SGA Student Life Survey Graphic | Graphic by Grace Merkle | The Wright State Guardian
The 2021-2022 Student Life Survey conducted by the Student Government Association results show that 76% of respondents are commuter students and that the university struggles with student involvement.
The results
Of the 335 total respondents to the Student Life Survey, 74% were undergraduate students. Furthermore, 76% of the students surveyed were commuters to WSU, with 51.5% of commuters having a commute over 20 minutes.
Student Government Association President Jonathan Ciero commented that the number was expected, but sympathizes with the growing difficulty for this portion of the student body concerning rising gas prices.
“With [a] longer commute time, I believe there comes a break-even point where the amount of time commuter students spend in the car and the amount of money spent on gas becomes equivalent to the cost of living on campus. Campus housing rates have become more affordable with the new ownership of Crawford Hoying,” Ciero said.
Student Organizations
The survey shows that only 30% of the student population surveyed showed interest in student organizations, a result unexpected to the members of SGA.
“Student organizations on campus have taken a fairly decent hit in interest across the board,” Ben Osborn, SGA Director of Student Organizations, said. “WSU is known as a commuter school and those students may not have a stake in the university and its student organizations outside of their courses. I see a lot of students, both commuters and residential, have the mindset that I had when I first came here: get in, work hard, and get out.”
32% of respondents who participated in student organizations left, citing not enough time as their reason for leaving.
Demographics
The results from the survey reflect the work WSU has put in to help diversity, acceptance and community flourish. Twenty-six percent of the survey respondents identified as “not white” and 69% of respondents feel represented on campus.
Ninety-three percent of students view WSU as a diverse school and 86% of respondents agree that WSU places race as a central focus.
