2003 Senior, Alumni and Manager/Supervisor Survey Report
Produced by College of Engineering
Committee on Outcomes Assessment for Undergraduate Engineering Programs
September 12, 2003
Background
This is the fifth year of use of a survey of exiting seniors, 2nd, 6th and 15th year alumni by the College of Engineering on behalf of its undergraduate engineering programs. This report is intended to be a college level summary of the surveys across all years with focus on the most recent year. Generally the data in this report is an aggregate of all programs. Since differences in responses between programs can exist and programs have additional inputs from other sources, this information needs to be used carefully by each program as part of its on-going outcomes assessment and continuous quality improvement. Reports from previous years are also available for comparison.
Where feasible, observations about the data and comparisons to the previous year are included. Copies of the college-common part of each survey are appended (Appendix 1). Demographic Data describing populations being surveyed is also appended (Appendix 2-A).
Because this is the fifth year of use of this survey, the 2nd year alumni of the first year (98-99) are the same as the 6th year alumni of this year (02-03). A special section comparing responses of the two samples is included.
One specialized survey was conducted during the year. For this year, all alumni received a one-page survey regarding liberal education. An individual report on this survey will be issued separately.
Recommendations for follow-up activity and future survey development will be developed by the Outcomes Assessment for Undergraduate Engineering Programs Committee (OAC). Input to the Committee is encouraged.
SURVEY RESULTS
A. Educational Outcomes Summary
Since the same twenty-six questions were asked in the Educational Outcomes element of the survey, a summary across groups can be presented. A tabulated form of the data for four years of surveys by alumni year is in Appendix 2-B. For easier study and since only a few questions showed obvious variation or trends across years, data are summarized 1) in the following Figures for the full college (all programs, seniors and all three alumni years) for the current survey year and 2) in the following table for the full college (all programs, seniors and all alumni years) for each survey year. The full text for each question can be found in Appendix 1.
Weighting of the scale for all plots is:
Importance: Not Important = 1, Somewhat Important = 2, Important = 3, Very Important = 4, Extremely Important = 5
Ability on the Job or Preparation: Not prepared = 1, Somewhat Prepared = 2, Prepared = 3, Well Prepared = 4, Very Well Prepared = 5
Figure 1. (2002-2003 data only)
Figure 2 (2002-2003 data only)
Figure 3 (2002-2003 data only)
Figure 4 (2002-2003 data only)
