The Record sent its biannual approval ratings survey to 500 randomly selected students last week. Respondents were asked to indicate their approval, disapproval, or neutrality towards 27 campus entities, including Housing, Dining Services, the faculty, and the Record.

College faculty received the highest overall approval, while the Housing Office saw the lowest rating. The Office of Institutional Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (OIDEI) and the Davis Center both saw a 10 percent decrease in approval. The survey also found that the number of students that believe the College has provided sufficient support for students of color decreased from the fall, and more than half of respondents indicated that Facilitators for Allocating Student Taxes (FAST) is not run fairly.

The survey received 122 responses, a response rate of approximately 24 percent. First-years and sophomores made up 62 percent of respondents, while upperclass students constituted the remaining 38 percent. Off-cycle students were asked to round their class year down.

Seventy-three percent of respondents self-identified as white, 20 percent as Asian or Asian American, 12 percent as Hispanic or Latino/a/x, and 9 percent as African American or Black. Five percent of respondents did not self-identify. Students were allowed to self-report their identification with multiple racial categories.

Forty-nine percent of respondents self-identified as female, 46 percent as male, 3 percent as non-binary, and 2 percent preferred not to state their gender. Fifty-seven percent of respondents indicated that they receive financial aid from the College, while 11 percent self-identified as international students.

The faculty had the highest approval rating, with 91 percent of respondents expressing approval, up two points from the fall. The faculty has sustained a high approval rating over the last decade.

Students expressed the least approval for the Housing Office, with 60 percent of respondents saying they disapproved or strongly disapproved of the entity, an increase of 42 percentage points in disapproval since the fall.

Thirty-seven percent of respondents indicated that the College did not provide sufficient support for minority students, up 14 percentage points from the fall. Twenty-one percent of respondents supported the opposite view — that the College did provide adequate support — a decrease of two points from the fall. The remaining 42 percent indicated neutrality on the issue. The survey was sent out after the College reported its fifth racial bias incident of the academic year in April. Also in April, an Orthodox Jewish student filed a religious discrimination complaint alleging that the College failed to provide adequate housing and meals that aligned with his religious practices.

OIDEI received 30 percent approval, down 10 percentage points from the fall. In late April, Vice President for Institutional DEI Leticia S.E. Haynes ’99 and Assistant Vice President for Campus Engagement and Director of the Davis Center Bilal Ansari announced they would be leaving the College in June and May, respectively. 

The Davis Center, a space that supports student engagement with affinity spaces and identity, received a 43 percent approval rating, a decrease of 10 percentage points from the fall.

The survey also asked students about their reactions to the recent Theme, Affinity, Program, and Special Interest (TAPSI) and affinity housing changes, which the Minority Coalition publicly opposed in March. Fifty-four percent of respondents expressed concern about the TAPSI program’s administration for next year, while 25 percent indicated no concern, and 21 percent expressed neutrality.

The College, like many other higher education institutions, has grappled with artificial intelligence use among students. An October 2025 Record survey showed that 77 percent of students use AI. In the approval ratings form, 67 percent of respondents expressed concern about how frequently students use AI to complete coursework, a 12 percentage-point increase from the fall semester. Twenty-one percent of respondents indicated no concern and the remaining 12 percent indicated neutrality.

The survey also asked students to express their views on FAST. In an April Record op-ed, FAST leaders urged students to sign a petition supporting various changes to the organization’s constitution aimed at increasing efficiency and transparency. In the op-ed, FAST leaders acknowledged FAST’s consistently low ranking in the approval survey. In this semester’s survey, 53 percent of respondents said they believe FAST is not run fairly and transparently, while 11 percent indicated they believe FAST is run fairly and 37 percent maintained neutrality. Overall, FAST received an 18 percent approval rating, down eight percentage points from the fall.