How well does University of Wisconsin-Stout prepare graduates for their careers? The university would like to know from two classes of the past decade.
UW-Stout is contacting about 3,500 alumni who graduated in 2011 and 2016 to ask them to take the National Alumni Career Mobility Survey.
All 13 UW System schools are participating, with the System providing the funding. The survey link for UW-Stout alumni is here. Alumni will be contacted by email and mail, but participating is anonymous.
The survey, which ends in early January, takes five to seven minutes to complete.
Results help the schools better understand the professional pathways of graduates and prepare future alumni for continued and improved career success.
Bryan Barts, Career Services director, is helping lead the UW-Stout effort. “We want to create insights into your experience at Stout through the lens of career mobility,” Barts said.
The survey addresses five core areas:
- Career pathways
- Career satisfaction
- Community engagement
- Economic mobility
- Educational satisfaction
It’s the second straight year UW-Stout has participated.
In the 2020 survey of 2010 and 2015 graduates, UW-Stout was one of only two universities ranked exemplary in educational satisfaction. The university ranked highly on the marketability of majors, career mentoring, career preparation and alumni affinity with the school. More than 70% of respondents, for example, said the university helped them understand their career opportunities.
“We valued the information we collected and our ability to measure ourselves against our peers. The data was really insightful. It strengthened our already strong identity of a career focused institution with strong industry collaboration,” Barts said.
Along with Barts, staff supporting the project are Meridith Wentz, assistant chancellor and director of Planning, Assessment, Research and Quality; Jennie Smith, Alumni Association, alumni and donor relations coordinator; and Darren Hoyland, Learning and Information Technology.
The Career Leadership Collective oversees the survey, providing advisory and data services to assist campuses in building capacity around career development effectiveness.
UW-Stout is Wisconsin’s Polytechnic University, with a focus on applied learning, collaboration with business and industry, and career outcomes.
