Assessment Details
Academic Year: 2020-2021 Level: Undergraduate
Campus Department: Student Affairs [UG and Grad]
Program Type: Co-Curricular Program [UG and Grad]
Program Name: Endeavor: The Liberal Arts Advantage (Link)
Description of Data Collection:
In past years, we included pre-test Likert scale questions on the student registration form and the same questions (as well as program satisfaction questions) on the post-program survey that students took upon completion of Endeavor. After assessing the program for 4 years in a row, we have not conducted a full program assessment for the last couple years. We did, however, collect demographic data on attendees to determine who attended in terms of major, gender, race/ethnicity.
Review Process:
We collected demographic data on student participants by asking them to self-identify in their registration. In addition, we labeled all attendees in our Handshake career management platform, allowing us to run reports of attendees and look at their majors and other demographic data.
Resulting Program Changes:
In January 2021, we hosted Endeavor in a virtual format due to the ongoing pandemic. As such, the adjustments we made to the program were due to the new virtual format rather than because of data. That said, we used past student feedback and data on student learning to guide our decisions in which elements of the program to retain in a virtual environment and which to rethink. For instance, we know students greatly enjoy and benefit from their interactions with alumni and learning about a specific organization on the career trek. Therefore, we maintained the alumni panels and networking, simplifying the process so we offered only one panel at a time and In January 2021, we hosted Endeavor in a virtual format due to the ongoing pandemic. As such, the adjustments we made to the program were due to the new virtual format rather than because of data. That said, we used past student feedback and data on student learning to guide our decisions in which elements of the program to retain in a virtual environment and which to rethink. For instance, we know students greatly enjoy and benefit from their interactions with alumni and learning about a specific organization on the career trek. Therefore, we maintained the alumni panels and networking, simplifying the process so we offered only one panel at a time and adding breakout rooms to the end of each panel to create space for smaller networking opportunities. We also created an alumni mentor role and had small groups of students meet with their mentor twice during the program to learn more about networking and to process the Endeavor experience with an alum. Additionally, we created virtual industry immersion experiences with employers to replace the in-person career trek, during which each organization created an interactive activity for students to learn what the organization actually does. On the other hand, having students complete the skill assessment virtually would not have been effective, so we had students complete that on their own in advance of the program and then processed it together via Zoom. Because we did not conduct a full assessment of Endeavor in January 2021 and because of the unusual nature of this year’s program being entirely virtual, we have only anecdotal data to support the success of these changes. Unfortunately, we do not have concrete data to show the impact of these changes on student learning. That said, our staff noted that student engagement in sessions was higher this year than in past years with students asking questions and actively engaging in discussions. Likewise, because we offered only one alumni panel at a time this year, students could attend more than the the 2-3 panels they have been able to attend in past years. Panel attendance, therefore, was significantly higher this year than in the past with attendance ranging from 98 to 188 students. Unfortunately, however, the virtual format doesn’t allow for the best possible networking opportunities. While we tried to address this by creating small alumni mentoring groups and by using Eagle Exchange to encourage continued to connection after Endeavor, making connections in person remains ideal. | In terms of operational outcomes, we achieved our highest student and alumni participation numbers this year — 275 students and 98 alumni. Unfortunately, however, we did not achieve our goals for proportional attendance of AHANA (27% actual v. 33% goal), Montserrat (12% actual v. 19% goal), and first generation (6.7% actual v. 12% goal) students.
Date of Most Recent Program Review:
In January 2021, we hosted Endeavor in a virtual format due to the ongoing pandemic. As such, the adjustments we made to the program were due to the new virtual format rather than because of data. That said, we used past student feedback and data on student learning to guide our decisions in which elements of the program to retain in a virtual environment and which to rethink. For instance, we know students greatly enjoy and benefit from their interactions with alumni and learning about a specific organization on the career trek. Therefore, we maintained the alumni panels and networking, simplifying the process so we offered only one panel at a time and In January 2021, we hosted Endeavor in a virtual format due to the ongoing pandemic. As such, the adjustments we made to the program were due to the new virtual format rather than because of data. That said, we used past student feedback and data on student learning to guide our decisions in which elements of the program to retain in a virtual environment and which to rethink. For instance, we know students greatly enjoy and benefit from their interactions with alumni and learning about a specific organization on the career trek. Therefore, we maintained the alumni panels and networking, simplifying the process so we offered only one panel at a time and adding breakout rooms to the end of each panel to create space for smaller networking opportunities. We also created an alumni mentor role and had small groups of students meet with their mentor twice during the program to learn more about networking and to process the Endeavor experience with an alum. Additionally, we created virtual industry immersion experiences with employers to replace the in-person career trek, during which each organization created an interactive activity for students to learn what the organization actually does. On the other hand, having students complete the skill assessment virtually would not have been effective, so we had students complete that on their own in advance of the program and then processed it together via Zoom. Because we did not conduct a full assessment of Endeavor in January 2021 and because of the unusual nature of this year’s program being entirely virtual, we have only anecdotal data to support the success of these changes. Unfortunately, we do not have concrete data to show the impact of these changes on student learning. That said, our staff noted that student engagement in sessions was higher this year than in past years with students asking questions and actively engaging in discussions. Likewise, because we offered only one alumni panel at a time this year, students could attend more than the the 2-3 panels they have been able to attend in past years. Panel attendance, therefore, was significantly higher this year than in the past with attendance ranging from 98 to 188 students. Unfortunately, however, the virtual format doesn’t allow for the best possible networking opportunities. While we tried to address this by creating small alumni mentoring groups and by using Eagle Exchange to encourage continued to connection after Endeavor, making connections in person remains ideal. | In terms of operational outcomes, we achieved our highest student and alumni participation numbers this year — 275 students and 98 alumni. Unfortunately, however, we did not achieve our goals for proportional attendance of AHANA (27% actual v. 33% goal), Montserrat (12% actual v. 19% goal), and first generation (6.7% actual v. 12% goal) students.
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