Survey Process and Overview
In June of 2004 a survey was sent to all GSBS alumni (both Master’s and doctoral) for whom mailing addresses were available, a total of 1,221 individuals. The survey instrument was constructed by Dr. Marilyn Greer, Director of Education and Assessment at M. D. Anderson, and approved by the M. D. Anderson IRB Committee. A reminder postcard was sent one week after the initial mailing. For alumni who did not respond within four weeks of the original mailing, another copy of the instructions and survey were mailed. A third mailing of the survey was sent to the alumni who had still not responded after the first two mailings. The hard copy surveys had control numbers for mailing purposes to ensure no alumni received a second survey if they completed it in the prior mailings. Approximately 81 surveys were returned due to incorrect addresses. A total of 618 GSBS alumni responded to the survey, resulting in a response rate of 54.2%.
The completed surveys were anonymously returned to Dr. Greer at M. D. Anderson. She and her staff collected the data and analyzed it using frequency distributions. All unknown or missing responses were removed from the analyses.
The survey had five major objectives.
GSBS is deeply indebted to Dr. Greer and her colleagues for helping us design the survey instrument, for its distribution, and for collecting the data.
Summary of Results
The raw
data for all respondents is found in Table B.2 entitled, “GSBS
Alumni Survey, Summary of Frequencies by Year of Graduation”. For each question the data is provided for
“All Respondents”, and is also broken down into four groups based upon year of
graduation from GSBS: 1965-1979, 1980-1989, 1990-1999, and 2000-2004. These groupings were arbitrarily selected to
represent one group of very early graduates (1965-1979), one group of the most
recent graduates (2000-2004), and several intermediate groups. Unless otherwise specified, the percentages
indicated below represent the pooled responses from respondents in all four
groups.
In question #1 respondents were asked how adequate their preparation at the GSBS was in four different areas. They indicated that their preparation was either very adequate or adequate in course work (95.4%), major exams (92.0%), research training for the thesis/dissertation (94.4%), and extracurricular activities, e.g., seminars, poster sessions, symposia, trips to conferences, etc. (80.1%). In question #2 the majority of respondents indicated that the GSBS was either very effective or effective in providing them with the knowledge (88.7%) and the skills (methodology and analytical thinking) they are using today (91.1%). In question #3, 92.4% of respondents were either very satisfied or satisfied with the overall education they received from the GSBS. While there are some differences in responses among the four cohorts, responses from all the groups are very positive.
In question #4 respondents were asked how important their GSBS training in a number of areas was in the preparation for their future careers. These areas included research, scholarship, teaching, industrial research, job skills, and other career opportunities. In all categories, the majority of respondents indicated that their GSBS training was either very important or important in all six of these areas, although a considerable amount of uncertain responses were obtained for industrial research and other career opportunities. In four areas (research, scholarship, teaching, and job skills) positive responses were obtained from approximately 90% or more or the respondents. In the remaining two areas (industrial research and other career opportunities), positive responses were again received from a majority of respondents but to a lesser degree (slightly over 65% in both categories).
In question #5, respondents were asked to rate the GSBS in three categories: (1) Services and Facilities, (2) People (including GSBS deans), and (3) Academic Structure and Organization. Of the ten areas listed under Services and Facilities, six were rated as either very good or good by 75% or more of the respondents. The area of housing availability for students had the lowest rating of either very good or good (40.9%). Of the six areas listed under the People category, 75% or more of the respondents rated all six of the areas as either very good or good. Alumni in all four groups consistently rated the preparation received from their advisors very highly, with 56% rating advisors as very good and 31% as good for an overall positive rating of 87%. Of the eight areas listed under the Academic Structure and Organization category, 75% or more of the respondents rated seven of the areas (quality of courses, breadth of courses available, tutorials, research guidance, flexibility of curriculum, specific GSBS Programs, and location in the Texas Medical Center) as either very good or good. There was also one area where the response of very poor and poor was above 20% and this was in relation to career development activities and advising (27.1%). Areas where ratings of very good and good were less than 75% but greater than 50% are other financial aid (i.e., loans and aid other than GSBS stipends), academic computing, recreational facilities, and career development activities.
Over 86% of all respondents would positively recommend GSBS to others for graduate training, with 48.6% saying they would recommend GSBS very strongly and 37.6% indicating they would recommend GSBS strongly to others. Question #7 asked respondents to provide narrative comments explaining their rationale for answering question #6 as they did, and those responses are provided.
Questions 8 - 15 deal primarily with the amount of contact that alumni have had with their advisors, other faculty members, and students, and the post-GSBS activity of graduates.
In question #16 a large majority of respondents in all years felt that their advisors were either very helpful or helpful in assisting them to obtain their first position, and in question #17 the large majority in all years also felt that GSBS training was either very effective or effective in preparing them for their first position after graduation from GSBS. Questions 18-21 provide data on the training and employment of alumni after graduation from GSBS. It is very significant that 84% of all graduates feel that their current employment is very related or related to the training they received at GSBS (question #22) and 81% of all GSBS graduates since 1965 feel that the School prepared them very effectively or effectively for their current position (question #23).
Based upon responses to questions #27 and 28, the great majority of respondents in all years felt that they are very appropriately or appropriately employed (90%) and that they consider their careers either very successful or successful (86%).
At the end of the survey, respondents were invited to make narrative comments, and these are provided verbatim. Of the 256 narrative comments received, 81 (31.3%) were considered to be positive and 10 (3.9%) were considered to be negative. Of the remaining comments 118 (46.1%) were viewed as suggestions and 47 (18.4%) were judged to be miscellaneous comments.
Overall,
the outcome of the 2004 Alumni Survey indicates that our graduates are
extremely positive about the education they received at GSBS and their overall
experience in graduate school. These
results are a testament to the quality of the educational program that GSBS has
provided since its inception, and continues to provide, and to the atmosphere
and environment that permeates the School.
The alumni responses are also a great tribute to the collective efforts
of the GSBS Faculty and Staff, and the many institutional, school, and department/division
offices and people at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston,
M.