Graduate success measured
By Matt Montgomery, Staff Writer
Employers of OCCC graduates said they value those employees and would hire more workers from the ranks of OCCC graduates.
This was one finding in a report given to the college regents Aug. 18 at a Board of Regents meeting where Regents discussed the Monitoring Report on Achieving the College’s END: Graduate Success.
Institutional Effectiveness Director Janet Perry said employers who hire OCCC graduates are satisfied with our students.
“Approximately 54 employers were contacted,” Perry said.
“Fifty percent responded and the result was, 95 percent who responded were happy working with OCCC graduates,” Perry said.
The college also looked at other areas of graduate success. The report gave a detailed analysis of transfer student performance.
OCCC students who transferred to universities were tracked to compare their grade point average with other students at the receiving institution.
OCCC students maintained a grade point average equal to, or higher than, other students at the University of Central Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University.
However, OCCC students’ grades were slightly below other OU students.
Listed on the top 10 employers of OCCC grads were hospitals or health care providers. Graduates in health care professions generally must pass a national exam to be licensed.
OCCC graduates in the nursing field and the occupational therapy field had high pass rates on the licensure exams.
Licensure exams are a key component for OCCC students looking to succeed in the health professions industry, said Physical Therapist Assistant Program Director Jennifer Ball.
“In the history of our licensure exams, only one person hasn’t passed the exam,” she said.
“Everyone is doing very well.”
Ethnicity also was reflected in the report.
The report showed that although 10 percent of the college’s enrollment was made up of African-Americans in 2007, African-Americans comprised only 7.4 percent of graduates.
President Paul Sechrist said he would like to see that improve.
Regent Ben Brown said the issue is being looked into.
“We are working on finding the solution to this problem,” Brown said.
“The answer to the low success rate of African-American graduates has eluded everyone.”
Sechrist said the key to college success is clear.
“Students who attend class regularly and take advantage of the free tutoring in the labs, in general, will receive higher grades, and are more likely to persist in college and graduate,” Se-christ said.
Perry agreed, saying as students increase their education, they have a chance to receive greater earnings.
“There is a high cost of not attending college,” she said.
Perry said those who never attend college are much more likely to experience poverty than those who earn an associate degree.
Staff Writer Matt Montgomery can be reached at StaffWriter3@occc.edu.
