collected over the span of two days – the questionnaires were distributed in the College’s canteen during the lunch and dinner times. In the end, 104 out of 189 students returned the fully completed questionnaires, which respectively represents 55 percent out of the total population.

The design and the structure of the questionnaire remained similar to the one which was administered in the College in 2005. The nature of the survey was exploratory and contained the elements of both quantitative and qualitative survey, whereby the respondents were asked various questions regarding their feelings of safety and satisfaction with the College’s facilities, services, and college life.

The majority of the students who took part in the survey were freshmen (43,3%). Then, followed the second-year (32,7%) and third-year students (24%). As regards gender, males constituted 56,7 percent of the sample as compared to the 43,3% of females. Similarly to the 2005 survey, Bulgarians, Germans, and Romanians represented the most numerous groups in the College (21,2%, 19,2%, and 12,5% respectively). The rest of the sample was composed of students from Nepal (7,7%), other Western (7,7%) and East European (7.7%) countries, African countries (4,8%), Asia (3,8%), and Middle East (1,9%).

The survey showed that the Mercator residents were more or less satisfied with the College’s facilities. On the scale from 1 to 5, where 1 stood for “not at all like it,” 2 – “dislike it,” 3 – “neutral,” 4 – “like it,” and 5 – “like it very much,” for example, the average satisfaction score for the Mercator servery was 3,94; 3,52 for the Common Room; 3,50 for the Games Room; 2,52 for the TV Room; and 3,38 for the Laundry Rooms. Less satisfaction, however, was registered for the Quiet Study Area (3,18) and floor kitchen equipment (2,65). Nonetheless, 87 percent of the students specified that they “feel at home in Mercator.”

Among the main problems in the College, the students mentioned the dirty kitchens, misplaced Aramark cups, and the theft/break down of the College’s property. Then, in terms of importance followed the messy laundry rooms, noise, theft of personal belongings, people smoking in the place “where they are not supposed to,” dirty Common Room, and open doors/windows.

All in all, the students considered College to be a safe place to live (average score of 4,17 on the scale from 1 (“very unsafe”) to 5 (“very safe”). Also, the majority of the residents knew who to call in case of emergency (82%), remembered the emergency number (67%) and Porters’ number (78%), or were aware of the existence of the security team (62%). Furthermore, it was pleasing to know that 95 percent of the respondents knew the College Masters and the College Office Team. 92 percent knew the Resident Associates and 84 percent knew the College Office Manager.

As regards the friendliness of the team, on the scale from 1 (“unfriendly”) to 4 (“very friendly”) the College Masters were rated as the most friendly (3,68). Then, followed the Mercator College Office Manager (3,55), Mercator College Office Team (3,47), and the Resident Associates (3,09). The similar tendency was observed for the ratings of team’s interactive-ness.

Finally, students made several suggestions regarding the improvement of the servery, which included 1) having more decorations (pictures of art and students on the walls, and flowers); 2) opening windows more often; and 3) improving the table arrangement so that more people could fit at one table. Nicer detergent, better washing machines, more dryers, more clothes drying possibilities, and happier colors on the walls were specified as the suggestions for the improvement of the Laundry Rooms. The internet connectivity, lack of decorations, size and poor noise isolation were the suggestions for the improvement of the Quiet Study Area.

Compiled by Yevgenya Paturyan and Liudmila Tarabashkina