Student Computer Skills, Attitudes, and Ownership Survey

University at Buffalo School of Law
Office of Technology Support and Training, 408 O’Brian Hall

INFORMATION ABOUT YOU

1. Student Number: __ __ __ __ -- __ __ __ __ OR last four digits of SS#: __ __ __ __
2. Date of Birth (MM/YY): __ __ / __ __
3. Gender: ____ Male ____ Female
4. Enrollment Status: ____ Full-Time ____ Part-Time
5. Tuition Status: ____ In-State ____ Out-of-State
6. If you consider yourself a member of a minority group, please mark your affiliation below:
   ____ African-American/Black ____ Asian/Pacific Islander
   ____ Native American/Native Alaskan ____ Hispanic
   ____ Other
7. Please list any disability that might require special accommodations to use computer equipment in law school courses: _______________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________
8. Financial Aid (1996-97 school year):
   Check the box that corresponds to your financial aid level--Do not provide actual amounts.
   

   Total Amount	0	$1 - $999	$1,000 - $4,999	$5,000 - $9,999	$10,000 or more
   Scholarships, Grants & Tuition Waivers
   Loan Qualification

9. Prior Degrees (list all conferred):

   	Degree Type (BA, MS)	Major field of study
   Undergraduate
   Advanced

COMPUTER OWNERSHIP

1. I currently own or have access to at least one desktop computer at home. Make/Model or Processor: _____________________________________	T	F
2. I currently own or have access to at least one laptop computer. Make/Model or Processor: _____________________________________	T	F
3. I currently own or have access to a modem at home. Speed: _______________	T	F
4. I plan to purchase a computer or make upgrades of $400 or more to my existing computer within the next year.	T	F	Don’t Know
5. I prefer to work in the following environment (operating system): ___ DOS ___ Windows 3.x ___ Windows95 ___ Windows NT ___ AppleDOS/MacOS ___ OS/2 ___ Don’t Know

ATTITUDES TOWARDS COMPUTERS

Information: Mandatory computer purchase (or lease) may become a requirement for first year law students in the future. We are interested in how such a policy might have affected your decision to apply to UB Law, if we had such a policy when you applied. If UB Law had mandated that students purchase computers...

1. I might have reconsidered applying to UB Law because of the added financial burden.	1	2	3	4	5
2. I might have reconsidered applying to UB Law because my level of computer skills would put me at a competitive disadvantage.	1	2	3	4	5
3. I would have been further encouraged in applying to UB because computers are important in the legal profession.	1	2	3	4	5
4. I would have attended supplemental computer training classes held two weeks before the start of first year studies if such classes were offered free of charge.	1	2	3	4	5

SKILLS INVENTORY

STUDENT RESPONSES (Mark Answers Below)

Spreadsheets

___ No Spreadsheet Experience	Basic Grade lists Mailing lists Ledger sheet Graphs	Intermediate 3D sheets Logical statements Statistical/Mathematical functions (@ functions)	Advanced Macros/Task Automation Lookup tables OLE GIS extensions
MS-Excel
Lotus 1-2-3
MS-Works
Claris Works
Other (___________________)

Database

___ No Database Experience	Basic Create tables Sort data Single table Queries Create single-table Forms, Reports, or Graphs	Intermediate Multi-table Queries Multi-table Forms Multi-table Reports	Advanced Macros/Task automation Applications development OLE
MS-Access
MS-FoxPro
Borland dBASE (Windows)
Borland dBASE (DOS)
Borland Paradox (Windows)
Borland Paradox (DOS)
Other (___________________)

Presentations

___ No Presentations Experience	Basic Content guides Word slides	Intermediate Graphs & Charts Word Art Clip Art Slide transitions	Advanced Meeting notes Master templates Animation Video & Sound OLE
MS-PowerPoint
Claris Impact
Corel Presentations
Adobe Persuasion
Other (___________________)

Electronic Mail

___ No E-Mail Experience	Basic Send & receive messages	Intermediate Use multi-posting utilities (Bulletin Boards, User Lists) Send & receive attachments	Advanced Configure remote access systems (communication packages)
Pine/Elm
Eudora
MS-Mail/MS-Exchange
Lotus cc:Mail
Other (___________________)

Internet Use

___ No Internet Experience	Basic Access information View websites	Intermediate Download files Subscribe to news groups or listserves Use Search Engines (Alta Vista, Yahoo, Webcrawler, etc.)	Advanced Use FTP Use Telnet Configure remote access
Browser (Netscape, Mosaic, MS Explorer, Lynx)
Commercial Service (AOL, Compuserve, Prodigy)
Unix
Other (___________________)

Hypertext

___ No Hypertext Experience	Basic Create homepage with text and links only	Intermediate Customize color of background & text Add background & inline images Bulleted lists	Advanced Add tables or frames Use image mapping Create animated images JavaScripting
HTML editor (Netscape Gold, Homepage, HotDog)
HTML code
Other (___________________)

Infobase Authoring

___ No Infobase Authoring Experience	Basic Use prepared infobases Conduct queries	Intermediate Author leveled infobase	Advanced Inbed online searches Create program or multi-infobase links
FolioViews
Premise

On-line Databases

___ No On-Line Database Experience	Basic Perform basic search	Intermediate Segment/field searching Focus/Locating Downloading	Advanced Cite checks Document formatting
Lexis/Nexis
Westlaw
Other (___________________)