Bruin Brief 2022-07-15 Survey Season Part I
- Cynthia James
From Academic Affairs |
Survey Season Part I |
“Without proper self-evaluation, failure is inevitable.” -Coach John Wooden
For many people, June is a busy, happy, bustling conglomeration of graduation festivities, summer school, and perhaps a long-awaited vacation. For the academic programs team, June includes all that and more. We are busy working behind the scenes to wrap up one academic year and smooth the path to the next.
We dub the 1st week of June to the 4th of July holiday weekend “Survey Season” because it is during this 5-week time span that we send out multiple surveys to different SON affiliates. To improve our programs, we ask for feedback from our graduating students. What areas of their nursing program met or exceeded their expectations? And in what areas might we improve? The new graduate survey solicits data from BS, MECN, MSN-APRN, and DNP students through a contract with Skyfactor. A Qualtrics alumni survey is sent to the graduates of the prior year to ask about their reflections on how well they were prepared for entry-to-practice or graduate-level practice. We also survey the community of interest practice partners who are current and future employers of our graduates (see Table 1).
Table 1. Evaluative data collection about nursing academic programs through surveys of stakeholders.
Survey Name | Who Receives It | How it’s sent out | Who Reviews the Results | Why this is Important |
EBI SkyFactor Student Program Satisfaction Surveys | Graduating Students (BS, MECN, APRN, DNP) | EBI is a company we pay to administer this survey for us | Leadership Team, Associate Dean of Academic Programs, Director of Evaluation, Program Directors | We want to know how satisfied students are with their SON education. This survey also compares our results to other schools so we know how we stack up to our competitors. |
UCLA School of Nursing Alumni Survey-Post 1 Year Graduation | SON Alumni who graduated 1 Year ago | Student Affairs Team | Leadership Team, Associate Dean of Academic Programs, Director of Evaluation, Student Affairs Team | We want to know how our alumni are doing after they have graduated. We ask questions regarding their employment status and where they work to learn how best we can prepare our current students for the real world |
UCLA School of Nursing Employer Survey | Clinical site contacts, employers of our students | Clinical placement coordinators | Leadership Team, Associate Dean of Academic Programs, Director of Evaluation, Student Affairs Team, Clinical Placement Coordinators | We want to ensure we are serving our community’s needs. We want to know from employers how our graduates are doing in the work force and if there is any feedback on how we can better prepare our students for the real world. We want to know if they would hire more of our SON graduates. |
What do we do with the data?
Once Survey Season comes to an end, volumes of evaluative data are organized and analyzed by the academic programs team, particularly Dr. Paul Macey, Director of Evaluation. Surveys are anonymous. We approach results with sensitivity, as sometimes students and alumni offer direct and identifying information about particular faculty or staff who met or did not meet their expectations. Then we feed-forward collated results to Program Directors, key academic administrators, and the faculty-at-large in different configurations that match their needs.
We use survey data to guide us in an iterative, reflective practice of improving our programs for future students.
The whole reason we collect, analyze, and then act on evaluative data is to improve student education and attain the highest level of excellence possible. Our guide in this overall strategy is the School of Nursing Total Evaluation Plan. Available on the intranet, all faculty and staff can review this at any time (www.sonnet.edu/program-evaluation-plan). The plan outlines school-wide performance benchmarks aligned with CCNE and BRN accreditation standards.
What’s next?
Stay tuned for Bruin Brief Part II: Survey Season RESULTS!
Feel free to contact the SON Director of Evaluation with any questions
Dr. Paul Macey, pmacey@sonnet.ucla.edu, Room 4-262.
To read past Bruin Briefs, you can access the entire catalog from the intranet at https://www.sonnet.ucla.edu/ then select Bruin Briefs under Academic Affairs.
Key Contributor:
Brenda Yeung MSN, OCN, CMSRN, CBCN
Project Policy Analyst
--
Lauren Clark
Professor and Shapiro Family Endowed Chair in Developmental Disability Studies
Associate Dean, Academic Programs
Mobile: (801) 503-4755
nursing.ucla.edu