Nearly 90 percent of ACU students see dancing as an “optional, but appropriate activity for students,” according to a Students’ Association survey in which more than 1,000 students participated last month.

The survey found most students would like to see dancing as an option at campus events and dance classes as an exercise science option, said SA Vice President Jared Elk, senior political science major from Savoy.

Elk said the survey also reflected a strong opinion on issues related to advertising on campus. Only 44 percent of students agree or strongly agree that the university has enough advertising opportunities for students, and 61 percent said they never look at the advertising kiosk near the Campus Center.

Elk said many of the personal comments pertaining to advertising suggested allowing students to use sidewalk chalk to advertise campus events. Only 14 percent of students said they knew how to post information in the kiosk.

The survey also asked questions about class attendance. Just 36 percent of those surveyed believe it is fair to lower a student’s grade based on attendance. More than 80 percent of students agree or strongly agree that learning is the individual student’s responsibility, in that respect.

The 52-question Zoomerang survey asked questions about 10 topic areas, including personal spiritual evaluations and a performance assessment of SA.

While Elk said he had hoped to have 700 students take the survey, the 1,026 participants came as a surprise.

“It was a definite success,” said Elk, senior political science major from Savoy. “The response was way better than I could have expected.”

Elk said the questions pertaining to students’ spiritual life and relationship with God were included at the request of Student Life. More than 90 percent of those surveyed said they strongly agreed or agreed that they were a person who sought God. Less than two percent said they agreed or strongly disagreed.

“It was about what I expected,” Elk said. “I didn’t expect many people to strongly disagree, so I wasn’t surprised with the response.”

Students also had an opportunity to evaluate SA’s performance. Forty-five percent of students said they agreed or strongly agreed with the statement that SA is “valuable in advocating for students.” Forty percent said they were neutral in regard to the statement.

Nearly 50 percent said they were familiar with SA’s purpose, but only 25 percent reported being aware of who their SA representatives are. Only 23 percent said they agree or strongly agree that they are aware of recent SA activity on campus.

“We do a lot of things that affect students,” Elk said. “We need to do a better job of letting students know who we are and what we do.

SA Chief Development Officer Connor Best said SA now will move forward to address concerns expressed by the students.

“We’ll look to address the needs of students,” Best said. “We now have a frame of reference for things students care about

The results of the survey are available online at www.acustudents.com.