College undergraduates lack basic academic skills and do not work hard enough at their studies, according to a survey of 5,000 college faculty members.

More than two-thirds of the faculty surveyed in the Carnegie Foundation poll said colleges spend too much time and resources teaching students what they should have learned in high school.

Robert Suchner, NIU associate professor of sociology, said teaching students skills they should already know is unfortunate but often necessary. “We could do a lot more” in classes if students were more academically prepared, he said.

Three-fourths of those polled said undergraduates enrolled in their classes are seriously unprepared in basic skills. NIU technology instructor Daniel Wilson said his students often lack writing skills.

Fifty-five percent said students do just enough work to get by. Wilson said half of his students do not put forth as much effort as he would like. Suchner also said his students only do enough work to get by.

The majority of those polled said undergraduate education would be improved if it emphasized a broad liberal education. However, Wilson said both specialized training and broad liberal students are necessary to society.

Gordon Badovich, NIU assistant professor of marketing, said even specialized programs can contribute to a broad liberal arts education. Other survey results include:

* 67 percent said college standards have lowered. Wilson disagreed, however, saying NIU admissions standards are good. Suchner said college standards seem low only when compared to elite colleges such as Yale and Harvard.

* More than 50 percent favor stricter admission standards. Suchner said admission standards should not exceed the level of academic challenge at a college. Badovich said admissions and academic standards should be stricter at colleges.

The survey found education teachers generally more sympathetic toward students’ shortcomings. Their responses differed sharply from science, engineering, humanities and mathematics teachers on questions about student preparation.

* 40 percent of education teachers said students enrolling in college are ill-suited to academic life, compared with 72 percent of mathematics teachers.

* 68 percent said colleges spend too time much making up for what students did not learn in high school. Only about half of the education professors polled agreed with this statement.