Dr Noel Edge
Executive Director
Survey Managers’ Information
Forum (SMIF) 2012
Noel Edge
Executive Director
Julie-Ann
Pegden
(Curtin)
Joanne Tyler
(Monash)
Phil Aungles
(DIISRTE)
Marian Thakur
(TEQSA)
Release of DIISRTE’s AQHE Report/AGS Review:
• Pivotal development for GCA (much more tomorrow!)
• Key provisions:
• New instruments as from 2014 (AGS13 as per normal):
• Centralised administration of three instruments:
• UES (revised = current UES + some CEQ?)
• GOS (based on current GDS)
• Employer Survey (based on GCA’s current GOS?)
• Stratified sample based instruments (but possibly hybrid…)
• Online and phone instruments
• Wide sector consultation
• Earlier delivery of data
• Possible longitudinal survey (= BGS ?)
• Possible separate international onshore/offshore graduates
instrument
• Tender for central administration body – end of 2012
Jul-Dec 2012
Jan-Jun 2013
Jul-Dec 2013
Jan-Jun 2014
Jul-Dec 2014
Jan-Jun 2015
Instruments
UES
Full scale trial deployment
GOS
Development
Development
AGS
October round
April round
New central body
Establishment
Establishment
GCA
AGS
AGS
Full survey
Full survey
Full survey
Full survey
Full survey
Full survey
UES/GOS
UES/GOS
UES/GOS
UES/GOS
Administrators
ACER
UES
AGS12
AGS13
? AGS14 (not proposed at this time, but …)
Technology:
• New internal servers for increased reliability and data storage
capacity/security
• New GCA website (including an integrated START site) –
increased emphasis on GCA’s web presence with innovations
in social media and web site traffic innovations
• CEQuery software – addressing technical limitations of
CEQuery and planning improved functionality and data
dictionary extensions
BGS – Beyond Graduation Survey
• Follow-up to the AGS conducted three years and five years after
course completion
• 34 institutions participated in 2011
• Just completed the first 5 years out pilot survey
• Increased interest in the BGS:
• DIISR
(ie before DIISRTE) –
7 and 9 year follow up of PhD graduates
• DFaHCSIA (Office of Women) – gender wage gap research
GOS – Graduate Outlook Survey
• Survey of graduate employers
• Addresses recruitment practices, intake numbers, perceptions of
candidate quality, etc.
• More than 500 employers responded in 2011
• DIISRTE stole our GOS acronym and name! (see AQHE Report)
Austrade talks …
• Shanghai – career fairs:
• 15 Australian universities
• 45 graduate employers
• GCA introduced to chamber of commerce and alumni groups
• Possible site content sharing between Austrade and GCA
• Useful link for international graduate survey
Changing Focus, Priorities and Organisational Structure :
• Increase our engagement level with institutions (institution
research, careers services, students, researchers, …)
• Increase our strategic initiatives an emphasis on strategy, policy
and consultation
• Work closely with Higher Education decision makers in government
(DIISRTE, TEQSA, …), Universities Australia and other university
bodies, NAGCAS and employers to explore strategic directions in
both GCA’s Research and Graduate Opportunities (GO) operations
• So some changes to our internal organisation structure …
Graduate Careers Australia Ltd
Co. Secretary
Graeme B
GCA
Board
Policy, Strategy and Stakeholder
Relations Advisor
Bruce G
Exec.Director
Noel E
General Manager
Graeme B
Survey Reference
Group
Line Management
Advisory Role
Corporate
Services
GO
Operations
GCA
Communications
Research
Operations
Graeme B (General Mgr)
Chris M (Sales/Mkt Mgr)
Tina H (Comms/Pub’n Mgr)
Darren M (Team Leader)
•Info. Tech.
•Acct’g/Legals
•Web Strategies
•Hum. Resources
•Asset Mgt
•Office Admin.
•GO Sales
•UGO Sales
•Elec. Sales
•Career Fairs
•Sales Reporting
•Communications
•Publications
•Graphic Design
•AGS
•CEQuery
•BGS
•GOS
•Custom Jobs
•Research Dev’t.
•Jo O
•Isobel H
•Leena A
•Lisa G
•Jo K
•Hina K
•Graeme B
•David C
•Jessica A
•Nadine H
Research Team
Graeme
David
Bruce
Nadine
Darren
Jessica
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Prof Joan Cooper – Convenor(University of New South Wales) *
Tim Sealey (Universities Australia)
Phil Aungles, Sam Pietsch, Chris Sainsbury (DEEWR/DIISRTE)
Leone Nurbasari (Australian National University)
Helen Jacob (Deakin University)
David De Bellis (Flinders University)
Prof Phillipa Pattison (University of Melbourne) *
Prof Carole Kayrooz (University of Canberra) *
Justine Fritsch (University of Southern Queensland)
Tanya Tietze (University of the Sunshine Coast)
Robert McCormack (University of Western Australia)
Dr Noel Edge, Bruce Guthrie (GCA)
* UA nominee
More than 400 presentations over three days
Dashboards
• IE reporting tool
• Best practice
Response rates
• Declining response rates to student surveys
• All respondents to receive incentive
• Personalise as much as possible

Carroll, D. 2011. An analysis of mode effects in the 2010 Course Experience
Questionnaire. Journal of Institutional Research, 16 (2), 1–12.
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Abstract
Historically, responses to the Course Experience Questionnaire (CEQ) were required to be
collected by self-administered paper or online questionnaire to be eligible for official analysis.
CEQ responses collected by telephone were excluded from the final analysis file to minimise
the potential for bias due to mode effects: systematic variation in responses obtained using
different data collection methods. For the 2010 CEQ, however, telephone data collection was
permitted to maximise response rates, with responses collected in this manner included in the
final analysis file for the first time. In all, nearly ten per cent of all valid responses to the 2010
CEQ were collected by telephone, with institutional use of telephone data collection ranging
from 18 to 56 per cent of all responses received for that institution. Using regression and
matching methods, this paper seeks to identify mode effects in the 2010 CEQ data that cannot
be attributed to compositional differences between the telephone and self-administered
respondent samples. Implications for survey practice are also discussed.
Best Paper AAIR Conference 2011
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Core 2011 AGS reports released
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Graduate Destinations
Graduate Salaries
Graduate Course Experience
Postgraduate Destinations
Postgraduate Research Experience
AGS Report
GradStats and GradFiles
(or soon to be):

2011 SMIF – Melb
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GCA’s centralised data collection service for private
providers – 4 institutions

GCA’s telephone data collection service for
universities – 4 institutions

Activities of bachelor degree graduates (n=68,205), males
(n=26,112) and females (n=42,027), 2011 (%)
25

Graduates available for full-time employment (n=44,176), males
(n=17,671) and females (n=26,459) bachelor graduates, 2011 (%)
26
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2011 Graduate Starting Salaries (GSS)
◦ All: $50,000 pa
◦ Males: $52,000 pa
◦ Females: $50,000 pa
27
CEQ mean percentage agreement by sex, 2011
28
2008
2011
63.5
Self-management
93.7
72.0
Problem solving
93.5
74.1
Teamwork
93.4
70.0
Communication
93.1
64.8
Planning and organising
92.2
81.8
Learning
57.7
Initiative and enterprise
86.3
58.9
Technology
0
20
40
60
92.2
83.2
80
100
%
Self-rated employability skills, high/very high, bachelor degree graduates in
full-time employment, by broad field of education, 2008 and 2011 (%)
29
1-500 employees
More than 500 employees
73.6%
Your organisation's website
93.9%
59.5%
University careers services
74.3%
57.1%
Employment websites (e.g. SEEK, CareerOne)
71.0%
37.4%
University careers fairs
75.2%
Graduate recruitment handbooks
20.2%
Other websites (e.g. Facebook, Linkedin)
19.6%
58.9%
37.4%
14.7%
Newspaper advertising
26.2%
12.9%
16.4%
Other
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Methods used to promote graduate program, by organisation size, 2011 (%)
30
Graduate Opportunity (GO)
Directories
31
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So … welcome All
Informal climate and an opportunity to meet
other survey managers and GCA staff - swap
tips, information, war stories, make
suggestions, … and enjoy
questions?
answers
suggestions…
comments!
Cue Cards
… coding
tips, …