The NECC Graduate Follow-Up Survey Dashboard

The purpose of this post is to introduce the Graduate Follow-Up Survey Dashboard for NECC.  The Graduate Follow-Up Survey (GFUS) is a means of contacting NECC graduates to ask them about their continuing education or to see if they are advancing in their careers.  The online dashboard is a continuing work in progress, still it offers some interesting information about NECC graduates

You can visit the dashboard by using this hyperlink:

Or, you can navigate there via the NECCi Website:

From there, click near the top of the page where it says, “Surveys,” or in the Surveys Block where it says “View Section.”

On the Surveys page, click on the highlighted link (the Graduate Follow-Up View Surveys link is under construction).

Why we do the Graduate Follow-Up:

Again, the Graduate Follow-Up Survey (GFUS) is a means of contacting NECC graduates to ask them about their continuing education or to see if they are advancing in their careers.

Some of the data collected with the GFUS has been required for the Perkins IV / Career and Technical Education (CTE) Report.  Under Perkins IV, Massachusetts Community Colleges were required to survey their graduates annually.  Now under Perkins V, the Community Colleges will be required to survey twice per year, once to survey the graduates from the Spring, then again for the graduates from the Summer and Fall.

The GFUS is also used to assist the survey needs of the Career Services Center, which also tracks the placement of NECC students and graduates into employment.

Methodology

The Office of Institutional Effectiveness emailed a Qualtrics link to 651 alumni.  These students had graduated in August 2020, December 2020, and/or May 2021.  Some responses were collected by phone calls.  There were 166 respondents, giving us response rate of 25.5%.

Some examples from the Survey.

There is not enough room to cover everything covered in the GFUS Dashboard.  Here are a few highlights.

We asked our graduates about their educational status.  About 54% of respondents stated that the were attending college, university, or some other educational institution.  Of those respondents, about 69% are attending a 4-year institution.  Most of those alumni move on to UMass Lowell, but as you can see, quite a few graduates continue to stay at NECC.  Some of the surveyed students may have received a certificate, and they may be continuing an associate’s program with us.  Other students earn an award from NECC, and they simply continue to study with us.

Most of our graduates are employed.  85% of respondents claim to be employed. While about 11% of respondents say they are unemployed, roughly 7% say they are seeking employment.  Based on previous Graduate Follow Up Surveys, the types of employment can vary greatly.  Some graduates will have professional jobs, be in or enter the health profession, or work in more entrepreneurial setting such as a consultant or owning their own business.  Other graduates may hold part-time jobs often in retail settings.  Part of the reason for that is some of these students may be working and still studying at the same time.

The survey asks employed respondents if their current job is related to their program of study at NECC.  37% responded that their current line of work is very related to their NECC major.  While some students may enter NECC after high school graduation, then graduated from NECC and go on to work in the same field, other stories may be different.  Some non-traditional students may be returning to NECC to renew certification in a health or professional field, so when they graduate they return to the same company, perhaps earning a promotion.

At the same time, about 38% said their employment was not related to their NECC major.  Yes, this may be because some students may be looking for work in their major, and simply not getting employed in the field.  On the other hand, some students may have enrolled in a major out of curiosity, rather than for job placement.  Again, some graduates may be working part time to support educational pursuits after leaving NECC.  Further research may be required to narrow down reasons why students are not working in the same field as their college major.

There is more to be seen at the Graduate Follow-Up Dashboard.  We also have some data displays of older Surveys from 2009-2016. Please, feel free to investigate more at https://necci.necc.mass.edu/surveys/graduate-follow-ups/