EERSTE RRP TR IEW SSS PENSE EET GT NS ISN NE TE IS

Follow-up Surveys

Follow-up surveys assess the impact of college atten-
dance on students. This first follow-up survey is con-
ducted three months after graduation. This is central to
the mission of most vocational college programs, since
timely/rapid job placement is an overriding concern of all
vocational training programs. Rapidly shifting economic
conditions and the need for institutional response to a
changing labour market dictate that feedback for pro-
gram modification occurs more frequently than the
routine annual follow-ups prevalent in many evaluation
system models. The short duration of most vocational
training programs and the value placed on immediate
employment by sponsors of such programs make a three-
month follow-up of AVC graduates a sine qua non of AVC
program evaluation procedures.

Each fall, the Office of Institutional Planning, Research,
and Development sends a questionnaire with a stamped
return envelope to individuals who graduated from the
college in the spring of each year. Respondents also are
contacted by telephone in an effort to maximize the
number of responses. In addition to the three-month
follow-up survey, a one-year follow-up survey of gradu-
ates is conducted to further explore labour market
experiences, continuing education pursuits, satisfaction
with college services, and relatedness of training to
employment, earnings, etc.

Objectives of this survey are:

1. To gather data on graduates’ employment-related

experiences three months after graduation;

2. To explore how AVC graduates are able to apply
their training to the demands of the job market;

3. To provide data on graduates’ perception of their
training at AVC;

4. To provide comparative detailed information on the
labour market experiences of graduates by pro-
gram;

5. To find out whether graduates are better off, worse
off, or the same economically after graduation;

6. To identify the employers of AVC graduates;

7. To identify the location of employment of gradu-
ates;

8. To document further educational activities of AVC
students.

Conclusion
These surveys provide a balance between quantitative
and qualitative assessment of institutional effectiveness.

1. POE results provide information useful toward the
development of an institutional marketing plan

program, specific marketing strategies, and enroll-
ment projections.

2. POE allows an institution to monitor the impact of
college on students by surveying students upon
arrival and after graduation.

3. POL results enable an institution to access its
mission and mandate focusing on the extent to
which institutional or program goals have been met
from the student's perspective.

4. Follow-up surveys provide a verification of changes
in economic circumstances of graduates and value-
added effects of training and education. The
triangulation model allows the college to determine
whether graduates are better off, worse off, or
unchanged as a result of their training.

5. Follow-up surveys provide a validation for rel-
evance of training to employment situation—e.g.,
strength of relationship of training to employment.

These surveys provide important data for document-
ing the operational effectiveness of vocation programs
and are significant components in recurrent re-evaluation
of program and institutional effectiveness.

Bob Adebayo, Research Coordinator

Bill Lieshoff, Research Director

For further information, contact the authors at Alberta
Vocational College, Planning, Research, and Develop-

ment, Box 417, 9531-94 Avenue, Lac La Biche, Alberta,
TOA 2C0, CANADA.

 

Suanne D. Roueche, Editor

EN

September 18, 1992, Vol. XIV, No. 20
©The University of Texas at Austin, 1992
Further duplication is permitied by MEMBER
institutions for their own personnel.

INNOVATION ABSTRACTS is a publication of the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD),
Department of Educational Administration, College of Education, EDB 348, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas
78712, (512) 471-7545. Funding in part by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation and the Sid W. Richardson Foundation. Issued weekly
when classes are in session during fall and spring terms. ISSN 0199-106X.