Graduate Student Use of Campus Green Spaces and the Impact On Their Perceptions of Quality of Life

Researchers have found that students’ perception of their overall academic experience and the campus environment is related to academic accomplishment, and that the designed environment of the university can influence the degree of stress students may feel.  Past research found that undergraduate student use of campus green spaces and perceptions of quality of life were related to each other.  The main objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between graduate student use of campus green spaces and their perceptions of quality of life at a university in Texas.  A total of 347 out of 3,279 (approximately 10%) of the graduate student body received e-mails with information regarding the incentive for participation and instructions on accessing an on-line survey.  The survey included questions that related to student use of campus green spaces, overall quality of life statements, an instrument to measure the quality of life of university students, and demographic questions.  A total of 79 (22.8% response rate) graduate student questionnaires were collected and analyzed to compare levels of quality of life of university students and the level of usage of campus green spaces.  Demographic information collected allowed controlling for student gender and ethnicity.  Frequency statistics determined that, unlike undergraduates who were primarily “high-users” of campus green spaces, graduate students experienced an approximately equal split between low, medium, and high-users of the campus green spaces.  However, graduate students still ranked their quality of life highly.  Finally, this study found that, unlike undergraduates, graduate students did not have a statistically significant relationship between green-user scores and perception of quality of life scores.  It may be that graduate students do not have time to spend in outdoor spaces, yet still meet their quality of life needs through other means such as their academic achievements.