Student Achievement

Occupational Education

Historically, the majority of NWACC graduates earn an Associate of Applied Science degree (AAS) or technical certificate. These career training programs represent a important part of NWACC's mission as a comprehensive community college.  The primary outcome of the Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degree programs and related certificates focuses on workforce preparation:

Students are prepared to enter, continue to work, or advance in their fields of study.

The Shewmaker Center for Workforce Technologies (SCWT) offers a variety of credit and noncredit courses to support the training needs of local business and industry.  They offer courses to the general public and work with local employers to custom design training programs to meet their specific needs. 

In assessing student achievement in occupational degree programs, each program is encouraged to collect data in three areas: employment, expertise, and employer satisfaction. While every program has not yet identified measures for each of the three "Es", every program has tracked student achievement in at least one.

Employment

Since the primary purpose of occupational programs is to prepare students for work, employment is an essential measure of success. Employment data helps determine if students have acquired the knowledge, skills, and attitudes desired by employers, as well as the status of the job market. Down-turns in the economy can result in well-qualified graduates not being able to enter the field because no positions are available.

The actual impact of NWACC job training is difficult to track. Some students obtain career training and enter the workforce without completing all the degree requirements. Others take occupational courses to transfer. Several of NWACC AAS programs have specific articulation agreements with senior institutions to accept their vocation courses for transfer credit. Many students are already in the workforce and take AAS credit courses to improve their job skills. These students never intend to earn a degree, but the training helps them improve their performance or to advance in their field. In fall 2005, 199 students indicated they were in this category. Program directors have been encouraged to try to account for all these different types of students. While program directors have not been able to obtain responses from all graduates, employment or continuing education of those responding is very high.

*  As reported to ADHE by the office of Institutional Research

**Follow-up included those who received training but did not earn a degree

***Calculation based on number responding to follow-up, not total graduating

****The student not employed did so by choice, not becasue of training or lack of opportunity

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Expertise

Expertise refers to the technical knowledge and skill required in the occupation. Each occupational program has been encouraged to identify a direct method for measuring expertise. Many programs also utilize indirect methods, such as graduate surveys, to gain a sense of student skill. Graduate surveys do not directly measure student expertise but provides student self-assessment on how well the program prepared them with the technical knowledge and skills needed to succeed on the job. The expertise measures given in 2004-05 show the high achievement by NWACC students.

*  Students don't need to graduate to earn this credential

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Employer Satisfaction

Employer satisfaction is another crucial area for program assessment. Advisory boards give input about the specific knowledge, skills, and attitudes successful workers need to possess. Program faculty develop the curriculum to help students acquire the learning outcomes suggested by their advisory boards and the standards of the profession. Employer satisfaction with student preparation and performance closes the assessment loop. Employer feedback helps program faculty and advisory board members determine if the program actually produced graduates who possess the intended learning outcomes, and if those outcomes actually meet the needs of employers.

AAS programs use a variety of means to gather employer feedback. Several programs send out formal surveys, while others interview employers informally. Other programs use input from intern supervisors. Advisory board members who employ graduates can also provide feedback about strengths and weakness in student preparation. Fewer programs have employer satisfaction measures compared to the other areas of assessment. For those that do contact employers, the feedback has been very positive.  The table below relfects teh most recent data (2004-05)

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This page was last updated on:  December 21, 2009 @ 8:51 am