Utilization-Focused Evaluation of the Graduate College Experience

• In Event: 63.042 - Graduate Student Experiences and Completion

Abstract

This presentation reports outcomes from a strategic redesign of the evaluation of the graduate college experience in a research university. It focuses on the decisions made in the redesign, and the value-added demonstrated in responses of 1,882 graduate students during the beta testing phase. It reports patterns of perceptions across various components of the graduate experience: academic, social, programmatic, and institutional. Responses are analyzed for the whole group and for subgroups by degree type (masters, doctoral), and by progress-toward-degree (entry, mid-point, exit). These patterns of differential responses reveal layers of information previously unavailable to leadership in this institution. Process and product outcomes provide tools for addressing issues that plague graduate college administrators, regarding recruiting, retention, program completion and graduate success.

Author

• Patricia L. Hardre, University of Oklahoma