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Laurel House Exit Survey Results

Editor's Note: Laurel House distributes exit surveys to members just before they check out of the co-op. The results below were selected from over 70 surveys during the past three years. The comments are unedited except for corrections to grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc. In places, phrases have placed in square brackets to help clarify the comments. We have tried to give a representative sample of the comments given on the surveys, both positive and negative. We hope that by reading these comments you will get a better feel for the strengths and weaknesses of the co-op and will able to draw on the experiences of former members.  

The survey results were originally compiled by Ronald Kumon and typed and formatted in HTML by Ruby McAdoo and Ronald Kumon. Thanks to all the former residents who took the time to give us this valuable feedback!  

Why are you leaving Laurel House? 

• Finishing coursework at UT and moving on. 
• Moving out of Austin. 
• Graduating.
• Going home for the summer! 
• I have graduated and I have a job (in the real world and I don't mean that pompous MTV program). 
• I am graduating from UT-- and I believe CH ought to stick to its policy of providing housing only for students. 
• No longer a student. Have new job. 
• Moving to another state. 
• I have completed my stay in the U.S. so I have to leave. 
• Can't get accomodations at LH in fall  For new surroundings. 
• Summer study-abroad. 
• Cheaper rent elsewhere. 
• I'm moving in with my boyfriend to save money. 
• Moving to an apartment-- hated being tied down to a schedule.
• I found it difficult to live in one small room. 
• Labor interferes with my summer work schedule. 
• Desire to be "on my own" in the sense of being able to cook my own meals for my own friends in my own place. 
• Moving to another co-op (Opsis). 
• Moving to a place where I can control what I eat and when, where there are not constant impositions of others' weir beliefs. 
• Personal Reasons. 
• To go to my mountain hermitage. 

• Most certainly YES - I really had a great experience living here. 
• Yes. The rooms are nice, the food is good. The rent is reasonable and most importantly it is close to campus and there is a warm community of fellow students. 
• Yes. It's convenient for someone who doesn't like to cook for themselves. Everyone is friendly, courteous. 
• Yes. It's a great place to meet people and make new friends if you're new to Austin. 
• Absolutely. I could not have gotten a better experience while in Austin. Good social environment, wonderful people, and  fair, affordable rates. 
• In a heartbeat. I really enjoyed my time here and will miss the people that I met. 
• I would anytime. It offers an unparalled mature environment. The organization is excellent and so is the food. 
• Yes. it's a good place to meet people and form a sense of community outside of school. 
• Yes. It's just a great place with wonderful people in it. Convenient location. Good nutritional food.
• Yep. Everyone is laid back, it's well run, well maintained, there's a good sense of community, etc. 
• Yes. Depends on their situation. For students, yes. 
• Good for incoming students or students who can put up with others, both sane and neurotic. 
• I would recommend it to people who are grad students, who like quiet and private places to live and who are serious about their studies and about "cooperating." 
• Yes, but I would be sure to tell them of all its problems (electricity, lack of parking, spotty hot water). 
• Yes. It's a good place to learn interpersonal skills, although it's occasionally possible to lull yourself into thinking you have social skills just because there are a lot of other people around. 
• Yes. Good food. Nice folks (mostly). 
• I would recommend LH if someone feels they will be here for most of the meals. I wasn't around much and didn't take advantage of the save plate system. Parking was a real problem and future residents should be made aware of the limited parking. 

Summary of Responses 
 

Period	Fall/Spring 94/95	Summer 95	Fal/Spring 95/96
Number of surveys	20	13	20

House Facilities 
 

Room size	3.4	3.8	4.4
Room location	3.9	4.3	4.1
Kitchen	4.1	4.5	4.6
Walk-in Refrigerator	3.8	4.4	4.5
Commons	3.4	4.4	4.2
Murals in Commons	2.8	3.0	2.9
Study room	3.2	3.5	3.7
TV room	3.2	4.0	4.1
Computers	4.1	4.6	4.5
Laundry facilities	3.7	4.5	4.5

Membership 
 

New member orientation	3.8	4.3	4.3
LH owner's manual	3.8	4.3	4.3
LH guide to democracy	3.1	4.0	3.9

Membership Meetings 
 

Atmosphere	3.2	3.9	4.3
Lenght	3.0	3.4	3.7
Effectiveness	2.7	3.6	4.0
Importance	3.0	3.6	4.1
Organisation	3.6	4.1	4.3

Food 
 

Quality	3.7	4.3	4.3
Diversity-menu	3.4	3.8	4.0
Nutritional balance	3.1	4.0	4.1
Cooking	3.8	4.4	4.0
Responsiveness to suggestions	3.1	4.0	4.1

Labor 
 

Training	3.3	4.1	4.2
Scheduling process	3.7	4.7	4.2
Tasks Assigned	3.5	4.8	4.3
No show policy	3.1	4.6	3.7
Labor Holidays	3.1	4.3	4.1

House Maintenance 
 

Quality	3.8	4.2	4.2
Promptness	3.9	4.3	4.0

Education Programs  
 

Topics	3.3	3.6	3.6
Quality	3.5	3.7	3.6

Other 
 

Bulletin boards	3.7	4.1	4.3
General atmosphere	3.6	4.3	4.3
Sense of community	3.6	4.1	4.4
Social activities	3.2	3.8	4.0
College houses newsletter	3.1	3.5	4.3
Parking Situation	3.0	3.2	3.7
Pet Policy	3.1	3.9	3.5

 
 
(Editor's Note: By popular demand, the murals in the commons have since been removed.) 

What did you like best about living at Laurel House?  

• Closeness to campus, lots of facilities, some cool people. 
• The people. 
• Nice people-- low cost.
• Community with others, group meals, friendliness, accessibility to campus. 
• Very well organized overall. 
• Convenience of location. 
• I liked my room setup and I thought the size was great. 
• The freedom to do as I wanted (have privacy and still have people around at the same time.) The food was good.
• The people are real quiet (maybe too quiet at times). The great friends and co-opers! 
• I liked the people best. The house was fine but I wouldn't rave. People are what make the difference. 
• Cleaner than other co-ops. Labor system works well. 
• The food. The people. The leadership. 
• It runs well, very few hitches. Things get done. 
• Easy access to campus. Quality of food. 
• I liked cookie night. 
• Good people, mature, quiet. Diverse crowd. Good kitchen and snack food. Low rent, friendly. Big TV and cable. 
• Boogie [house cat]. 
• The "cooperative spirit" that manifested during my first couple of years here. Sense of community. 
• It was exciting and new.... Come aboard.... They're waiting for you. 
• Communal living combined with relative privacy, relative cleansliness. 
• I liked the quiet, cool, private place to live; close to UT campus; helpful grad students; punctual and varied meals; a good system to hold people accountable for labor; convenience (laundry, 24 hour walk-in [refrigerator], computers, newspapers). 
• Good food. Cheap. Cool way to meet people on arrival to Austin. 
• Living in the middle of a diverse community-- never short of topics of conversation. 
• Meeting the diverse and colorful occupants. The cameraderie of living together, eating together, etc., was good.
• Sense of community/friendships/opportunity for professional and personal growth (especially as an officer, but in general too). 

• The people. 
• Gossip. 
• Lack of privacy. 
• Parking situation. 
• Size of room. 
• The thin walls. 
• Nothing. 
• Eating with 45 people. It's hard for an introvert. 
• People around finals!!! 
• Being allowed to have cats and not dogs. A pet is a pet. Also there should be more social activities to bring all people together (in the beginning as well as the mid-semester). 
• At times, it seems inbred. 
• Not the work itself but the putting aside and scheduling other stuff around work. 
• Noise, very thin walls. Some of the food wasn't great. 
• People getting uptight about trivial matters on occasion. 
• The lack of soundproofing and the fact you could everything through the vents. 
• Cramped study room, too much gossip, no privacy. 
• Occasional feeling that I could not get away in spite of being "at home." 
• Uncooperative attitudes of some members (probably inevitable). 
• Interims [periods between sessions]. 
• Variations in the meals-- some were great, some were not edible. 
• The endless gossiping. 
• Dorm-sized rooms. 
• Some of the diverse people really grate on the nerves. 
• The lack of a non-TV-oriented-common-space. 
• Having no place to comfortably entertain a friend or two. 
• Running on someone else's schedule (labor). 

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