This month we were asked by the President’s Office to help the university with its 2010 COFHE survey of graduating seniors. The study is conducted every four years by the 31 highly selective colleges and universities that are members of the COFHE research consortium.

The project represents the closing of a circle for Bill Hayward, Slover Linett’s education practice leader and the former head of institutional research at Northwestern University. While at Northwestern, Hayward served on the multi-institution COFHE team that wrote the senior survey.

Slover Linett will advise on the administration of this year’s study at the University of Chicago, then conduct all the analysis and write a report that will be delivered in the Fall.

The study will build on other COFHE research we completed for the university this past winter, which involved a survey of alumni. To the degree possible, we will compare findings across the two studies to build an integrated, sequential picture of student and alumni engagement.

The senior survey explores and tracks students’ academic experiences, engagement in campus life and extra-curricular activities. assessment of the knowledge and skills they have gained, and post-graduation plans.

Because the same survey is administered to seniors at the other thirty member institutions, each university’s findings can be benchmarked against those of its peers. “That’s where the real value of the COFHE studies lies,” say Hayward. “It’s important to know what’s going on in your own student body or alumni base, and it’s even better to track changes in that data over time. But best of all is when you can also compare your own situation to the institutions you think of as your peers.”

We are proud to extend our partnership with the University of Chicago, now in its 13th year and spanning several schools and units at the University, and look forward to helping the administration obtain greater value from its participation in the COFHE consortium.

Category: Higher education