STUDENT'S SATISFACTION: BETWEEN THE TEACHER'S AND STUDENT'S POINT OF VIEW

Student's satisfaction comes in a much higher priority to universities than covering more materials in the scientific Programs. As such, student's satisfaction becomes increasingly important for universities to retain existing students and attract new talented ones. Many studies see Student's satisfaction as a consequence of the fulfillment of needs and expectations of a specific service and the perception of the quality of that service. But at the student's side, they build a mental image for each university according to the old graduates' experience. This mental image differs at the student satisfaction items from that of the teacher's point of view. The relationship between student's satisfaction and students' perception of the quality of education in KAU is a new field of study. However, few publications in the literature are there about the student's satisfaction in KAU - KSA. Various studies worldwide have indicated that there have been few negative feedbacks from some students about the educational environment, which should be improved. It is the purpose of this paper to contribute to the research on undergraduate student's satisfaction and its determinants in the urban and regional planning department, at the Faculty of Environmental Design in KAU. To achieve this goal the research methodology goes through three steps. First, is to shed light on the factors of student satisfaction in the literature. Second, is to explore the KAU- KSA students' point of view about the most important factors affecting their satisfaction. The third is to come up with a set of recommendations that will hopefully improve student's satisfaction in KAU - KSA. A field study is carried out to assess the student satisfaction in URP Department, Faculty of Environmental Design in KAU that is about 320 students strong. It examined some student's satisfaction factors, among them, are: Curriculum, Staff's role, and support, improving student's skills, learning environment, and college facilities. The study lasted for two years. The results showed that there is a room to improve on student satisfaction about the Educational environment in KAU.