How Institutions Use Alumni Outcomes Data
Summary
Another Senior Planning and Policy Analyst told us, “Our president’s office was really hesitant to use data from our alumni surveys to quantify the number of graduates who stay in the college’s service area. Here are some real-life examples: At a public 2-year college on the west coast, sharing outcomes data with career education advisory boards helps inform conversations around program changes. At a public 2-year college on the west coast, data helped identify opportunities within various industries (e.g., cybersecurity) and supported the development of grant proposals for the Department of Education and the National Science Foundation (NSF). Alumni Outcomes data is part of a unified advising model at a private research university on the east coast, where all incoming students are paired with both an academic and a career advisor from their first term on campus. These advisors are then poised to help students navigate curricular decisions, seek out internships and experiential learning opportunities, and other career-oriented activities through a system of consistent support.