Form 470 USDA Rural Development Questionnaire Rural Housing a

USDA Rural Development Rural Housing and Community Facilities Customer Satisfaction Questionnaire

USDA Rural Development

Rural Housing and Community Facilities Loan Program

Customer Satisfaction Survey 2011

Final Version

Introduction

Thank you in advance for taking the time to provide us with your feedback. USDA Rural Development’s mission is to increase economic opportunity and improve the quality of life for all rural Americans. Gathering your feedback helps to ensure that we are delivering on our mission to you and to all of Rural America. This survey asks about your experiences with the Rural Housing and Community Facilities Program.

This survey is being administered by CFI Group, an independent third-party research group. This brief survey asks about your satisfaction with our products and services as well as ways that we can improve our service to you. Your answers will remain anonymous and will be combined with those from other respondents for research and evaluation purposes only.

This survey should take approximately 10-15 minutes and is authorized by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget Control No. 1090-0007.

Application Process – Applicant Questions

Think about the application process for the Community Facilities Program; please use a scale from “1” to “10” where “1” means “poor” and “10” means “excellent” to rate the process on the following:

1. Ease of submitting application

2. Ease of gathering and submitting supporting paperwork such as the feasibility report, market analysis, project specs, etc.

3. Responsiveness/communication from the local/state office regarding the status of your application

Decision Process – Applicant Questions

Think about the decision process for the Community Facilities Program; please use a scale from “1” to “10” where “1” means “poor” and “10” means “excellent” to rate the process on the following:

4. Timeliness of decision/notification

5. Clarity of reason for decision

6. Was your application initially rejected?

1. Yes

2. No

(IF 6=1 YES ASK 7-8)

Please use a scale from “1” to “10” where “1” means “poor” and “10” means “excellent” to rate the process on the following:

7. Advice on how to strengthen your application

8. Ease of resubmitting your loan application

(IF 6=2 NO ASK 9-10)

Please use a scale from “1” to “10” where “1” means “poor” and “10” means “excellent” to rate the process on the following:

7. Clarity of information in loan package on next steps after being approved

8. Ease of filling out funding paperwork

Staff - Applicant Questions

7. Have you had contact with State and/or Local office staff in the past year?

1. Yes (CONTINUE TO 12)

2. No (SKIP TO INTRO BEFORE 17)

3. Don’t Know (SKIP TO INTRO BEFORE 17)

Thinking about the customer service that you received from the staff, please rate them on the following using a scale from “1” to “10” where “1” means “poor” and “10” means “excellent.” If a particular question does not apply please select N/A.

7. Courtesy and professionalism

8. Ability to answer your questions

9. Knowledge of loan program

10. Timeliness in responding to your question or request and providing follow up

11. Responsiveness in administering/servicing loan

Information/Communications – Applicant Questions

Thinking about the information that you received or accessed concerning the Community Facilities Program, please use a scale from “1” to “10” where “1” means “poor” and “10” means “excellent” to rate the information on the following. If a particular question does not apply please select N/A.

7. Ease of accessing information (including websites, publications, and etc.)

8. Clarity and ease of understanding information (including other languages)

9. Usefulness of information

Disbursement – Applicant Questions

Thinking about the disbursement process for your Community Facilities loan and/or grant please use a scale from “1” to “10” where “1” means “poor” and “10” means “excellent” to rate the following. If a particular question does not apply please select N/A.

7. Ease of filling out paperwork/reporting

8. Timeliness of disbursement of funds

Application Process – State/Local Office Questions

Think about the application process for Community Facilities Program; please use a scale from “1” to “10” where “1” means “poor” and “10” means “excellent” to rate the National Office on the following based on a complete application and State Office recommendations:

7. Support from National Office in providing loan guidance and/or eligibility determination

8. Communication from National Office regarding loan application status

Decision Process – State/Local Office Questions

Think about the decision process for the Community Facilities Program; please use a scale from “1” to “10” where “1” means “poor” and “10” means “excellent” to rate the National Office on the following based on a complete application and State Office recommendations:

7. Timeliness of decision/notification from national office

8. Clarity of reason for decision

National Staff – State/Local Office Questions

7. Have you had contact with the National Office staff in the past year?

1. Yes (CONTINUE TO 27)

2. No (SKIP TO 32)

3. Don’t Know (SKIP TO 32)

Thinking about the customer service that you received from the National Office staff, please rate them on the following using a scale from “1” to “10” where “1” means “poor” and “10” means “excellent.” If a particular question does not apply please select N/A.

7. Courtesy and professionalism

8. Ability to answer your questions

9. Timeliness in responding to your question or request and providing follow up

10. Timeliness of routine inquiries from National Office

11. Guidance on complex issues that may include research and/or senior level involvement

Information/Communications – State/Local Office Questions

Thinking about the information that you receive or access concerning the Community Facilities Program from the National Office, please use a scale from “1” to “10” where “1” means “poor” and “10” means “excellent” to rate the information on the following. If a particular question does not apply please select N/A.

7. Ease of accessing information (Sharepoint, GLS, AN’s, etc.)

8. Usefulness of information in administering/servicing the loan and/or grant

Disbursement of Funds – State/Local Questions

Thinking about the reimbursement process for the Rural Housing and Community Facilities Program please use a scale from “1” to “10” where “1” means “poor” and “10” means “excellent” to rate the following. If a particular question does not apply please select N/A.

7. Ease of managing paperwork/reporting

8. Support from National Office regarding funding issues

9. Support from OCFO (Finance Office) regarding funding issues

ACSI – State/Local Office and Applicant Questions

7. Overall, how satisfied are you with the Rural Housing and Community Facilities Program from USDA Rural Development? Please use a scale from 1 to 10, where 1 is very dissatisfied and 10 is very satisfied?

7. How well does the Rural Housing and Community Facilities Program from USDA Rural Development meet your expectations? Please use a scale from 1 to 10, where 1 means falls short of expectations and 10 means exceeds expectations.

7. How does the Rural Housing and Community Facilities Program from USDA Rural Development compare to the ideal program or organization that promotes economic opportunity and improvement of the quality of life for rural Americans? Please use a scale from 1 to 10, where 1 means not very close to the ideal and 10 means very close to the ideal.

Outcomes–Applicant Questions

7. Using a 10-point scale where “1” means “Not very likely” and “10” means “Very likely”, please rate the how likely are you to recommend the Rural Housing and Community Facilities Program from the USDA Rural Development to others, if you were asked?

7. Do you plan to apply to the Rural Housing and Community Facilities Program again in the future?

1. Yes (SKIP TO 43)

2. No (ASK 42)

3. Don’t Know (SKIP TO 43)

7. (IF NO) Why would you choose not to apply again in the future?

Open End State/Local Office and Applicant Questions

7. Please share any other comments that you have about the Rural Housing and Community Facilities Program.

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May 2011 First Draft