Exit Survey of Graduate Students Completing Degrees in the Spring or Summer of 2009: Descriptive Statistics

The 2009 Exit Survey of Graduate Students Completing Degrees in the Spring or Summer of 2009 holds particular importance as it is the first formal exit survey of graduating master’s degree recipients at Western Washington University. The survey was designed to elicit information on program satisfaction, the frequency and scope of academic interaction on and off campus, barriers to success, and plans for the future. OSR uses a mixture of online and telephone survey methodologies then, when applicable, links survey results with Western’s student records, thus expanding their usefulness to researchers. Individual survey results may be shared with interested campus parties. This exit survey was administered to graduate students earning their master’s degrees at the conclusion of either the spring or summer quarters of 2009. Of the 280 recipients of this degree, OSR received valid responses from 188 (a response rate of 67.1%). The survey was launched with an e-mail invitation to potential respondents approximately four weeks prior to spring graduation. Follow up e-mail reminders were sent approximately every four days for the subsequent two weeks. Phone call reminders were then placed to all non-respondents. Subsequent to spring graduation this process was repeated for summer graduates