Presented by Planning & Research RMIT Open Program Understanding and Using the Graduate Destination Survey (GDS) and Course Experience Survey (CEQ) About the GDS and CEQ Presented by Planning & Research Wednesday 12 April, 2006

GDS and CEQ When are the surveys administered? How are the surveys managed? Methodology Response rates Reporting Other graduate surveys Link with Strategic Plan

Overview – GDS/CEQ The GDS is administered to all Higher Education graduates in Australia each year Every graduate is sent a questionnaire. Includes international students RMIT also surveys offshore students The CEQ is part of the GDS (back page) It is not a separate survey

GDS Collects information about graduates: Demographics and program details, Any work in their final year, Their status regarding work and study four months after graduation, and Methods they have used to search for jobs.

CEQ Collects information about graduates’ programs of study: Good Teaching Scale (GTS) – 6 items (“Teaching Quality”) Generic Skills Scale (GSS) – 6 items Overall Satisfaction Item (OSI) – 1 item Clear Goals and Standards (CGS) – 4 items Appropriate Workload Scale (AWS) – 4 items Appropriate Assessment Scale (AAS) – 3 items Best aspects, and those most in need of improvement CEQuery

When? RMIT surveys its graduates in the April following the year of their graduation. Most universities also survey in October Changes may occur in the administration of the survey

Management Graduate Careers Australia (GCA) provides the overall management and maintenance of the GDS/CEQ www.graduatecareers.edu.au

Surveying Individual universities are responsible for conducting the GDS/CEQ amongst their graduates There is some small variation in the GDS survey forms from one institution to another Only three CEQ scales are compulsory for all institutions (GTS, GSS, OSI) RMIT and some other ATN universities include a ‘Work Relevance Scale’ on the CEQ

GDS/CEQ at RMIT The Survey Services Centre is responsible for the administration and data collection of RMIT’s GDS/CEQ Planning & Research is responsible for the analysis and reporting of the GDS/CEQ

Methodology Three mailouts (April – June) An option to complete the survey via the Internet Telephone follow-up of domestic graduates (July/August) No CEQ on telephone Data supplied to GCA in September Datasets finalised by December

RMIT Response Rates (1) In GDS 2005, almost 6,000 graduates were surveyed: 58% of graduates responded 71% of domestic graduates responded 24% of international graduates responded CEQ response rates are lower because it is not administered on the telephone Around 40%

RMIT Response Rates (2) The response rates achieved by all universities are good for a survey of this type The survey can be regarded as representative of Australian graduates RMIT’s 2005 GDS response rate was greater than the national response rate (58% cf. 56% in 2005)

Reporting - GCA December – Preliminary media releases and Grad Stats February – National GDS datasets available March – National CEQ aggregate datasets available http://www.avcc.edu.au/content.asp?page=/policies_programs/graduates/index.htm Second half of year – Full GDS and CEQ reports released from previous year’s survey Grad Files

Reporting – RMIT (P&R) December – Preliminary CEQ results. March – Profile Planning and Program Review. First half of year RMIT Key Performance Indicators CEQ institutional rankings Summary of graduate outcomes. Reporting framework is likely to be modified.

Other graduate surveys The Postgraduate Research Experience Questionnaire (PREQ) is administered to research graduates instead of the CEQ The Student Outcomes Survey (SOS) is administered to domestic TAFE graduates, annually, five months after graduation.

Link with RMIT’s Strategic Plan - Student Outcomes RMIT’s Strategic Plan Goal, by 2010: Domestic graduates in employment, their own enterprise or further studies within five months of graduation within each sector to exceed national or state average by 5% Employment, self employment and further study are measured from the GDS (and SOS).

Link with RMIT’s Strategic Plan – Overall Satisfaction Index (OSI) RMIT’s Strategic Plan Goal, by 2010: 5% above National/State Average OSI Measured from the Course Experience Questionnaire (CEQ), Student Outcomes Survey (SOS) and Postgraduate Research Experience Questionnaire (PREQ)

Any Questions? See http://www2.rmit.edu.au/departments/planning/ircu/outcomes/outcomes.php