Faculty and Staff: Please Help with an Important Student Survey

As the academic year ends, the Career Engagement Office is working to get as many Class of 2023 graduates as possible to complete a confidential survey about what they are doing post-graduation and their satisfaction with the preparation they received from Seattle University for those activities. 

How you can help

While the first-destination survey has been sent to students’ SU e-mail accounts, we need faculty and staff to reinforce the importance of participation. In particular, Career Engagement is asking:

• Faculty who are teaching seniors and final-quarter graduate students to share the survey link and encourage them to complete it

• Campus departments that are hosting graduation celebrations (e.g. Center Student Involvement, Scholar groups, Athletics, etc.) to include a link to the survey in communications to graduating students

This QR code which links to the survey can also be shared with students:

An incentive: Students who complete the survey by the end of July 5 (11:59 p.m.) will be entered into a drawing to win one of 10 $50 gift cards to the university bookstore or Amazon.

Why it matters

The first-destination survey provides tangible data on the value of a Seattle University degree and experience, specifically our graduates’ readiness for what they do after graduation and the contributions of major/graduate program, experiential learning and co-curricular involvement have made to their knowledge and skill acquisition. Among other important uses, the data is:

• Shared with prospective students and families about employment rates, average starting salaries for graduates, industry employers recruiting Seattle University students and graduate programs

• Included in an annual report, accreditation documents or other relevant reports

As Career Engagement Director Carol Lwali shares, “We are able to access data by college, program and graduation year, the number of students hired within six months of graduation, starting salary ranges, graduate schools and so much more. It also allows us to review exit survey data with graduates’ next steps and how they align with career aspirations. Several departments already conduct exit surveys for graduating students, and that’s great! The more information we gather, the better it is for a fuller and more robust report.”

Collecting first-destination data from graduates is simple as they self-report using Embark, an online survey administered by Career Engagement and Institutional Research. All data collected will be freely shared back to the academic departments upon request. Please contact the Career Engagement Office for more information or visit First Destination Survey.