1. Institutional Research and Effectiveness
  2. Survey Research

Survey Research

The Graduate Center utilizes surveys as a key component in its data-informed institutional decisions and planning. Student surveys collect information on graduate experiences and employment plans. Faculty surveys focus on collecting information on scholarship as well as satisfaction with work experience at the GC. Alumni surveys are key in providing employment and other post-graduation information about our graduates. The GC relies on a combination of internal surveys, designed and administered by the Office of Institutional Research and Effectiveness (OIRE) and those designed by external organizations.  More information about our surveys can be found below.
 

The Doctoral Student Experience Survey and Master’s Student Experience Survey help the GC understand student experience and satisfaction in areas such as program information and academic advising, professional development and career advising, community building, and support and obstacles. The most recent survey also asked questions about diversity, equity, and inclusion and the impacts of COVID-19.

The Master’s Student Exit Survey provides information on graduating master’s students' immediate employment plans, whether this employment is related to their degree, and whether they believe completing their degree was worthwhile. Once a master’s student has deposited their thesis or capstone project with the library, they are directed to complete the Master’s Exit Survey. 

The Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED) is an exit survey given to all graduating doctoral students and is administered by the National Science Foundation. The SED gathers information annually from new research doctorate graduates from U.S. universities about their educational histories, funding sources, and post-doctoral plans. The SED data are added to a historical national record dating back to 1920 that is used to track the number of graduates in various disciplines, follow their educational paths and movement into the labor market, and study related information about doctoral education. The most recent SED national results are located here, on the NSF website.

The Master’s and Doctoral Exit survey responses are merged with other information in our Alumni Tracking Database about the employment outcomes of Graduate Center students.

The GC is an affiliate partner in the PhD Career Pathways project conducted by the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) and participates in two of its surveys. The CGS Student Survey is developed by CGS and administered by OIRE to current doctoral students. It provides information on the types of jobs students aim to have and the extent to which students believe their program is providing them the necessary research skills and professional development opportunities to realize those career goals. More information and posted national findings are located here, on the CGS website.

The Faculty Scholarship Survey is designed by the CUNY central office and is administered annually to active faculty by OIRE. The scholarship survey collects information on faculty scholarly work for the previous calendar year. Results are aggregated by program, cluster, and type of work. Results are utilized in reporting to the CUNY central office, accreditation efforts and in a variety of other ways to support the institution. 

The COACHE Survey is part of a national program called the Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education (COACHE). It is designed and administered by the Harvard Graduate School of Education. The survey results provide the GC with our faculty's current job satisfaction compared to faculty at peer institutions in a variety of areas, such as leadership and governance, support, and research. The COACHE survey was last administered across CUNY campuses in 2019. 

As part of the PhD Career Pathways project conducted by the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS), the CGS Alumni survey is developed by CGS and administered by OIRE to doctoral alumni. It collects information on alumni’s current jobs and how well their PhD experience prepared them for their job. More information and posted national findings are located here, on the CGS website.

OIRE is continually developing and administering new surveys, as needed. For example, in Fall 2022, OIRE developed a Child Care Survey to learn about the needs and interests of Graduate Center students who care for young children.

OIRE also conducted a staff survey about remote work in Spring 2020. This survey assessed staff experience and satisfaction once the building closed in response to the COVID19 pandemic.