NIST SURF "Fellow" Feedback Survey

SURF Gaithersburg "Fellow" Feedback
Introduction

OMB Control #0693-0033
Expiration Date: 07/31/2022

Hello! Every year we collect feedback from the students to see how the summer
went, to learn what went right and what went wrong, and to gather suggestions on
what we can do better next summer. Questions with an asterisk (*) are mandatory.
Click "Next" to get started with the survey. If you'd like to leave the survey at any
time, just click "Exit this survey". Your answers will be saved.

Privacy Act Statement
Authority: 15 U.S.C. § 278g-1(a)

Purpose: The National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) hosts the
Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) which provides an opportunity
for the NIST laboratories to encourage outstanding undergraduate students to
pursue careers in science and technology. This information collection will serve as
the application and submission process for the SURF program.

Routine Uses: NIST will use the information collected to perform the requisite
reviews of the applications to determine eligibility, and to meet programmatic
requirements. Disclosure of this information is also subject to all the published
routine uses as identified in the Privacy Act System of Records Notices: NIST-1:
NIST Associates.

Disclosure: Furnishing this information is voluntary. When you submit the form, you
are indicating your voluntary consent for NIST to use of the information you submit
for the purpose stated.

 SURF Gaithersburg "Fellow" Feedback

 SURF Gaithersburg "Fellow" Feedback
NIST Lab

Please let us know which Lab you are in.
* 1. What Lab are you in?
CTL
EL
ITL
MML
NCNR
PML
SCO
TPO
Other

2. Which NIST campus sponsored your appointment?
Boulder, CO
Gaithersburg, MD

3. Which format do you prefer for your research experience?
In-person at the NIST campus
Remote
Hybrid (mixture of in-person and remote)

 SURF Gaithersburg "Fellow" Feedback
Overall Program Questions

Please provide us with some information on the general program.
* 4. What will your class standing be as of this coming September?
Sophmore
Junior
Senior
1st year graduate student
Other (please specify)

* 5. How would you rate the program on a scale of 1 to 5, where 5 is “excellent” and 1 is
“poor”?
1 (poor)
2
3
4
5 (excellent)

6. What did you like best about the program?

7. What did you like least about the program?

* 8. Do you plan to apply next year
Yes
Maybe
Not eligible to return, graduating
No. Why Not?

* 9. Would you recommend the program to your classmates?
Yes
No. Why?

* 10. Do you plan to pursue a graduate degree in:
Science or Technical Work
Teaching
Not sure
No, or other non-science field. Why not, or which field?

* 11. Please tell us how strongly you agree to the following statements:

Strongly Agree
My experience in the
SURF program was
valuable to my
education and
development.
The SURF program
has influenced my
career direction
The SURF Program
influenced my
decision to pursue a
graduate degree?
I have decided NOT
to pursue a career in
research.

Agree

No Opinion

Disagree

Strongly
Disagree

 SURF Gaithersburg "Fellow" Feedback
Research Project

Now we'd like to know more about your research project
* 12. Please choose a statement that most closely reflects your agreement to the statement.
My project was:

Strongly Agree

Agree

Challenging.
Well-defined when I
arrived or soon after.
A good match for my
skill set.
Interesting.
Allowed me to learn
things in areas I did
not know before.
Important.
Structured so that I
spent most of my
time doing research.

13. What did you like best about your project?

14. What did you like least about your project?

No Opinion

Disagree

Strongly
Disagree

 SURF Gaithersburg "Fellow" Feedback
Advisor

We'd like to hear about your advisor.
* 15. Please rank the quality of your working relationship with your advisor on a scale of 1 to
5, where 5 is “excellent” and 1 is “poor.”
1 (poor)
2
3
4
5 (excellent)

* 16. My Advisor:

Strongly Agree

Agree

No Opinion

Disagree

Strongly
Disagree

Provided me with a
sufficient level of
supervision
Allowed me
sufficient freedom in
my research project
Gave me a sufficient
level of assistance in
preparing my
presentation
Included me in
group meetings and
seminars

* 17. Did you request your research advisor’s assistance in your preparation for your final
session presentation?
Yes
No

18. What advice would you give to your advisor to prepare him/her for his/her next SURF
student?

19. What did you like best about your advisor?

20. What did you like least about your advisor?

 SURF Gaithersburg "Fellow" Feedback
SURF Staff

21. Was the SURF staff accessible and available to address issues that you encounter during
the summer?
5 (most accessible)
4
3
2
1 (least accessible)

22. Did the SURF staff communicate with you and provide you with information specific to
your program?
5 (most communicative)
4
3
2
1 (least communicative)

 SURF Gaithersburg "Fellow" Feedback
Social Interactions

Tell us what life was like outside of your project
* 23. The number of opportunities for interaction with SURFers in other labs (as an entire
group) were
Sufficient
Insufficient
Not an issue for me

24. Suggestions

 SURF Gaithersburg "Fellow" Feedback
Administrative

25. Did you encounter any significant administrative problems (badging, computer issues
etc.)?
Yes
No

26. Please comment on any significant administrative problems that might have occurred
over the summer (e.g., problems with payment, badging/security, etc)

 SURF Gaithersburg "Fellow" Feedback
Seminars and Lab Tours

Seminars and lab tours are an important component in the SURF program and an
opportunity for you to learn more about research outside of your laboratory.
* 27. In general, the technical seminars in the Green Auditorium were useful or informative
Strongly Agree
Agree
No Opinion
Disagree
Strongly Disagree

* 28. How many of the seminars did you attend?
1-2
3-4
5-6
7-8

29. Suggestions for next year’s technical seminars (speakers)

30. Please provide suggestions for future professional development seminars.

31. Please provide suggestions for future lab tours at NIST.

 SURF Gaithersburg "Fellow" Feedback
Congressional Affairs Tour

32. Did you attend the Congressional Affairs tour downtown?
yes
no

33. Please provide comments about the Capitol Hill Tour.

 SURF Gaithersburg "Fellow" Feedback
Advertising the SURF Program

How did you hear about the SURF program? Are there better ways for us to advertise
the program to new students?
* 34. How did you hear about the program (check all that apply)?
My undergraduate advisor or other college professor
Career Fair
NIST Employee
A family member
Email sent by one of my school departments
Saw a sign at school
A friend passed on the information
A friend or someone at my school participated in a previous SURF program
I saw the SURF brochure
Surfing the web, I found the SURF webpage
Via NSF website
I viewed the SURF video
Saw one of the magazine advertisements
Other (please specify)

35. How can we better advertise the program at your school?

 SURF Gaithersburg "Fellow" Feedback
Applying to the SURF Program

* 36. Applying to the SURF program was straightforward
Strongly Agree
Agree
Neutral
Disagree
Strongly Disagree

37. The general SURF webpage contained enough information to help me apply to the
program
Agree
Neutral
Disagree
No Opinion

38. Please give comments for improvements to the SURF website which could be helpful for
applying to the program.

* 39. The NIST Lab SURF webpages contained enough information for me to appropriately
rank them in my application
Strongly Agree
Agree
Neutral
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
I did not visit the Lab SURF webpages

* 40. How did the SURF program application deadline compare with other research
programs/internships you applied to?
SURF deadline was more than two weeks earlier
SURF deadline was close (+/- 1 weeks) to that of other programs
SURF deadline was within 2 weeks) to that of other programs
SURF deadline was more than two weeks later
Not applicable

* 41. The amount of information that I received before coming to NIST was:
Too much
Just right
Not enough

42. If you answer "not enough", what other information would you have liked to receive?

* 43. How did the availability of the housing and transportation subsidy influence your
decision to participate in the SURF program?
It was critically important (first or second most important factor)
It was important (one of the top five most important factors)
It was of marginal importance or was unimportant

44. Suggestions

 SURF Gaithersburg "Fellow" Feedback
Orientation

45. What problems, if any, did you have in getting to orientation on the first day?

* 46. In total, the first day's orientation program was:
Too long
Too short
Just the right length

47. Please list any areas of improvement for orientation.

 SURF Gaithersburg "Fellow" Feedback
Housing

Tell us about life at the Holiday Inn, Homewood Suites, or Zeus Living.
* 48. Did you live at Holiday Inn, Homewood Suites, or Zeus Living this summer?
Holiday Inn
Homewood Suites
Zeus Living
I received the housing subsidy and located lodging on my own.
N/A

 SURF Gaithersburg "Fellow" Feedback
Housing (cont.)

* 49. On a scale of 1 to 5, where 5 is “excellent” and 1 is “poor” please rank

1 (poor)

2

3

4

5 (excellent)

Housing
accommodations
Helpfulness of the
front desk staff
Quality of the NIST
transportation
service
to/from Holiday Inn
or Homewood Suites
Response to
maintenance
concerns

50. What did you like best about Holiday Inn?

51. What did you like least about Holiday Inn?

52. The NIST bus transportation schedule was
too early (I would prefer to arrive and leave 30 min. later)
just right
too late (I would pefer to arrive and leave 30 min. earlier)
I did not use the NIST bus

53. Not including orientation, how often did you use the bus from Holiday Inn or Homewood
Suites?
Daily
Once or Twice a Week
Rarely
Never

54. If you answered "never" or "rarely" to the bus use, why not?
Had my own car and liked the convenience
Rode with a friend
It didn't match with the time that I needed to be at work
I rode a bike to work
Other (please specify)

 SURF Gaithersburg "Fellow" Feedback
Returning Students

We want your wisdom...
* 55. Is this your first time in the program?
Yes

No

 SURF Gaithersburg "Fellow" Feedback
Returning Students (cont)

56. Based on your experience from two (or more) summers, do you have any advice to give to
the SURF Staff?

 SURF Gaithersburg "Fellow" Feedback
General Comments

57. Please add any other comments that you think may be helpful to the SURF Program.

58. What is your name? - Not required, however it may be helpful.
Name:

 SURF Gaithersburg "Fellow" Feedback
Thank you for your valuable input to the SURF Program. We hope that you will stay
in contact.

A Federal agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to
respond to, nor shall a person be subject to a penalty for failure to comply with an
information collection subject to the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act
of 1995 unless the information collection has a currently valid OMB Control
Number. The approved OMB Control Number for this information collection is
0693-0033. Without this approval, we could not conduct this survey/information
collection. Public reporting for this information collection is estimated to be
approximately 40 minutes/hours per response, including the time for reviewing
instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data
needed, and completing and reviewing the information collection. All responses to
this information collection are voluntary to obtain benefits. Send comments
regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this information collection,
including suggestions for reducing this burden, to the National Institute of
Standards and Technology, Attn: Dr. Brandi Toliver.

OMB Control #0693-0033
Expiration Date: 07/31/2022