AiP Career Services Improvement AssessmentSubmission to President’s Assessment Challenge

Outcome / Department Objective Addressed•Reviewed Institutional Effectiveness

Objectives •Selected Objective 1:

▫Graduates seeking employment will be successfully employed in their field of study within six months post graduation.

•Selected Outcome to Support Objective:▫Improve and expand marketing of quarterly

Portfolio Shows▫Expand number of potential employers

attending the show

Why Portfolio Show?

•Quarterly event •Showcase for graduating students work•Generate buzz in market•Can directly drive employment

opportunities for graduating students

Process Begins….at the beginning•New Director started on September 1, 2011•His 1st Portfolio Show was September 15 2011•Opportunity to experience the show for first

time•Reaction/Findings:

▫Career Services does great job of execution▫Venue is good▫Timing in middle of day might cause limited

employer participation▫Great display of graduate work and potential▫Limited community buzz

Internal Assessment Conducted•Following the September Show, Director

conducted informal survey of:▫Academic Department Chairs▫Career Services Team Members▫Students▫Employers

•Purpose – what can be done to improve Portfolio Reviews for students and employers

Informal Survey Findings• Portfolio Review is a great event• Timing of event might be better attended if

conducted in evenings instead of middle of work day• Venue is okay, but hard to find and navigate• Limited participation by students or faculty in the

marketing and promotion of the event• Format is great but areas of improvement are:

▫Find a way to keep student costs down▫Would like to see some standardization in

presentation standards▫Would like to increase student participation – make

showing mandatory for graduation

Approach to Improving Event

•Based on feedback, Career Services determined to make the following changes to the event:▫Change name from Portfolio Review to

Portfolio Show (less of a review and more of a celebration)

▫Change time of the event / Look for new venue

▫Incorporate students and Academic Department Chairs more in the marketing and promotion

▫Look for opportunities to create more community buzz about the event and leverage local marketing challenges

Keyes to Portfolio Show Improvement Efforts• Quarterly Event

▫Therefore can make changes incrementally and react quickly if needed

• Reduction in Staff threw monkey wrench in▫Key team member who ran Portfolio Show logistics

for years was lost due to RIP – Director assumes execution responsibilities

• Added graphic design student worker to team▫Offered Career Services the ability to develop more

customized local marketing materials while leveraging Corporate’s design partner for bulk of creative

Incremental Improvements December 15, 2011 Show

• Modified Time of Event• New Name –

Portfolio Show• Mass personalized email

marketing campaign• Students & Dept Chairs

involved in building targeted marketing list

• Expanded list to include trade and industry professionals

• Secured imaginepittsburghonline blog post for future marketing efforts (Click to See and Hear)

• Implemented Student and Attendee Post Event Surveys

Incremental Improvements March 22, 2012 Show

• New Venue – Heinz Field• Reverted back to

midday event based on employer and student feedback

• Leveraged social media for marketing – BusCalendar, LinkedIn, Facebook

• Mass personalized email marketing campaign

• Expanded student involvement

Incremental Improvements June 14, 2012 Show

• Continue to involve students in marketing list building – who do you want to see at the Show?

• Increased promotion to online students to participate

• Incorporated “Save The Date” for Sept 2012 Show

Incremental Improvements September 13, 2012 Show

• Marketing show sooner than in past and will do so moving forward

• Extending student participation in marketing

• Significant effort to clean marketing lists throughout campaigns

Feedback Collection Critical•Starting with December Show, implemented

web-based post show survey sent to:▫Graduates who participated in show▫Trade/Industry professionals who attended event

•Data collected includes:▫Satisfaction levels with venue, time, food, quality

of attendees (student and professional)▫Areas of improvement▫New for trade/industry attendees…would you

like us to pre-register you and can you recommend a friend?

Feedback Areas for Improvement•Feedback has been around 30% for

Graduates and 20% from Trade/Industry Attendees

•Looking for creative/cost effective ways to increase response rates from both audiences

•Overall, feedback has helped in incremental show improvements and employer participation

Benefits of Improvements to Portfolio Show• Increased community awareness of

Portfolio Show •Student morale is more positive about the

show since moved to Heinz Field • Increased transparency of marketing

efforts to students and academics•Trade/Industry satisfaction has improved

and we are receiving positive feedback• Informal information indicates that on-site

interviewing has increased

Opportunities for Improvements• Establish better data collection and reporting

system(s) for key statistics including:▫Survey data being collected currently▫Number of graduates moving their job search in a

positive direction based on showing at portfolio show• Come up with strategy to leverage show to benefit of

AiP departments/initiatives (admissions, PACs, etc.) ▫ Increase trade/industry professional attendance▫Maintain attention on graduates▫Leverage venue, displays and student participation to

add value for other departments