Educational Outcomes Alumni Survey


"METHODS AND DESIGN"

Design

Instrument Design was based upon input from:
  1. General Education Assessment Team
  2. Alumni conversations/focus groups conducted by the Office of Undergraduate Education in Spring 1995
  3. Internal alumni surveys: departments, colleges, career development, alumni association
  4. Other university alumni surveys: Central Florida, Colorado, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, SUNY-Albany, Tenn-Knoxville, Western Carolina
  5. Commercial providers, consortia: ACT, Consortium on the Financing of Higher Ed, Higher Education Data Sharing consortium, National Center on Post secondary Teaching, Learning, and Assessment
  6. Circulation of the final draft--50 reviewers w/in PSU

Timing

  • Survey mailed in November 1995; follow-up postcard 2 weeks after initial mailing

    Population

  • 2- and 5- years out
  • Baccalaureate graduates, 1992-93 and 1989-90
  • Data source: Alumni Association

    Sample Size

  • 3,000 total (1,500 per year)
  • Anticipated 25%-30% response (based on similar surveys)

    Stratified Sample

  • 10 UP colleges, Behrend, Capital

    Response Rate

  • 32% (938/2,959 valid mailings)
  • 85% of respondents included open-ended comments

    Preliminary Analysis: Categorical Data Only

    85 percent of the respondents provided open-ended comments and suggestions. All those comments have been read, and a coding scheme has been developed for that information, and data have been entered. Analysis has not yet been completed. This document therefore summarizes the analysis of categorical data.

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