The Gallup Alumni Outcomes Survey was conducted by email from November 2018 to February 1, 2019 and targeted alumni of the 16 UNC System universities who graduated with bachelor’s degrees between 1940 and 2018 and had active email addresses. In all, 77,695 undergraduate alumni responded to the survey, which translates to a 10 percent response rate. Read the news release: Gallup Releases Alumni Survey
Read the full report: University of North Carolina System Alumni: Great Jobs, Great Lives. Examining the Outcomes and Experiences of UNC System Graduates.
The UNC System invested in this endeavor as part of its effort to fulfill the ambitious goals laid out in Higher Expectations: The Strategic Plan for the University of North Carolina, 2017-22.
The Strategic Plan includes the following goal:
Provide all students with outstanding academic and experiential learning opportunities to acquire “all useful learning” needed to be responsible citizens, productive members of the workforce, and life-long learners in a global environment.
To measure fulfillment of this goal, the UNC System Strategic Plan requires the University to “implement a survey of current students and alumni that will measure the degree of engagement during their academic careers and satisfaction in postgraduate life.”
The survey provides data measuring many facets of student engagement and satisfaction, including student learning gains; involvement in campus organizations, internships, and research; job placement and earnings; and well-being.
Frequently Asked Questions
All alumni who obtained their undergraduate degrees from a UNC System university since 1940 were invited to participate in the survey by email, so only those alumni with email addresses on file were surveyed. Those who received graduate or professional degrees from the UNC System were not be included in this survey unless they also completed their undergraduate work at a constituent institution.
The survey launched on Thursday, November 15, 2018, and closed on January 31, 2019.
Information gathered from this survey will help the UNC System serve its students, North Carolinians, and other invested partners.
The Strada-Gallup Index survey instrument asked respondents to reflect on their experiences in the classroom and in campus organizations. Respondents will also have an opportunity to measure their satisfaction with internship and research opportunities. The survey will also gather information from alumni about post-graduate well-being, including job placement and earnings.
All of this information will help the University get a broad sense of how well the System is progressing toward its goals.
At the same time, data from the alumni survey will also help individual institutions, providing them with valuable information that will help evaluate and improve campus culture and programs.
The results from the alumni survey will inform questions on a follow-up survey with current students.
After reviewing proposals from a variety of potential vendors, the UNC System chose Gallup (http://www.gallup.com) to administer this alumni survey. Gallup has a long and distinguished record of polling and surveying, along with specific data resources regarding respondent opinions about education through Strada-Gallup Education Consumer Insights.
Questions regarding the 2018 survey of UNC System alumni should be addressed to 2018UNCSystemSurvey@northcarolina.edu.