SCAD - NASAD Certification and fast growth concerns

RainingAgain
Sat, 23 Oct 2010 12:58:56 +0000

Part 2…

///…Job placement figures they quote are a lie…///

Job placement figures are not “a lie”. They are technically accurate, but they also can be deceptive by the nature of the data collection process. SCAD uses the same methodology(ies) and standard operating procedure(s) as every other school in the country. So, I’d be wary of ALL job placement claims at ALL schools.

Take a gander at this law student’s complaint, "An anonymous student posted an open letter to the dean of the law school at Boston College with an interesting offer: He wanted the school to keep his degree in return for a refund on his tuition…He said he was “resentful at the thought that I was convinced to go to law school by empty promises of a fulfilling and remunerative career” – tampabay.com

Open Letter to Dean: [Open Letter to Interim Dean Brown|EagleiOnline](http://eagleionline.com/2010/10/15/open-letter-to-interim-dean-brown/)

Let’s say 100 students graduate from a department. A year later surveys are sent out to determine placement and satisfaction. 60 students return the forms and 40 indicate they are employed. SCAD and all schools will use that data to tell you that 2/3 of students have found employment, and based on the returned data, that is accurate. But really, the schools only “know” that 40 of 100 students have jobs. Who knows what the status of the missing 40 graduates is? No one.

Or…

Many schools rely on the self-motivation of alumni to voluntarily update their status post-graduation - often on a Web site. Again, the percentages can only be tabulated based upon data collected. In this case, my best guess is that only students who have done well are likely to post their status. Who wants to post that they have “failed”? Though the results are “accurate” this method is likely to sway the data significantly, and is probably least representative of the true placement rate.

While I was at SCAD, I think the placement rate advertised for Graphic Design was 92%. Was this a lie? Based on collected data, no. But do I think 92% of all G.D. graduates found relevant work in G.D. No way.

Also…

Let’s say the school collects data for their Graphic Design program. One student responds that he/she works at Kinkos printing whatever. Another student responds that he/she is a Junior Art Director with Leo Burnett. As far as the data is concerned, both have found employment. Few - if any at all - schools are not likely going to tell you about of the quality of the jobs students have obtained.

All schools use one of the above methods as far as I know. If I were an applicant researching colleges, I would be very aggressive in trying to ascertain how data is collected. Admissions representatives aren’t going to know jack squat about the process. Prospective applicants should politely bug the Alumni Administrators. It may require some digging, and some schools may balk and not answer your questions. I’d also ask about graduating class sizes, and then review alumni pages to see how many have their actual status’s posted online.

Which reminds me, I need to update mine to Pumpkin Picker. ;-)