1. 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

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

3. 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

4. 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.

5. 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

6. 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

7. Management
Graduate Careers Australia (GCA) provides the overall management and maintenance of the GDS/CEQ

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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%

12. 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)

13. Reporting - GCA December – Preliminary media releases and Grad Stats
February – National GDS datasets available
March – National CEQ aggregate datasets available
Second half of year – Full GDS and CEQ reports released from previous year’s survey
Grad Files

14. 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.

15. 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.

16. 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).

17. 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)

18. Any Questions?
See