Shoreline Community College
Graduate Survey 2013
DATA REPORT 13-40
SCCA13
May 2013
Prepared for
Joseph Duggan
Assistant Director
Institutional Effectiveness & Strategic Planning
Shoreline Community College
16101 Greenwood Avenue North
Shoreline, WA 98133
206-546-6949
Submitted by
Danna Moore, Ph.D.
Principal Investigator
Kent Miller, M.A.
Study Director
Social & Economic Sciences Research Center
PO Box 644014; Wilson-Short Hall 133
Washington State University
Pullman, WA 99164-4014
509-335-1511
509-335-0116 (fax)
SESRC Professional Staff
All of the work conducted at the Social & Economic Sciences Research Center is the result of a cooperative effort made by a team of dedicated research professionals. The research in this report could not have been conducted without the efforts of interviewers and part-time personnel not listed.
Principal Investigators and Study Directors
Danna L. Moore, Ph.D. Interim Director
Don A. Dillman, Ph.D. Deputy Director for Research & Development
Rose Krebill-Prather, Ph.D. Assistant Director
Arina Gertseva, Ph.D. Research Associate
M. Chris Paxson, Ph.D. Research Associate
Candiya Mann, M.A. Senior Research Manager, Olympia
Kyra Kester, Ph.D. Senior Research Associate, Olympia
Kent Miller, M.A. Study Director II
Thom Allen, B.A. Study Director II/Special Programs Manager
Yi-Jen Wang, M.A. Study Director
David Schultz, B.S. Study Director/Data Analyst
Administrative Support
Rita Koontz Department Administrative Manager
Jaime Colyar, B.A. Fiscal Specialist I
Lisa Brooks, B.A. Research Associate, Olympia
Data Collection and Interviewer Supervision
Marion Schultz, M.A Data Collection Manager
Maria Carrillo, B.A. Research Survey Supervisor
Tony Hernandez Research Survey Supervisor
Pat Slinkard Social Scientific Assistant
Data Management, Analysis, and Network Support
Nikolay Ponomarev, Ph.D. Sr. Research Programmer/Database Architect
Bruce Austin, M.S. Information Systems Coordinator/Data Analyst
Dan Vakoch, M.S. Information Systems Coordinator/Data Analyst
Nathan Palmer, M.S. Information Systems Coordinator/Data Analyst
Jack E. Ambrose, B.S. Network Administrator/Systems Analyst
SESRC Project Profile
Title: Shoreline Community College Graduate Survey 2013 (SCCA13) 13-40
Objectives: To obtain feedback from recent graduates of Shoreline Community College regarding their experiences with its degree program and career outcomes. The information gathered will be used by SCC to improve the services and programs provided to students.
Abstract: From April through May 2013, SESRC attempted to contact 1142 recent graduates of Shoreline Community College. The purpose of the Internet-based survey was to obtain feedback about their experiences regarding its degree program and career outcomes. Four separate email contacts were made with respondents that asked them to go to a web site and answer the survey questions. Everyone in the sample received the initial email contact and only non-respondents received the subsequent email letters. Overall, 186 respondents completed or partially completed a questionnaire (172 full completes and 14 partial completes) resulting in an overall response rate of 16.8%.
Results: Overall, 186 respondents completed or partially completed a questionnaire (172 full completes and 14 partial completes) resulting in an overall response rate of 16.8%.
Time frame: April - May 2013
Contract with: Shoreline Community College
Agency Contact: Joseph Duggan
Assistant Director
Institutional Effectiveness & Strategic Planning
Shoreline Community College
16101 Greenwood Avenue North
Shoreline, WA 98133
206-546-6949
Contract Number: N/A
Funding Source: Shoreline Community College
Principal Investigator: Danna Moore, Ph.D. Data Report Number: 13-40
Study Director: Kent J. Miller, M.A. WSU OGRD Number: N/A
SESRC Acronym: SCCA13 IRB Number: exempt
SESRC Number: SC213 Budget: $3,971
Deliverables: Data Report, SPSS data set, Frequency listing, open-ended remarks file and a copy of the survey materials.
Project Accountability
SESRC is committed to high quality and timely delivery of project results. The following list identifies the SESRC team members responsible for particular elements of this project.
Staff Member
/Areas of Accountability
/Elements of Project
Danna Moore / Principal Investigator / Assurance of survey research protocol, sample design, project and instruments design, final report for the contractRita Koontz / Admn. Services Manager / Administration of contract for Washington State University
Kent Miller / Study Director / Project management and coordination of survey tasks, data report preparation
Marion Schultz / Data Collection Manager / Supervision of clerical workers, daily reports, assuring quality of interviews
Dan Vakoch / Data Manager / Website CATI Programming, data cleaning, data management
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Table of Contents
Page
SESRC Professional Staff ii
SESRC Project Profile iii
Project Accountability iv
I. SURVEY ADMINISTRATION AND DESIGN 1
Background and Objectives 1
Population and Sample 1
Questionnaire Design 1
II. SURVEY IMPLEMENTATION AND PROCEDURES 2
Human Subjects Research Review 2
Data Collection 2
III. CASE DISPOSITION AND RESPONSE RATES 4
Response Rate 4
Table 1: Response Rates 4
IV. DESCRIPTION OF THE DATA 5
Data Files 5
Table 2: File names and Descriptions 5
Original Numeric Data File 5
Remarks and Notes Data Files 5
Table 3. Generic Example of the Remarks Data 5
V. FREQUENCY LISTING 6
VI. SURVEY DOCUMENTATION 21
First Contact 21
Second Contact 22
Third Contact 23
Fourth Contact 24
Web Screens 25
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Shoreline Community College Graduate Survey 2013
SESRC Data Report 13-40
Section I. Survey Administration and Design
I. SURVEY ADMINISTRATION AND DESIGN
Background and Objectives
From April through May 2013, the Social and Economic Sciences Research Center (SESRC) implemented a mixed-mode survey for Shoreline Community College (SCC) asking recent graduates to provide feedback on their experiences with the school. The results will be used by SCC to improve its programs and services provided to the students.
Population and Sample
The sample for this study consists of recent SCC graduates. The list was compiled by the school and provided to SESRC for use in the survey process. The final list contains 1,142 names.
Questionnaire Design
The Social & Economic Sciences Research Center worked together with the client to develop the survey instrument. The final questionnaire had thirteen questions and was identical to the one used in 2012[1]. It asked questions on the respondents’ experiences with the school and their employment status. Six of the questions were open-ended, asking the respondent to provide a response in the box provided. The questionnaire was designed to be administered by web.
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Shoreline Community College Graduate Survey 2013
SESRC Data Report 13-40
Section II. Survey Implementation and Procedures
II. SURVEY IMPLEMENTATION AND PROCEDURES
Human Subjects Research Review
SESRC completed the review form for the Institutional Review Board at Washington State University (WSU-IRB) for review of human subject procedures and compliance with federal regulations for human subject research. However, this project was determined to exempt so the form was not submitted for IRB review and approval.
Data Collection
Procedures. The key element of this TDM survey procedure was to implement carefully designed and timed contacts to the survey sample respondents. The first contact was an email letter sent to all 1142 respondents in the sample. The letter described the survey and asked respondents to complete an online survey. Each email included a link to the survey website and the respondents were also provided with a unique access code to use when starting the survey. This first contact was made on April 8, 2013 and the email subject line was: Shoreline Community College Alumni Survey.
About one week later (April 15, 2013), SESRC sent an email reminder contact to all non-responders. This contact again included the Internet address and the respondent’s unique access number. Respondents could click on a link in the email and be connected directly to the web-based survey. This contact was sent by SESRC and signed by the study director. The subject line for this email was the same as the first contact: Shoreline Community College Alumni Survey.
The third contact was another email message, again signed by the SESRC study director. Like the previous email contact, a link to the web survey was included along with an appeal to answer the questions. The mailing was sent on April 24, 2013. The subject line for the email was: Thirteen Questions for SCC Graduates.
Non-respondents were contacted a fourth time and final time on May 9, 2013. Like the previous contacts, an email was sent to all non-respondents. This one used the subject line of Shoreline Community College Grad Survey.
The web site remained open for survey respondents through May 22, 2013. At that time, the access was closed and the final results were compiled. A copy of the letters and web screens can be found at the end of this report.
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Shoreline Community College Graduate Survey 2013
SESRC Data Report 13-40
Section III. Case Disposition and Response Rates
III. CASE DISPOSITION AND RESPONSE RATES
Response Rate
The following table displays the response rate calculations for all completed questionnaires online. With 186 responses the overall response rate is 16.8%. The response rate is calculated by dividing the total number of completed and partially completed questionnaires by the total number of eligible sample (186 / 1142)[2] and then multiplying that by the estimated proportion of cases of unknown eligibility that are eligible. All partially completed web surveys are included in the dataset.
Table 1: Response Rates
Interview (Category 1) / category / numberWeb completes / I / 172
Web partial completes / P / 14
Eligible, non-interview (Category 2)
Refusal / RF / 1
Non-contact / NC / 918
Unknown eligibility, non-interview (Category 3)
Not eligible (Category 4)
Undeliverable email / NW / 25
No eligible respondent / IE / 12
Total phone numbers used / 1142
I=Complete Interviews / 172
P=Partial Interviews / 14
R=Refusal / 1
NC=Non-Contact / 918
O=Other / 0
e is the estimated proportion of cases of unknown eligibility that are eligible. / 0.968
UH=Unknown Household / 0
UO=Unknown other / 0
IE and NW=Ineligible and non-working contact information / 37
Response Rate
(I + P) / ((I + P) + (R + NC + O) + e(UH + UO)) / 16.8%
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Shoreline Community College Graduate Survey 2013
SESRC Data Report 13-40
Section IV: Description of the Data
IV. DESCRIPTION OF THE DATA
Data Files
The data collected in the survey have been copied from permanently stored files maintained on SESRC’s dedicated server at Washington State University. Table 2 provides a list of the files provided on the compact disc.
Table 2: File names and Descriptions
File / DESCRIPTION<Survey Materials> / Questionnaire and letters
SCCA13 Final Completes.sav / SPSS file
SCCA13 open ended comments.xlsx / Open ended comments
SCCA13 Codebook.doc / Codebook file
SCCA13 Data Report 13-40.doc / Data report document
SCCA13 Final Frequencies.doc / Frequency listing
Original Numeric Data File
The data is provided as an SPSS file. The dataset contains 186 cases. All variable labels and categories labels are saved in the SPSS file. Missing values (unanswered questions) throughout the data are indicated by negative numbers.
Remarks and Notes Data Files
The remarks data corresponding to the open-ended questions written by the respondent in this survey are sorted by question number and then by identification number. The WSU identification number is the first number, followed by the question number, and then by the open-ended remarks. An example is shown in Table 3. The remarks files are in Excel file format and are easily sorted. This file is included on the CD but is not printed as part of this report.
Table 3. Generic Example of the Remarks Data
9999 / Q1 / Group / This is an example of the open-ended remark text format that is in the remarks data filePLEASE NOTE: The remarks and notes data have only been very minimally edited. They have been spell-checked. The data should remain strictly confidential. The remarks and notes data should be treated as confidential information and printed for release only after careful review and necessary editing.
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Shoreline Community College Graduate Survey 2013
SESRC Data Report 13-40
Section V: Frequency Listing
V. FREQUENCY LISTING
Shoreline Community College Graduate Survey 2013
Frequency Listing
StatusFrequency / Percent / Valid Percent / Cumulative Percent
Valid / WEB complete / 172 / 92.5 / 92.5 / 92.5
WEB partial complete / 14 / 7.5 / 7.5 / 100.0
Total / 186 / 100.0 / 100.0
Q01 What award, degree, or certificate did you graduate with?
Frequency / Percent / Valid Percent / Cumulative Percent
Valid / 1 Comment / 185 / 99.5 / 100.0 / 100.0
Missing / System / 1 / .5
Total / 186 / 100.0
Q02 What is your employment status?
Frequency / Percent / Valid Percent / Cumulative Percent
Valid / 1 Employed full-time / 80 / 43.0 / 44.0 / 44.0
2 Employed part-time / 16 / 8.6 / 8.8 / 52.7
3 Contract employee / 1 / .5 / .5 / 53.3
4 Self-employed / 4 / 2.2 / 2.2 / 55.5
5 Not employed, not looking for work / 2 / 1.1 / 1.1 / 56.6
6 Not employed but looking for work / 14 / 7.5 / 7.7 / 64.3
7 Student / 56 / 30.1 / 30.8 / 95.1
8 Other / 9 / 4.8 / 4.9 / 100.0
Total / 182 / 97.8 / 100.0
Missing / -1 No answer / 4 / 2.2
Total / 186 / 100.0
Q02_8_o What is your employment status: Please describe
Frequency / Percent / Valid Percent / Cumulative Percent
Valid / 1 Comment / 13 / 7.0 / 100.0 / 100.0
Missing / System / 173 / 93.0
Total / 186 / 100.0
Q03 How closely related is your current job to your SCC award, degree, or certificate?
Frequency / Percent / Valid Percent / Cumulative Percent
Valid / 1 My job is in the same field as my award, degree, or certificate / 68 / 36.6 / 60.7 / 60.7
2 My job is in a field related to, but not the same as my award, degree, or certificate / 23 / 12.4 / 20.5 / 81.3
3 My job is in a field that is not at all related to my award, degree, or certificate / 21 / 11.3 / 18.8 / 100.0
Total / 112 / 60.2 / 100.0
Missing / -1 No answer / 3 / 1.6
System / 71 / 38.2
Total / 74 / 39.8
Total / 186 / 100.0
Q04 What is your job title?
Frequency / Percent / Valid Percent / Cumulative Percent
Valid / 1 Comment / 111 / 59.7 / 100.0 / 100.0
Missing / System / 75 / 40.3
Total / 186 / 100.0
Q05A Does your company offer health benefits?
Frequency / Percent / Valid Percent / Cumulative Percent
Valid / 1 Yes / 81 / 43.5 / 74.3 / 74.3
2 No / 28 / 15.1 / 25.7 / 100.0
Total / 109 / 58.6 / 100.0
Missing / -1 No answer / 2 / 1.1
System / 75 / 40.3
Total / 77 / 41.4
Total / 186 / 100.0
Q05B Did you have a job lined up before leaving SCC?
Frequency / Percent / Valid Percent / Cumulative Percent