What do our alumni have to say about us?
We believe we're a great place to be, but what do our students have to say about us? In the fall of 1997 we conducted a survey of our alumni from the last five years, with the following results:
- Of 133 respondents indicating that they were currently employed, 101 reported this employment to be in Psychology or a related field.
- The average rating on a seven point scale in response to the question, "How well did your major at Clarion prepare you to obtain employment in a job related to psychology," was 4.87, well above the nominal midpoint of 4.0.
- Of 63 respondents who indicated current or past enrollment in a graduate program, the average response to the question, "Overall, how well did your major at Clarion prepare you for graduate school?" was 5.56, again substantially above the nominal 4.0 midpoint.
- The question, "In general, how satisfied were you with the psychology program at Clarion," drew 151 responses with an average of 5.79 on the same seven point scale.
- Finally, 154 respondents provided an average rating of 5.49 in response to the question "To what degree would you recommend or not recommend a major in psychology to incoming students?" It is noteworthy that several respondents added a comment to this question indicating that their recommendation was somewhat low due to the difficulty of finding work in certain geographical regions and/or the relatively low salaries offered for baccalaureate level positions.
These are comments we received from alumni:
- My experience at Clarion was wonderful. All of the Psychology staff worked as a team to provide the best instruction for the students. (L. Sheriff)
- The faculty & their encouragement & willingness to work with me outside of class is where I feel the most important part of my education came from. This taught me more than any class. (J. Morgan)
This, of course, can be a mixed blessing, as seen in these next comments.
- In my opinion, Clarion's psych. program & faculty operated on more of a graduate level. Clarion's program was more challenging & rewarding than my graduate program ... (J. Cheeseman)
- The faculty at Clarion was excellent. I withdrew from [a master's program in psychology] because their faculty didn't measure up. (S. Boileau)
- The psychology department was top-notch. All psy. departments are not as enthusistic. (C. Bauer)
Page by Jeanne M. Slattery (jslattery@mail.clarion.edu)
URL= http://psy1.clarion.edu/jms/alumcomments.html
Last updated June 5, 1998
