BizVoice March/April 2016

33 / 66

March/April 2016 – BizVoice/Indiana Chamber 33
institutions will be able to start to look at change in progress over time;
it’s important to know how they’re doing,” offers Brandon Busteed,
executive director, education and workplace development, for Gallup.
“It becomes much more relevant when you’re talking about how
graduates who just graduated last year are doing. Are they doing better
than the graduates a year out?”
He says it’s “quite remarkable” on some level that, for many, this
marks the first time alumni has been reached out to in this manner.
“A lot of schools know if you’ve given money, but this is really a
relatively new experience for alumni to get a survey from their alma
mater, asking them how they’re doing on all these different dimensions.”
The process is appreciated by the former students, Busteed relays.
“We’ve seen schools getting a lot of thank you emails from alumni,
saying this was really neat, thanks for reaching out, thanks for caring. It
has other value to it beyond what we’re learning from the data.”
He also praises the move by CHE and “the way it was introduced
to higher education as opposed to some flat-out mandate, which would
not have been very well received.”
Expectations and takeaways
Both Manchester University and WGU Indiana jumped at the
chance to take part in the project, citing the leadership of Lubbers and
CHE, as well as Gallup’s reputation.
“We are really excited about the opportunity to be able to work
with Gallup and gain a broader view of graduate outcomes so that we
can really take a look at overall well-being, both for life and work for
our graduates,” enthuses Elizabeth Bushnell, Manchester’s assistant
vice president for institutional quality and success.
“We’re looking for opportunities to enhance the Manchester
experience and the more feedback we get from our graduates about what
they experienced and what was really meaningful for them, the better
we can enhance the experience for current (and future) students.”
Allison Barber, chancellor for WGU Indiana, believes the research
“will identify or reaffirm that for us, that the investment people are
making at the school is a good investment.”
The excitement of hearing from graduates is especially nice for
WGU, she mentions.
“We don’t really have an alumni department. We’re all online.
We occasionally run into alums and hear their stories, but this will be
a first really focused outreach to our alumni.”
If Purdue is any indicator, the feedback gathered will indeed help
strengthen current practices and highlight what was most appreciated.
“We learned that undergraduate research, getting undergraduate
students actively involved in research projects, is one of the most
powerful learning experiences they can have,” Daniels states.
“We learned – Purdue has always done this – that internships and
cooperative work experiences are really, really valuable and valued by
businesses. We know that’s got to be a bigger piece of tomorrow’s
Purdue education.”
Busteed is impressed by both trailblazer Purdue and Indiana on
the whole.
“There were some great highlights (in the research) about Purdue
and there were some things that they’re doing lower than the national
average – that they weren’t happy with. The cool thing was they just
put it out there; the good stuff they highlighted and the bad stuff they
said this is the stuff we’re working on and here’s what we’re doing.
“I appreciate that spirit because we haven’t seen a lot of that, and
I think that’s encouraging …
“It will be exciting to see it evolve and it’s great that it’s really been
a very Indiana initiative that’s also getting quite a bit of national spotlight.”
External reverberation
When the collective results are published, Bushnell believes it will
have the desired effect of being a marketing tool for higher education.
“There’s the state initiative to increase the percentage of the
population with a high-quality credential or degree, and being able to
demonstrate to the population the impact of education – I think that is
really valuable.
“The state’s done a great job to identify the impact financially in
terms of potential income from obtaining a credential or degree, but I
think this is a broader view of some of those kinds of overall impacts
of education. I think that also will be really important.”
Barber encourages the business community to take note of the
upcoming report.
“I hear the stories all the time about employers who need to
upskill their workforce. But it’s important to do it in the right areas
and so I think the Gallup report will begin to shine a light on the
programs across our state that are working well.
“I’m hoping that employers will read it, learn from it and endorse
and support the programs that are worth the investment for citizens
and for their employees,” she adds. “I think it’s going to be a good
tool, not just for the universities and for our leadership in the state,
but for business leaders as well.”
RESOURCES: Allison Barber, WGU Indiana, at | Elizabeth Bushnell, Manchester University, at | Brandon
Busteed, Gallup, at | Mitch Daniels, Purdue University, at | Teresa Lubbers, Indiana Commission for Higher
Education, at www.in.gov/che
• Ball State University
• Butler University
• Calumet College of St. Joseph
• Grace College
• Indiana University East
• Indiana University-Purdue
University Fort Wayne
• Indiana University Kokomo
• Ivy Tech Community College
• Manchester University
• Marian University
• Purdue Northwest (following
unification of Purdue Calumet
and Purdue North Central)
• Purdue University West
Lafayette
• Taylor University
• Vincennes University
• WGU Indiana
Campus Participants
“(The Index) allows students and
families to get a more comprehensive
look. And it allows colleges and
universities to actually improve,
expand their services to address what
they are (or aren’t) doing to provide
satisfaction to their alums.”
– Teresa Lubbers
Indiana Commissioner for Higher Education