Institutional Research-Jane Grosset
By Jane Grosset
The Office of Institutional Research conducts an annual survey of CCP graduates, which is typically completed by graduates eight to fifteen months after commencement. The survey gathers information concerning transfer and employment status, the relationship of the graduate’s current job to their program of study at CCP, annual salary, and the graduate’s assessment of the transfer and career preparation they received while attending the College. Institutional Research (IR) Report #182, Transfer Outcomes – 2007 Annual Graduate Survey, and IR Report # 183, Career Outcomes – 2007 Annual Graduate Survey, (both available on the Office of Institutional Research home page @ http://www.ccp.edu/VPFIN-PL/ir/irrep_on.htm) contain detailed information concerning the transfer and career experiences of the College’s 2007 graduates.
Overall, the career outcomes experienced by 2007 career graduates were very positive and in several areas exceeded the outcomes of their predecessors. Graduates in 2007 were more likely than earlier graduates to be employed in a job that is related to their CCP studies. Fewer graduates in 2007 were unemployed and actively looking for work at the time of the survey and most 2007 graduates felt the College prepared them well for the demands they encountered in the workforce.
The transfer function at the Community College of Philadelphia continues to be successful. Nearly 80% of transfer program graduates and 37% of graduates of career programs continued there education at another institution. Temple University remained the most frequent recipient of transfers from the College. Students who responded to the graduate survey continue to rate the preparation for transfer they received at the CCP very positively.
The Noel-Levitz Student Satisfaction Inventory (SSI) was administered at Community College of Philadelphia (CCP) during the spring 2008 semester to evaluate student satisfaction with academic, instructional, and students support services. (Institutional Research (IR) Report 177 titled: Student Satisfaction with Student Services, Academic Services and Campus Climate is available at http://www.ccp.edu/VPFIN-PL/ir/ir_reports/ir_report_177.pdf ). Supplementing the SSI, CCP employees responded to the Noel-Levitz Institutional Priorities Survey (IPS) indicating how important they believe it is that the institution meets student expectations with regard to these same college services and experiences as well as indicating their level of agreement that the institution is meeting students’ expectations. (IR Report 184 titled: A Summary of the Priority Faculty, Staff, and Administrators Believe Students Place on Student Satisfaction with Student Services, Academic Services and Campus Climate is available at http://www.ccp.edu/VPFIN-PL/ir/ir_reports/ir_report_184.pdf ). IR Report # 184 highlights areas of agreement and divergence between student and faculty/staff perceptions. The summary results of the IPS are also compared to a national norm, provided by Noel Levitz, indicating how CCP employee ratings compare to colleges across the country.
In general, CCP faculty/staff placed a higher level of importance on all college service areas than students placed on the same college service areas. Students also reported greater levels of satisfaction with their CCP experiences than faculty/staff believed they had experienced.
Comparing CCP faculty/staff responses to the IPS with responses at other participating colleges throughout the country finds that CCP faculty/staff rated the importance of most categories higher than the national cohort. The inverse was true for satisfaction. As a group, CCP faculty/staff were less in agreement that the College was meeting students’ expectations than staff at other colleges.
