Former CNC students are more satisfied with their education than most B.C. students, but there's a divide between arts and applied programs students whether that education is useful in getting a job, according to a recent survey.
The provincial government conducted the B.C. Diploma, Associate Degree and Certificate Student Outcomes survey in spring 2013, talking to former students nine to 20 months after they completed all, or a significant portion, of their education. From CNC, 663 former students took the survey.
In the results released this week, on a scale from one to four, CNC's former students gave the college 3.37 when ranking their overall satisfaction, higher than the provincial average of 3.35.
"Overall, we're quite happy with it. Exceeding the provincial average in key indicators like overall satisfaction, that's always good for the college," said Randall Heidt, CNC's executive director of external relations. "Anytime you exceed a provincial average with a college our size, that's excellent."
Heidt said the college also did better than average in receiving high satisfaction from former students in developing skills employers are looking for. In particular, he highlighted the scores received for working with other people, which, on a scale from one to five, received 4.34 (the average was 4.22); learning on your own, which received 4.30 (average 4.20); and reading comprehension, which received 4.27 (average 4.19). The college also received the average or higher for writing ability, speaking ability and critical thinking.
"We at the student union are really excited about the results," said chair Eric Depenau. "I think it shows that everyone's quite positive about the education that they've received here, that they seen value in it.
The college did receive some lower than average satisfaction ratings for the quality of its instructors, which on a scale from one to five received 4.06 (the average was 4.13) and the organization of its programs, which received 3.74 (average 3.83). Heidt said the college would work to make improvements.
"In the areas where we are lacking, we will look at those and try to do our best to improve them," he said.
The survey's results are in line with what the student union is seeing on the ground with current students, Depenau said.
"I work in the front line, out into the service desk and I get to talk personally with a lot of the students who come though and it really is generally a positive vibe that they give us," he said. "They're excited to be here, they're excited about their education, they're happy with the teachers, with the class sizes and it's really good."
The survey also measured how satisfied the former students were with how useful their education was at getting work. There was a divide between the 114 arts and science programs respondents and the 546 applied programs respondents. The arts students, which had all but eight take university transfer programs or associate degrees, said that on a scale to one to four, their education ranked 2.90. The average was 2.60. Of those in the labour force, 34 per cent had a job related to their education. The applied students, on the other hand, gave a ranking of 3.43, slightly lower than the average of 3.44. Of those in the labour force, 77 per cent had a related job.
Depenau said the student union wants to see the provincial government increasing its funding and providing more grants programs for those taking post-secondary education.
"We feel that some of these programs would help increase those [survey] numbers," he said.
