Undergraduate
Alumni State
Council for Higher Education Survey (SCHEV)
1997
A survey of alumni who received undergraduate degrees for the University between
July 1993 and June 1994. The survey is required by SCHEV of all public colleges
and universities in Virginia. The purpose of the survey was to determine alumni
satisfaction with their undergraduate education, their employment and education
after graduation, and the financial aid required for their undergraduate education.
During the summer of 1997, 735 Alumni from the College of Arts and Sciences and
the Schools of Architecture, Commerce, Education, Engineering, and Nursing were
surveyed out of an initial sample size of 1250, for a response rate of 59%. Surveys
were sent by mail, and the results were weighted to ensure that the results reflect
the proper proportion of alumni from the University's six schools.
Questionnaire (.pdf)
Data
(Stored in IAS Data
Catalog)
Frequencies
Overall
Methodology
Study Population and Sample
Between July
1, 1993 and June 20, 1994, the University of Virginia conferred
2,808
undergraduate degrees to students in the College
of Arts and Sciences and the Schools of Architecture, Commerce,
Education, Engineering, and Nursing. We wanted to end the study
with at least 600 completed questionnaires so that we could make
inferences with confidence about the study population and obtain
reliable information from students of the smaller schools. Based
on our past experiences with return rates and sample criteria,
we arrived at an initial sample size of 1250. These potential respondents
were selected randomly from a list of names and addresses maintained
by the University’s Office of Development with quotas established
for the Architecture, Education, and Nursing schools.
Study Design and Data Collection
Because of
our study topic and objectives and the population to be surveyed,
we chose
to collect our data through an anonymous
mail survey. On June 18, 1997, we sent each person in the sample
a personalized cover letter signed by Institutional Assessment’s
executive director, W. Edmund Moomaw, a two-page questionnaire
and a postage-paid envelope in which to return the completed questionnaire.
The cover letter explained the subject of the study and assured
respondents that their answers would be treated with complete anonymity.
We guaranteed
the anonymity of our respondents by printing each respondent’s “respondent number” on the return
envelope rather than the questionnaire. We use this respondent
number for tracking participation in our computer data-base system
as questionnaires are received. Upon receipt of a completed questionnaire,
we immediately separated the questionnaire from the return envelope.
No identifiers of any kind were on the questionnaire making it
impossible to link a respondents’ answers to his or her name.
After the questionnaire was separated from its envelope, we hired
the University’s Center for Survey Research to enter the
responses into a data-base. Each set of responses was assigned
a unique respondent number, a respondent number different from
the one used for tracking returns. There is no way that a respondent’s
tracking and data respondent numbers can ever be linked.
Three weeks
after the initial mailing, every student in our sample was sent
a postcard
reminding them to return their questionnaire
and thanking them if they had already done so. On July 22, we administered
a second mailing addressed only to the 752 people who had not responded
to date. The second mailing included a cover letter signed by Mr.
Moomaw, a new copy of the questionnaire, and another postage-paid
return envelope. By the end of the field period, which ended August
22, we had received 735 completed questionnaires, for a response
rate of 59%. We also received back 54 unopened mailing packets
marked “return-to-sender” which were undeliverable
to the address given to us by the Office of Development. Excluding
respondents whom we were unable to contact represents an impressive
overall response rate of 61%.
Weighting and Representativeness
Because we initially oversampled alumni from the Schools of Architecture,
Education, and Nursing. the surveys actually received do not
represent the proper proportion of alumni from the University’s
six schools. In order to generalize back to the population, we
have applied weights to the data, giving greater weight to respondents
who were underepresented in the sample and giving lesser weight
to those who were overrepresented. All results reported for the
total sample throughout this report are based on the statistically
weighted data to ensure representativeness of the results. All
results reported by school are based on unweighted data. We employed
this procedure because using the full sample weight would have
produced too small a weighted N for the smaller schools, compromising
our ability to make reliable and statistically valid inferences
about their alumni.
The respondents in our sample are highly representative of the
study population. Fifty-two percent of alumni who graduated between
July 1, 1993 and June 20, 1994 are female and 48% are male; 50%
of our sample is female and 50% are male. Seventy-eight percent
of the population is white, 10% are African American, 9% are Asian
American, and 3% are Native American, Hispanic, and non-resident
aliens. In our sample, 80% are white, 10% are African American,
and 8% are Asian American.
Margin of Error
At a 95% confidence
level, the margin of error for the results of this survey is ±3.6%.
Put simply, 95 out of 100 samples of this size, drawn from the
same population, will generate a sample
result that is within plus or minus 3.6 percentage points of the
population value. When responses to the questions are reported
by school, the margin of error is correspondingly greater. These
statistics do not measure non-sampling sources of error which can
occur in any survey or poll.
Questions regarding the administration of the
survey, the questionnaire, or the results can be directed to Jonathan
Schnyer, Assistant Director and Assessment Coordinator, Office
of Institutional Assessment and Studies, P.O. Box 400427, Charlottesville,
VA 22904-4727 (telephone: 434/924-3417 or schnyer@virginia.edu).
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