The results of the AY2009 Undergraduate Exit Survey are available in the Assessment Data Online Retrieval System (ADORS). The survey is administered by participating academic units to students as part of the degree petition process.  A total of 1,590 students responded to the survey in AY09, representing 59% of the baccalaureate degrees awarded during 2008–09. Detailed program results are available for viewing or download at <http://www.adors.gatech.edu >.

Among the general findings of the survey:

• Respondents were generally quite pleased with their educational experiences at Georgia Tech, with 86.1% of respondents saying they would definitely recommend Georgia Tech to a friend or relative, and 86.6% saying that they would definitely recommend their program of study to a friend or relative. Over 92% of students reported that faculty set high expectations for learning.

• Respondents also said that faculty encouraged students to be active learners (74.1% rated faculty good or excellent on this item) and encouraged students to allocate sufficient time and energy to their course work (83.0%); a lower proportion (66.9%) indicated that faculty were good or excellent at showing concern for student learning.

• Respondents reported that faculty demonstrated proficiency (93.7%) and currency (92.0%) in their area of instruction; responded to student questions or resolved their problems (82.8%), and effectively communicated critical ideas and concepts (78.3%).  Respondents were more critical of the extent to which instructors provided frequent and prompt feedback (64.0% rated faculty good or excellent) and the extent to which instructors encouraged student-faculty interaction in and out of the classroom (58.1%).

• Over 90 percent of respondents indicated their education at Georgia Tech had done a good or excellent job of helping them learn to think critically and logically, improve their problem-solving  abilities, and to develop the skills to carry out projects independently. A majority of respondents also reported that their education at Georgia Tech helped them improve their oral communication (72.1%) and presentation skills (81.7%), although they reported less growth in written communication skills (67.7% rating good or excellent).

The results of the AY2009 Graduate Exit Survey are now available in the Assessment Data Online Retrieval System (ADORS). The survey is administered by participating academic units to Master’s and Ph.D. students as part of the degree petition process. A total of 822 students responded to the survey in AY09, representing 34.7% of the graduate degrees awarded during 2008–09. Detailed program results are available for viewing or download at <http://www.adors.gatech.edu >.

Among the general findings of the survey:

• Over 90% of respondents reported that they were satisfied with their preparation at Tech to find a job after graduation, while 95.1% of respondents said that Georgia Tech had prepared them to compete professionally in their disciplines. Over four in five respondents (88.7%) indicated that they would definitely recommend their program to a friend or relative.
• Respondents said that they have an understanding of contemporary issues in their discipline (90.5%) and were prepared to apply their knowledge of both core subjects in their discipline (95.0%) and in their area of concentration (95.3%).
• Among respondents, 88.3% said that they were satisfied with the quality of their research experience, while 76.6% indicated they were prepared to conduct experiments, and 79.6% felt prepared to conduct research resulting in fundamental innovations. Almost all respondents (95.1%) felt prepared to function independently on self-directed projects or research and similar numbers (93.0%) felt prepared to analyze and interpret data.
• Respondents were satisfied with the quality of faculty advising regarding academic planning (81.5%), as well as career planning (77.5%). A majority (78.4%) of respondents reported that they felt prepared to be effective teachers.

The open-ended response and comment reports will be sent directly to program chairs and assessment coordinators in the coming weeks.

Please contact the Office of Assessment if you have any further questions about these data, or if your academic unit is interested in participating in the survey.

Jonathan Gordon, Ph.D.
Director
Office of Assessment

The Office of Assessment is pleased to announce the results of the Spring 2009 Career and Salary Survey.

The survey was administered online to 2,309 students who were scheduled to graduate in May 2009.  A total of 1,488 students completed the survey for a response rate of 66.9 percent. The results are representative of the GT graduating population by degree level, college, gender, and ethnicity. The Office of Assessment recently provided academic units the ability to obtain specific job titles from students who reported employment. These detailed position descriptions are available in the frequency reports for individual programs.

Among the salient findings of the survey:

The economic downturn continues to affect placement rates of our graduates:

• The proportion of Georgia Tech BS recipients reporting having a job at graduation declined from 65.8% in Spring 2008 to 56.8% in Spring 2009.

• The proportion of graduate degree recipients (MS and PhD) reporting having a job at graduation declined from 73.2% in Spring 2008 to 55.7% in Spring 2009.

• Among undergraduates, the greatest declines in placement occurred in the College of Management (Spring 2008: 64.8%; Spring 2009: 49.3%) and the College of Engineering (Spring 2008: 71.5%; Spring 2009 59.8 %.)

• For the College of Engineering’s undergraduates, placement rates declined most in Electrical Engineering (Spring 2008: 79.2%; Spring 2009: 50.0%) and Civil Engineering (Spring 2008: 75.6%; Spring 2009: 50.0%.)

Some programs experienced year-over-year increases in placement among BS recipients:

• Biomedical Engineering increased from 37% in Spring 2008 to 46.2% in Spring 2009

• Computer Science increased from 78% to 85.7%

• BS Architecture recipients increased from 40.9% to 56.3%.

For those who report successful job searches, salaries have increased slightly over Spring 2008:

• Median reported salaries increased $3,000 for BS recipients and $5,000 for MS recipients.

Frequency of signing bonuses has declined slightly:

• Among those reporting a salary, 38.2% of Spring 2009 GT graduates reported receiving a signing bonus­, compared to 42.9% in Spring 2008.

• The median reported bonus in Spring 2009 was $5,000 for both BS and MS recipients.

The lower rates of employment success have not translated into changes in continuing education plans.

• The percentage of BS recipients who intend to enroll in graduate school increased only slightly from 32.2% in Spring 2008 to 33.5% in Spring 2009.

Complete results of the survey are available on the Office of Assessment’s survey data warehouse: http://www.adors.gatech.edu.  Students may access the salary reports at: http://www.adors.gatech.edu/assessment/adors/commencement/salary_report.cfm.  If you have any questions about these data, you may contact me at jon.gordon@gatech.edu.

Caroline Noyes, Assistant Director of Assessment; Jonathan Gordon, Director of Assessment; and Joe Ludlum, Coordinator of Survey Research, presented a paper at the Association for Institutional Research’s 49^th Annual Forum on Tuesday, June 2, 2009.

This research paper, entitled Engagement Half-Life: The Impact of Incoming Student Characteristics throughout the College Career, focuses on the relationship between incoming student characteristics as measured by the CIRP and student engagement during the freshman and senior years as measured by the NSSE benchmarks.

A cross-sectional design examined three years of paired CIRP and NSSE responses of 855 freshmen and 741 seniors. The findings indicate that civic participation activities in high school and self-ratings of behaviors indicative of emotional intelligence have an effect on engagement levels during both the freshman and senior years of college.

Copies of the paper, slide presentation, and handouts are attached.

The 2008 Freshman Survey Report and Tables are now available. This report is a summary of the 2008 adminis­tration of the Higher Education Research Institute’s Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) survey of incoming college freshmen. Selected information about Georgia Tech respondents is presented in this report, including comparisons to responses from public and private high-selectivity institutions.

The results of the Fall 2008 Career and Salary Survey are now available in ADORS.  The survey is conducted to discover the immediate post-graduation plans for GT undergraduate and graduate degree recipients­, particularly in the areas of job-placement and continuing education.

The survey was administered online to 1,685 students who were scheduled to graduate in December 2008. A total of 1,102 students completed the survey for a response rate of 65.4 percent. The results are representative of the GT graduating population by degree level, college, gender, and ethnicity. The Office of Assessment recently provided academic units the ability to obtain specific job titles from students who reported employment. These detailed position descriptions are available in the frequency reports for individual programs.

Among the salient findings of the survey:

• The economic downturn is clearly affecting placement rates of our graduates. The proportion of Georgia Tech BS recipients reporting having a job at graduation declined from 70.4% in Fall 2007 to 60.1% in Fall 2008.
• The proportion of graduate degree recipients (MS and PhD) reporting having a job at graduation declined from 79.6% in Fall 2007 to 65.2% in Fall 2008.
• Among undergraduate degree recipients, placement rates declined most in Civil Engineering and Mechanical Engineering. For BS recipients in Civil Engineering, placement rates declined from 91.1% in Fall 2007 to 61.4 % in Fall 2008. Comparable figures from Mechanical Engineering were 81.1% in Fall 2007 and 61.2% in Fall 2008.
• Placement rates for BS recipients in the College of Architecture also declined dramatically, from 78.3% in Fall 2007 to 51.9% in Fall 2008. MS and PhD placements in Architecture declined from 81.8% to 41.5% over the same time period.
• For those who report successful job searches, salaries have increased slightly over Fall 2007. Median reported salaries increased $1,624 for BS recipients and $3,500 for MS recipients.
• Frequency of signing bonuses does not seem to be affected by the economic downturn: about 55% of Fall 2008 GT graduates reporting a salary also reported receiving a signing bonus­—this proportion is essentially unchanged from Fall 2007. The median reported bonus in Fall 2008 was $6,325 for BS recipients and $11,730 for MS recipients.
• The lower rates of employment success have not translated into changes in continuing education plans. The percentage of BS recipients who intend to enroll in graduate school increased only slightly from 23.1% in Fall 2007 to 25.0% in Fall 2008.

Any questions regarding the survey or these results may be directed to Dr. Jon Gordon or Dr. Joe Ludlum.

The findings of the 2008 National Survey of Student Engagement of Georgia Tech first-year students and seniors are now available in ADORS. The survey measures the extent to which students report that they are engaged in empirically-demonstrated effective educational practices and what gains (or perceptions of gains) they make through their college experiences. Georgia Tech has conducted the NSSE survey several times over the past decade. Results in ADORS are disaggregated to the College and School/Unit level and can be compared to previous NSSE results.

Among the highlights of this year’s results:

• Students are generally satisfied with their overall educational experiences at Georgia Tech, with over 80 percent of both first-year students and over 85 percent of seniors indicating that their educational experiences at GT were good or excellent.
• Over 90 percent of seniors report that Georgia Tech strongly emphasizes studying, and over 80 percent of seniors report frequent collaboration on academic work.
• Among seniors there has been an increase in the perceived level of academic and social support provided by the Institute from 2003 to 2008. While increasing moderately over time, relationships with faculty are perceived positively by just over 50 percent of first-year students and 55 percent of seniors. Less than 50 percent of seniors report frequently discussing grades or assignments with faculty. While a greater proportion of seniors reported receiving prompt feedback on their academic performance in 2008 than in 2007, this percentage remains below 50 percent.

In addition to the GT results, comparison data from a group of six “peer” institutions is available in the final survey report, also available on the ADORS website. The comparison institutions include Penn State University-University Park, University of Texas at Austin, University of Florida, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, and University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Any questions regarding these data may be addressed to either Dr. Jonathan Gordon or Dr. Caroline Noyes.

Welcome to the new Office of Assessment website.  If you have any problems or find any broken links, please contact Shawn Carnley. 
For now, the old Office of Assessment website can be found at: http://www.assessment.gatech.edu/legacy