GRADUATE STUDENT EXIT - AUC Intranet€¦ · 4.97 4.83 4.59 4.06 3.79 l and t s s m nt i s on us r n e o & ng … al m nt s d e i ty nt of nd … Campus Life 4.4 4.09 4.05 3.62 Career

GRADUATE STUDENT EXIT

SURVEY REPORT

Fall 2019

THE OFFICE OF STRATEGY MANAGEMENT AND INSTITUTIONAL EFFECTIVENESS

Graduate Student Exit Report – Fall 2019 | 2

STUDY OVERVIEW INTRODUCTION The Graduate Student Exit study is administered every semester to all graduating students from MA/MS and PhD programs. The study aims to ensure the continuing quality of education provided by AUC to its graduate students, as well as get a feel for future graduate enrollments whether through student recommendations or pursuits of further post-graduate studies. The Graduate Student Exit study is typically mandatory to all students expecting to graduate each semester.

METHODOLOGY This survey has been designed and administered by the Office of Strategy Management and Institutional Effectiveness in cooperation with the Office of the Dean of Graduate Studies. All 109 students on the expected to graduate list for Fall 2019 were invited to participate in the survey on the 28th of Jan, followed by three reminders on the 2nd, 9th and 13th of Feb. The survey was closed on the 16th of Feb, yielding a total response rate of 55.6%.

REPORT STRUCTURE This report is divided into the following sections:

01 – EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3

02 – ANALYSIS OF FINDINGS 5

2.1 ADMINISTRATIVE DATA 5 2.2 OVERALL GRADUATE EXPERIENCE ON CAMPUS 7 2.3 ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE 11 2.4 STUDENT RECOMMENDATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS 15

03 – TRENDS ON KEY METRICS 17

03 – APPENDIX 19


01 – EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

GRADUATE STUDENT REPRESENTATION Demographics Students sampled in this Fall 2019 survey were mostly graduating from GAPP and SSE programs. Around 85% of graduate students have obtained their Bachelor’s from institutions in Egypt. Around 49% of graduate students had 3 years of work experience or less at the time of joining the program. Around 56% have continued to work full-time.

Future Plans Almost 58% indicate an intention to enroll in a doctoral program, specifically in the UK (30%) or in the US (20%). Out of these 32 students, only 4% are considering AUC. Still, 56% are undecided about institution and/or program despite their PhD plans. While institutions reported are quite fragmented, Cairo University, AUC, and Oxford top the list at an institutional level. On the other side, 38% are still undecided about whether to pursue a doctoral program, which presents a conducive opportunity for AUC to target and attract its own students.

EVALUATION OF GRADUATE EXPERIENCES AT AUC Recommendations of AUC 91% of graduate students sampled would definitely or probably recommend AUC to colleagues considering graduate degrees in their respective fields of study.

Strengths & Weaknesses Most open-ended feedback about graduate experiences cite an outstanding learning experience and quality of education as the main strength of their time at AUC, complemented by a supportive environment and expert faculty in their respective fields. Weaknesses reported, on the other hand, revealed several areas surrounding learning environment (mainly from strength of program), quality and availability of professors, teaching methodology and new mentions for financial difficulties faced from low stipends. areas focus mostly on the strength of the program itself specifically through offering more courses that are technically advanced, as well as caliber and diversity of faculty. There are also several calls for improving teaching methodologies and adopting blended learning.

Campus Life Graduate students have reported remarkably high satisfaction with their overall experience at AUC at 94%, driven by widely-used elements of their life on campus such as email and internet services (5.46/6.00), Wi-Fi connectivity (5.20), and Bus transportation (4.97). Satisfaction with the athletics department is also among the highest (5.22), along with extended learning services such as seminars (4.55), workshops (4.41), and support grants (4.40), and. The lowest rated services, however, is internship opportunities (3.62), followed by social activities for graduates (3.70) and Payment of stipend for follows (3.79). These findings remain almost the same from the previous two semesters.

Academic Experience Graduate students found their overall academic experience to be good, particularly feeling enabled to conduct their research through availability of resources (average: 4.05/5.00) made possible through convenient library hours, which is the highest rated factor at 4.30. In addition, they have found value in quality interactions with faculty (3.91) and academic advising (3.91). However, students have found some difficulty with finding available courses they need, rating this factor the lowest (3.12).


Thesis With 76% of graduate students enrolled in master’s programs with a thesis option, the process contributes a major role in their overall academic experience. All steps in the process of thesis development and submission appear to have been smooth as students reported an average of 4.1 satisfaction across factors. This is led by their supervisors’ availability for consultation (4.30), quality of thesis supervision (4.30) and positive experiences with their supervisors in terms of timely feedback (4.30/5.00). Lowest rated factors, pertain to execution, namely support in data collection (3.80) and information about copyright (3.90). Students nevertheless have reported they did feel supported by their supervisors despite a slight drop for support in finding IRB information: (3.27).

Workshops Workshop attendance was reportedly the highest at 56% for the academic integrity and research ethics workshop, followed by library research guidance at 53%. On the other hand, workshops on survey design, grant proposal writing, and how to apply to PhD were the lowest attended, reported at 18%, 19%, and 11%, respectively. Most students recommended the Academic integrity and research ethics (51%), both library research guidance workshop and Presentation Skills (32%), followed by thesis proposal writing (24%).

Skill Enhancement While students reportedly felt AUC enhanced most skills pertaining to academia and research to some extent1, skills involving interaction with juniors such as teaching and supervising, in addition to writing grant proposals still were the lowest rated this semester.

RECOMMENDATIONS Most of the recommendations are still the same as those of the previous semester:

Ensure required courses are available for each student to avoid disturbances to schedule planning

Hire more experienced faculty, with focus on giving constructive feedback and mentorship

Improve strength of some programs, as well as redesign programs to include in-depth learning of courses

Ensure fellowship and work-study payments are being made in time

1 Questions rated on a scale from 1 – 3: 3-To a great extent, 2-To some extent, 1-Not at all


02 – ANALYSIS OF FINDINGS 2.1 ADMINISTRATIVE DATA Glossary GAPP: School of Global Affairs and Public Policy GSE: Graduate School of Education HUSS: School of Humanities and Social Sciences BUS: School of Business SGS: School of Graduate Studies SSE: School of Sciences and Engineering IRB: Institutional Review Board GSA: Graduate Students Association

Student Information School GAPP and HUSS graduates constitute more than half of the sample, followed by SSE.

Single Degrees by School None of the 60 respondents have obtained a dual degree.

Primary Program Count Percentage

GAPP 18 30% TV. & Digital Journalism 4 7%

Journalism & Mass Communication 3 5%

Master in Public Policy 3 5%

MA in Public Administration 2 3%

Master of Global Affairs 2 3%

Gender & Women's St. in ME/NA 1 2%

International Human Rights Law 1 2%

MA of Laws LLM in Int & Com. Law 1 2%

Migration and Refugee Studies 1 2%

SSE 18 30% Biotechnology 4 7%

PhD in Engineering 3 5%

Chemistry 2 3%

Environmental Engineering 2 3%

Nanotechnology 2 3%

Electronics & Communications Eng 1 2%

Environmental System Design 1 2%

PhD in Applied Science 1 2%

Physics 1 2%

Sustainable Development 1 2%

GSE 8 13% Int'l & Comparative Education 6 10%

30% 30%13% 13% 13%

GAPP SSE GSE HUSS BUS

Schools Representedn=60


Educational Leadership 2 3%

HUSS 8 13% Teaching English to Speakers of other Lang 3 5%

Arabic Studies 1 2%

Comparative, ME Pols & Society 1 2%

Engl. Comp. Literature 1 2%

MA-Community Psychology 1 2%

Sociology Anthropology 1 2%

BUS 8 13%

Master of Business Admin. 4 7%

Finance 3 5%

Economics 1 2%

Undergraduate Degree 85% of graduate students have obtained their Bachelor’s from institutions in Egypt, the majority of which were from other universities in Egypt. 57% hail from public universities, whereas only 21% are from private universities.

Status at AUC Furthermore, 84.5% are reportedly students only, and have not joined as AUC staff or faculty. Around 8.5% have

reported that they are AUC Staff, whereas 7% are Faculty.

28%

57%

15%

Universities for Bachelor Degreesn=60

Universities abroad

Other universities inEgypt

AUC

Public Universities

Private Universities

n=42 14% 24%

5% 5%


2.2 OVERALL GRADUATE EXPERIENCE ON CAMPUS Overall Satisfaction 94% of graduate students are very satisfied or satisfied with their overall experience at AUC, for a 4.3 average rating. Students report positively on several aspects of academia, including personal and professional development and mentorship. Ratings for the following statements follow a 5-point scale, where 5-Excellent, 4-Very good, 3-Good, 2-Fair, 1-Poor.

Quality of Support Services A list of 19 support services classified into the following categories were rated on a 6-point scale.2

2 Questions rated on a scale from 1 – 6: 6-Excellent, 5-Very Good, 4-Good, 3-Average, 2-Fair, 1-Poor

Personal development opportunities

Professional development opportunities

Your student life experience

Academic mentoring support 3.93

3.96

3.96

4.07

1 2 3 4 5

Average Ratingn=54

39%

56%

4%

2% 0%

Overall Satisfactionn=54

Very satisfied

Satisfied

Neutral

Dissatisfied

Very dissatisfied

Support Services

n=108

Extended Learning

Social & Mentoring

Employment Campus Life

Combined Satisfaction

94%


Incidence of Service Use Aside from services directly pertaining to student life such as Food services availability, Email and internet services, Wi-Fi and photocopying/printing, graduate students reported some exposure to academic and extended learning services led by lectures and seminars. They appear, however, largely uninvolved with student life support services such as the Counseling Center and Mentoring Unit.

Graduate students find their overall experience on campus to have been very good, particularly pertaining to widely used services such as Wi-Fi and internet, photocopying, athletics, food services, all of which have the highest ratings among sampled students. Positive evaluations follow for extended learning opportunities, led by public lectures & seminars, whereas internship opportunities are the lowest rated.

4.674.15 4.06

3.7

Studentcounseling center

Studentmentoring unit

Graduate StudentAssociation

Social activitiesfor graduate

students

Social & Mentoring

5.46 5.22 5.2 4.97 4.83 4.594.06

3.79

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and

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Ath

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mp

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Bu

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Ph

oto

cop

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pri

nti

ng

serv

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Med

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serv

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Foo

dse

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eav

aila

bili

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Pay

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fst

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Campus Life

4.44.09 4.05

3.62

Career Center Work-studyopportunities

Teachingassistantshipopportunities

Internshipopportunities

Employment

4.55 4.41 4.4

Public lecturesand seminars

GraduateStudentsAcademic

Workshops

Conference,Research andStudy Abroad

Support Grants

Extended Learning

100%100%100%

96%78%

74%74%74%

72%70%

67%65%

63%63%

61%59%59%

56%48%

Food service availabilityE-mail and internet services

WiFi services on campusPhotocopy & printing services on campus

Public lectures and seminarsSocial activities for graduate students

Career CenterTeaching assistantship opportunities

Graduate Students Academic WorkshopsPayment of stipend for fellows

Athletics departmentConference, Research and Study Abroad…

Internship opportunitiesWork-study opportunities

Graduate Student AssociationBus Transportation scheduleMedical department services

Student counseling centerStudent mentoring unit

% Students Able to Assess Servicesn=54


Employment Impact Around 49% of graduate students had 3 years of work experience or less at the time of joining the program. More than half of students (56%) continued to pursue their graduate studies while working full time. 83% of the students expect their AUC degree to have a positive impact on their salaries.

Work Experience at Program Start (n=59)

Current employment status (n=59)

Salary impact (n=59)

PhD Outlook Intention to Enroll in PhD Program While around 58% of MA/MS students plan to pursue a PhD degree, 38% are still undecided, which still indicates potential for consideration.

Among students planning to pursue a postdoctoral degree, UK-US- and Cairo based universities take the lead at 30%, 20 and 13%, respectively, followed by AUC at 4%.

Primary MA/MS Program Intended PhD Program Intended Institution

GAPP Migration & Refugee Studies - Oxford, England

Journalism & Mass Communications

PhD in marketing University of Stanford USA

University of Oxford UK

International Human Rights Law -

Yale University Oxford University

TV. & Digital Journalism - France

Master in Public Policy - SOAS University of London

Public Policy Development and Aid

-

Master of Global Affairs Political science Cairo University

University of Vienna

MA of Laws LLM in Int &Com. Law

- LSE

University of Amsterdam

49% 24% 17% 3% 7%

< 3 years 3 - 5 years 6 - 10 years 11 - 15 years > 15 years

56% 14% 29% 2%

Employed full time Employed part time Seeking employment Unemployed

83% 17%

Yes No

58%

4%

38%

n=55

Yes

No

Don't know


MA in Public Administration - Top tier school – UK

Ivy League school - USA

HUSS

Sociology Anthropology Phd in Anthropology SOAS

Phd in Sociology Cairo University

MA-Community Psychology - Edinburgh University Newcastle University

TESL: Teaching English as a Second Language

- Michigan State University

- Cairo University

Ain Shams University

SSE

BIOT: Biotechnology

- University of Berlin, Germany University of Sussex England

PhD Plant Science King Abdullah University of Science and

Technology

PhD Agriculture The University of Adelaide, Australia

- Indiana University, United States

American University in Cairo

Physics

- Yale

University of California

Electrical and Computer Engineering Queen's Belfast University, UK

Concordia University Montreal, Canada

ECNG: Electronics & Communications

- AUC

- Cairo University

Environmental Engineering Energy Resources Engineering Stanford University, USA

Environmental Engineering University of California (berkeley), USA

Nanotechnology

Ph.D in Nano medicine/Pharmaceutical Sciences University of British Columbia

Ph.D in Medicine and Health University of Sydney in Australia

- Delft University

Nottigham University

BUS

Economics Economics London School of Economics

Master of Business Admin. DBA Eslasca

GSE

Int'l & Comparative Education

- A university in New Zealand Universitat Rovira i Virgili.

- London Canada


2.3 ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE Quality of Academic Factors Overall ratings for factors3 pertaining to the academic journey of graduate students were good, particularly with regards to library hours and resources available for research as well as other academic interactions through advising, faculty, and peers. Nevertheless, course availability falls considerably behind this trend.

Skill Enhancement While students reportedly felt AUC enhanced most skills pertaining to academia and research to some extent4, skills involving interaction with juniors such as teaching and supervising, in addition to writing grant proposals still were the lowest rated this semester.

Thesis Writing a thesis is largely a requirement for the degree program among this semester’s sample, where 76% have reported pursuing a thesis track for their graduate studies.

3 Questions rated on a scale from 1 – 5: 5-Excellent, 4-Very Good, 3-Good, 2-Fair, 1-Poor 4 Questions rated on a scale from 1 – 3: 3-To a great extent, 2-To some extent, 1-Not at all

Library hours

Resources for research

Opportunities for interaction with faculty

Your academic advising

Academic standard of your peers in the program

Scheduling of your graduate courses

Opportunities to work with diverse groups in team projects

The graduate program curriculum

Opportunities to do research in your area of interest

Availability of courses you needed 3.12

3.65

3.67

3.77

3.77

3.82

3.91

3.91

4.05

4.3

1 2 3 4 5

Average Ratingsn=57

2.11

2.23

2.37

2.39

2.39

2.49

2.53

2.53

2.58

2.58

2.74

Write grant proposals

Supervise others

Become a qualified teacher

Be up to date with the latest research methods

Become a team leader

Write quality papers ready for publication

Become an expert in your field

Keep up with current advances in your field

Present research results to an audience of peers or at a conference

Collaborate with a team

Understand the principles of ethical conduct in research


Satisfaction Graduate students report almost no dissatisfaction5 with factors surrounding their thesis requirement. In fact, almost all steps in the process appear to have gone by smoothly, particularly with supervisor availability and feedback, including resources needed for thesis writing.

Helpful supervisors Further deep diving into supervisor helpfulness6 revealed graduate students felt supported throughout their thesis submission, despite a slight drop with regards to provision of information about the IRB.

Submission Support As for submission support, all had submitted a pre-final draft at the time this survey was taken, yet turnitin.com submissions are slightly lower.

5 Questions rated on a scale from 1 – 5: 5-Very satisfied, 4-Satisfied, 3-Neutral, 2-Dissatisfied, 1-Very dissatisfied 6 Questions rated on a scale from 1 – 4: 4-Very helpful, 3-Helpful, 2-Not very helpful, 1-Not helpful at all

3.8

3.9

4.0

4.0

4.1

4.2

4.3

4.3

4.3

Support in data collection

Information about copyright

Availability of suitable thesis supervisors

Availability of readers

Resources availability

Information about Institutional Review Board (IRB) for the Protection ofHuman subjects requirements

Supervisor feedback provided in a timely manner

Quality of thesis supervision

Availability of your thesis supervisor for consultation

3.27

3.41

3.43

3.48

3.52

3.55

Information about IRB

Evaluation of thesis progress

Identification of a thesis/dissertation research topic

Support in research methodology

Support in writing a thesis/dissertation proposal

Mentoring and academic advising

100%Submitted Copies of Pre-final Draft

n=44

93%Uploaded to

AUC DARn=41

93%Submitted to

turnitinn=41


Workshops The most attended workshops were academic integrity and research ethics and library guidance.

Usefulness Surprisingly, most of the least attended workshops were deemed more useful7. Nevertheless, students still found the workshops they attended useful overall.

7 Questions rated on a scale from 1 – 4: 4-Very useful, 3-Useful, 2-Not useful, 1-Not useful at all

Grant proposal writing

Academic integrity and research ethics

Survey design & data analysis

How to apply for PhD

Research methodology

Literature review and abstract

Presentation skills

Thesis proposal writing

Library research guidance

Statistical package (SPSS, survey monkey, etc ...) 3.09

3.23

3.25

3.26

3.28

3.33

3.33

3.4

3.44

3.55

1 2 3 4

Average Ratingsn=57

56%

53%

44%

35%

33%

32%

19%

19%

18%

11%

Academic integrity and research ethics

Library research guidance

Literature review and abstract

Thesis proposal writing

Presentation skills

Research methodology

Statistical package (SPSS, survey monkey, etc ...)

Grant proposal writing

Survey design & data analysis

How to apply for PhD

% of Students Attending Workshopsn=57


Workshop Recommendation Most students recommended the academic integrity and research ethics workshop, followed by library research guidance workshop, followed by presentation skills, in addition to thesis proposal writing and literature review abstract.

Students were also given the chance to suggest workshops they would like to see that are not currently provided:

Workshop Suggestions Count

Academic journal and conference paper writing and preparation

1

Thesis writing (boot camp) 1

Zotero/References 1

Verbatim: - The Research Methodology needs to be more in depth and focused on majors or type of research. - I attended a very successful workshop which was the thesis writing boot camp. - Academic journal and conference paper writing and preparation - Zotero/References - N/A

Recommended Workshops In descending order of recommendation (n=37)

51% Academic Integrity

& Research Ethics

24% Thesis Proposal

Writing 24% Literature Review

& Abstract

22% Research

Methodology

11% Statistical

Package (SPSS, SurveyMonkey)

32% Presentation

Skills 38% Library

Research Guidance

8% How to Apply

for a PhD/ Grant Proposal

3% Survey design

& data analysis


2.4 STUDENT RECOMMENDATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

Recommendations of AUC for Graduate Studies Almost 91% of graduate students sampled would definitely or probably recommend8 AUC to colleagues considering graduate degrees in their respective fields of study, an outstanding feat.

When asked to elaborate, students mostly referred to overall AUC experience, followed by quality of education and other program-specific positives.

Strengths, Weaknesses, and Improvement Areas Strengths Most open-ended feedback about graduate experiences cite an outstanding holistic experience, quality of education and skills acquired as the main strength of their time at AUC, complemented by a supportive environment that encourages networking and engagement.

Weaknesses Weaknesses reported, on the other hand, revealed several areas surrounding learning environment (mainly from strength of program), quality and availability of professors, teaching methodology and new mentions for financial difficulties faced from low stipends.

8 Would you recommend AUC to a friend or colleague considering your field of study? (n=106)

69% 22% 7% 2%

Definitely Probably Maybe Definitely not

23% 23% 23% 21% 21%16%

5% 2%

Quality ofEducation

Skills Acquired Faculty/Staff Resources/Facilities

HolisticExperience

Network/Engagement

Other Fellowship

Strengths of AUC Grad Experiencen=43

24%

18%16%

13%

8% 8%

Program itself/ courses Non Other Faculty Grant/ Fellowship Teaching methedology

Weaknesses of AUC Grad Experiencen=38


Suggestions for Improvement Improvement areas focus mostly on the strength of the program itself specifically through offering more courses that are technically advanced, as well as caliber and diversity of faculty. There are also several calls for improving teaching methodologies and adopting blended learning.

24% 24% 24%

12%8%

4% 4% 4%

N/A Others Program itselfTeaching methedology Facilities Faculty Better communication Finances

Improvement Areas for the AUC Grad Experiencen=25


03 – TRENDS ON KEY METRICS

Overall Student Satisfaction9

Recommendation

9 Reported “Very satisfied” + “Satisfied”

79.5%

90.5%83.5%

92.4%86.8% 87.0%

94.0%

Fall 2013 Fall 2014 Fall 2015 Fall 2016 Fall 2017 Fall 2018 Fall 2019

Overall Satisfaction with Graduate Experience

56.7%

71.3%

51.3% 51.4%56.2% 56.1%

69%


I would definitely recommend AUC to my friends considering my field of study


Employment Status

Intention to Pursue a PhD

57.3%

70.2%

53.0%

68.5%

67.1%

60.6%

55.9%

12.4%

14.9%

13.0%

12.0%

11.0%

10.6%

13.6%

22.5%

11.7%

21.7%

15.7%

17.1%

22.0%

28.8%

7.9%

3.2%

12.2%

3.7%

4.8%

6.8%

1.7%

Fall 2013

Fall 2014

Fall 2015

Fall 2016

Fall 2017

Fall 2018

Fall 2019

Employment Status

Employed full-time Employed part-time Seeking employment Unemployed

38.6%

49.4%55.8% 53.9% 56.0%

46.8%

58%


% Students Intending to Pursue PhD


03 – APPENDIX Demographics Gender (n=60) Citizenship (n=60)

School-related Information Degree

Primary Program Count Percentage

TOTAL 60 100%

MASTER OF ARTS 27 45% Int'l & Comparative Education 6 10%

TV. & Digital Journalism 4 7%

Journalism & Mass Comm 3 5%

Tch Engl to Spkr of other Lang 3 5%

Educational Leadership 2 3%

Arabic Studies 1 2%

Comparative, ME Pols & Society 1 2%

Economics 1 2%

Engl. Comp. Literature 1 2%

Gender & Women's St. in ME/NA 1 2%

International Human Rights Law 1 2%

MA-Community Psychology 1 2%

Migration and Refugee Studies 1 2%

Sociology Anthropology 1 2%

MASTER OF SCIENCE 16 27% Biotechnology 4 7%

Finance 3 5%

Chemistry 2 3%

Environmental Engineering 2 3%

Nanotechnology 2 3%

Electronics & Communications Eng 1 2%

Physics 1 2%

Sustainable Development 1 2%

MASTER OF LAWS 1 2% International and Comparative Law 1 2%

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION 4 7% Business Administration 4 7%

MASTER OF PUBLIC POLICY 3 5% Public Policy 3 5%

MASTER OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION 2 3%

67%

33%

Male

FemaleEgypt, 90%

Uganda, 3%

Other, 7%


Public Administration 2 3%

MASTER OF GLOBAL AFFAIRS 2 3% Global Affairs 2 3%

MASTER OF ENGINEERING 1 2% Environmental System Design 1 2%

PhD 4 7%

PhD in Applied Science 1 2%

PhD in Engineering 3 5%

Tuition Coverage (n=60)

67%

55%

20%13% 12%

5%

AUC Fellowship Personal fund AUC Financial aid (workstudy/assistantships or

tuition discount)

AUC Staff/FacultyScholarship

Other (please specify) Outside donor (FordFoundation, Fulbright,your employer, etc.)

Documents

GRADUATE STUDENT EXIT - AUC Intranet€¦ · 4.97 4.83 4.59 4.06 3.79 l and t s s m nt i s on us r n e o & ng … al m nt s d e i ty nt of nd … Campus Life 4.4 4.09 4.05 3.62 Career