Contact: Maridith Geuder
STARKVILLE, Miss.--In what is believed to be the first of its kind, a survey of Mississippi State's more than 16,000 students will seek to determine the issues they're dealing with in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
The forthcoming Web-based assessment by psychologists and sociologists at the university's nationally recognized Social Science Research Center is designed to provide objective data for determining the students' short- and long-term needs.
The 127-year-old land-grant institution has more than 1,200 students from Gulf Coast areas affected by Katrina, but researchers said the overall impact of the Category 4 storm may be more far-reaching.
"This project will quantify the kinds of experiences and issues students have faced," said survey coordinator Virginia Fee. "We believe the results will be helpful to the university in planning for student needs resulting from catastrophic disasters such as this one."
The associate professor of psychology said all research protocols have been approved by appropriate university officials. Survey forms will be distributed via the students' official e-mail addresses, she added.
"It's our hypothesis that many students have been affected, even if they weren't directly in the impacted area," Fee explained. "They may have friends or relatives in the area, or they may have been evacuated because of anticipated danger."
The survey will gather data on a range of subjects, including disaster-related telecommunications problems, financial issues, academic difficulties, family problems, and mental health needs.
"This study is unique in that it will follow the students to understand the long-term effects," said Elisabeth Wells-Parker, an SSRC research fellow who also serves as the unit's associate director for behavioral and organizational research.
"Even those students not directly affected are encouraged to participate in the survey, since their responses can help provide a basis for comparison," Wells-Parker said.
The survey was prompted, in part, by the SSRC's association with five visiting scholars from educational institutions in New Orleans.
"The center is providing office space for several faculty members from the University of New Orleans and Xavier University, both of which are temporarily closed because of hurricane-related damage," she said. "It is our hope that the MSU survey can become a prototype for institutions such as theirs, as well as affected institutions in Mississippi."
By following students over time and by identifying services that are most helpful to them after a major disruption, MSU research team members said they believe the project will have a long-term benefit.
"We think this survey can be a model to help universities be prepared for and respond to unexpected disasters," Fee said.
David McMillen, Duane Gill, Patricia Dill, and John Edwards are other SSRC research scientists participating in the survey.
For more information on the survey, contact Fee at (662) 325-3782 or vef2@ra.msstate.edu; Wells-Parker at 325-7959 or bwparker@ssrc.msstate.edu.