The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Texas Lutheran University are among the 73 schools in 30 states using The Outcomes Survey® to collect nationally standardized first destination career outcomes data

Sixteen Partners in Innovation lead the growing community of schools using The Outcomes Survey®. Their career services and institutional research staff advise CSO Research, Inc. to help ensure the survey will always meet the needs of U.S. colleges and universities.

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CSO Research, Inc.

Oct 02, 2014, 07:00 ET

AUSTIN, Texas, Oct. 1, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Texas Lutheran University are among the growing number of schools that have recognized the importance of nationally standardized data collection and reporting on college graduate first destinations and adopted The Outcomes Survey® to gather career outcomes data on their new graduates. To date, 73 schools in 30 states have selected The Outcomes Survey® for their career outcomes data collection.

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The National Standard for Career Outcomes Data Collection (PRNewsFoto/CSO Research, Inc.)

"In October 2013, we introduced The Outcomes Survey® to the college and university market. Sixteen schools signed on during the first six weeks as our Partners in Innovation," said Matt Berndt, Vice President of CSO Research, Inc. and chief architect of The Outcomes Survey®. "Since then, 67 additional schools have joined our Outcomes client community. With the increasing national attention on first destination college graduate employment, we expect the demand for nationally standardized data and resources like The Outcomes Survey® to continue to increase."

A client community led by 16 Partners in Innovation

"Since the very beginning, client feedback has been invaluable in constructing a tool that collects career outcomes information in a standardized way while respecting the differences that make each institution unique. We would not have been able to come so far so fast if not for the input of our early clients," said Max Wartel, Head of Research and Analysis for CSO Research, Inc.

Career services and institutional research staff at TOS client institutions provide regular input into the development of existing and new features. As a result of client feedback, an aged version of The Outcomes Survey® is now available to collect data on graduates from the preceding year, and 5-year out and 10-year out versions of The Outcomes Survey® will be available for use in 2015.

A campus-wide priority at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

"We are excited to be launching our first centrally-coordinated, campus-wide, outcomes survey with August 2014 graduates," said Dr. Gail Rooney, Director of the Career Center for the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. "This 'First Destination Initiative' is a joint collaboration among the Office of the Provost, The Career Center, and the Division of Management Information. Essential support has been provided by the Council of Undergraduate Deans, the Career Services Council, the Office of the Registrar, the Institutional Review Board, and many more."

"We are pleased to be working with CSO Research, Inc. to power our survey solution," said Dr. Julia Panke Makela, Associate Director for Assessment and Research for the Career Center. "The CSO Research team has been very responsive and helpful at every stage of getting The Outcomes Survey® off the ground. We look forward to our continued partnership as graduate responses arrive and we begin to work with the data."

Texas Lutheran University sees great response rates from their Spring 2014 graduates

"TLU's launch of The Outcomes Survey® with our Spring 2014 cohort was smooth and well-managed thanks to the friendly, helpful team at CSO," said Breanne Navarro, Director of Career Development at Texas Lutheran University.

"In order to encourage student participation, we sponsored the incentive of a TLU personalized promo gift to the first 100 students who completed the survey. With the ability to track the date/time of survey completion, it was easy to manage the incentive give-away."

Our students have been very pleased with the ease of survey completion – especially the ability to complete the survey via their mobile devices."

Schools using The Outcomes Survey® (by state)

Schools using The Outcomes Survey® to gather career outcomes data on their graduates are listed below (by state). Schools with an asterisk (*) are CSO's Partners in Innovation. These institutions have made three-year commitments to The Outcomes Survey®, and their career services and institutional research staff advise and consult to CSO's research and analysis team in the ongoing development of The Outcomes Survey® and its data collection, reporting and analysis tools and resources.

Arkansas: Harding University*
Colorado: Metropolitan State University Denver*
Connecticut: University of Saint Joseph
Florida: Flagler College, Lynn University, Ringling College of Art and Design, Rollins College
Georgia: LaGrange College
Iowa: Des Moines Area Community College, Northwestern College, St. Ambrose University
Illinois: The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Indiana: DePauw University, Saint Mary of the Woods College
Kansas: Newman University
Kentucky: Transylvania State University
Massachusetts: Bunker Hill Community College, Curry College, Elms College, Fisher College, Salem State University, School of the Museum of Fine Art Boston, Simmons College, Tufts University, Western New England University
Maryland: Maryland Institute College of Art
Michigan: Albion College, University of Detroit – Mercy
Mississippi: Millsaps College
Montana: Montana Tech of the University of Montana*, University of Montana
North Carolina: Meredith College
North Dakota: University of North Dakota
New Jersey: Rider University*
New York: Pratt Institute, Skidmore College, St. John Fisher College*, SUNY Geneseo
Ohio: Ashland University, Columbus College of Art and Design, John Carroll University, Ohio Dominican University*, University of Findlay
Oklahoma: East Central University*, Northeastern State University
Oregon: University of Oregon Lundquist School of Business
Pennsylvania: Peirce College
Rhode Island: Johnson & Wales University, Rhode Island School of Design, Roger Williams University*
South Carolina: University of South Carolina
South Dakota: Black Hills State University
Texas: Concordia University Texas*, Hardin-Simmons University, Huston-Tillotson University*, Midwestern State University*, St. Mary's University*, Texas Lutheran University, University of North Texas*, University of St. Thomas, University of Texas at Dallas
Virginia: Emory & Henry College, Hampden-Sydney College, Hollins University, Longwood University, Radford University, Virginia Commonwealth University*
Washington: Saint Martin's University*, Seattle Pacific University
Wisconsin: Marian University of Wisconsin, St. Norbert College, Wisconsin Lutheran College*