Responses to Frequently Asked Questions about the 1999 SNAPS Questionnaire

Item 2. The class section code refers to the three digit code campus coordinators create for sections that were selected to be in their sampling frame. For assistance contact Dr. Lawrence A. Jordan at <ljordan@calstatela.edu>.

Item 3. The code for major should be 5-digit HEGIS code that corresponds to the HEGIS codes found in COSAR table 3. Each campus should create their campus-specific list of majors for students to use as a reference. Dr. Lawrence A. Jordan has created campus-specific list of majors at the following web site: http://as.calstatela.edu/as/co/cosar.htm or for an Excel download go to http://as.calstatela.edu/as/co/cosar003.xls.You may wish to alter your list by substituting campus-specific titles for the generic titles listed on the web.

Item 4. Students must select one of the options for degree objective. The response "no degree objective" is appropriate for students pursuing a credential or certificate. It is also appropriate for a student enrolled in classes, but is neither pursuing a degree, credential or certificate.

Item 5. If the students are undergraduates, the term and year they mark should reflect the matriculation date of their current CSU campus. The matriculation date should not refer to any previous enrollment at another CSU campus. If students are postbaccalaureate or graduate students with undergraduate experience at the CSU, the term and year they mark should reflect their first matriculation date as postbaccalaureate or graduate students.

Item 20. Re-entry students are individuals who entered college well after their high school graduation, or had a big gap between their first college attendance and their current enrollment. The response here should be a self-identification by the students regarding their re-entry status.

Item 29. Item 29 reflects the ethnic codes that appear on the CSU application. We would like the students to mark the same category they marked on their application. The distribution of ethnic responses on SNAPS will be compared with the ethnic responses on ERSS to evaluate how representative the 1999 SNAPS sample is regarding ethnicity. We recognize that other ethnic schemes might receive a better reception from students, but only the application scheme can give us feedback on the sample’s worthiness.

Item 30. How the FEDS will tap multi-ethnic status on surveys after the year 2000 is still undecided. The request for multi-ethnic status here is an attempt to gauge how many future students might choose multiple ethnic categories, if offered the opportunity. The responses can also help us understand the extent to which multi-ethnic promotes greater usage of the "No response" or "Decline to state" options on the current CSU application. If campuses want more ethnic information, they are encouraged to add unique items about ethnicity.

Item 39. The response here about day/night student status is meant to be a self-identification. If, however, a campus has strict demarcations about what constitutes a day or night class, the campus should alter the proctor statement to convey the campus-specific definitions.