Informed Consent

The annual Graduate Employment Survey is an important activity that helps the College to examine professional and academic career outcomes and improve its understanding of post-graduation activities, to enhance educational and student life programming for current and future students. Data is collected anonymously and reported in aggregate form by the College. Questions about the survey and subsequent reports should be directed to the Center for Educational Effectiveness (cee@artcenter.edu).

Purpose

The U.S. Department of Education stipulates, as part of the 2008 Higher Education Opportunity Act (reauthorization of the Higher Education Act of 1965), institutions of higher education must provide information to current and prospective students on placement and types of employment obtained by graduated students, job placement rates of graduated students, and information regarding the types of graduate and professional education in which graduates of the institution's 4-year degree programs enroll. Institutions must identify the source(s) of the information, and any timeframes and methodology associated with it. ArtCenter College of Design has elected to administer an annual Graduate Employment Survey to alumni (whose degrees have been conferred) at 1 to 1.5 years from graduation. The resulting information is used in institutional decision-making and strategy and provides the College with other critical information necessary for addressing the student experience and educational programming.

Description of Research

Alumni will be asked to respond to a series of questions via an online survey platform (Alchemer) on a variety of topics including your employment status, additional education, job search, income/salary, etc. Responses are recorded electronically; once the survey is completed alumni may request a copy of the resulting report from the Center for Educational Effectiveness.

Duration

The survey will take approximately 5 - 7 minutes to complete, although it could take longer depending on response selection. The full survey should take no more than 20 minutes at most.

Risks

Risk associated with this study is low and no more than would be encountered with daily activities. The act of responding to the online survey is no riskier than any other computer-based activity. There may be questions in the survey that cause discomfort or that alumni would rather not answer. Participation is voluntary and all questions are optional.

Survey responses, including any personal information, will be stored by the College in a protected digital file. The information is subject to all college policies and procedures related to privacy and data protection. Alumni should only share the information that they are comfortable disclosing.

Benefits

There are no costs for participation. Data obtained is beneficial to the College and will contribute to a greater understanding of career outcomes post-graduation.

Incentives/Compensation

By completing the survey alumni are eligible to receive a digital gift card. Eligibility for receiving an incentive is based on the acceptance of the College’s Informed Consent and receipt of a completed survey from a participant before the close of the survey collection period. Incentives will be disbursed automatically after the completion (submission) of the survey. Participants will receive an email with instructions on how to claim and a link to their incentive after clicking the “Submit” button. The college’s rules for the incentive distribution can be found here. Inquiries about the incentive program should be directed to the Center for Educational Effectiveness.

Participation

Participation in the survey is entirely voluntary. Alumni may withdraw their responses at any time without negative consequences (please contact the Center for Educational Effectiveness for this request). Willingness to take part in the survey, or the decision to withdraw from the study is entirely the decision of the participant and will not affect their relationship or standing with the College. By participating in this survey, the respondent agrees to the use of third-party systems that will collect the survey responses and administer the incentive. The data and information collected by these systems will only be used for communication and reporting purposes.

Confidentiality/Anonymity of Responses

Information collected for this study will be held confidential. Except as provided elsewhere in this policy, any personal data collected during the survey, such as your name, email address, demographic information and survey responses will be collected, processed and stored in accordance with all applicable college policies including its privacy policy. Personal information collected in the survey will not be sold or used for any other purpose. By participating in the survey and accepting these terms respondents agree to the use of their data as provided in this policy and in the privacy policy. Please be aware that personal information may be processed in the country where it was collected from as well as other countries, including the United States, where laws regarding processing of personal information may be less stringent than the laws in your country.

Any report or information posted to the College’s public facing website will only contain aggregate information. No individual information will be published under any circumstances. All information collected will be kept secure using encryption protocols used by the survey service. Datasets and all records of this study will only be accessed by staff members in the Center for Educational Effectiveness. All stored information for this survey will be kept on the college’s server and in the online survey service college account managed by the Center for Educational Effectiveness. If a printed version is needed, the document will be kept in a locked file drawer inside of an office where only the Center for Educational Effectiveness staff has access. Records related to the survey and resulting report are kept permanently on file, per the College's record retention policy and reporting related to the College's regional accreditation cycle.

Results

The analysis of data related to this survey will begin in the fall semester (term). The Center for Educational Effectiveness produces a report with aggregate data and findings, including a summary of descriptive statistics related to survey, and charts for each topical area of questioning along with response rates. To request a copy of the report please contact cee@artcenter.edu.

If you have questions or concerns about your participation, technical issues with the online platform, or other concerns related to the survey, please email Sarah Fitzpatrick, Research Analyst for the Office of Institutional Research and the Center for Educational Effectiveness.