Department of Biology and Wildlife

University of Alaska Fairbanks

Post-Graduation Interview

 

 

 

Surveys were sent to nearly 200 recent graduates of the Biology and Wildlife program.  The survey was designed to determine why students major in biology and/or wildlife, which aspects of the program were most valuable to them, and how the program could be improved.  The 32 respondents included 14 BS-Biology and 11 BS-Wildlife graduates.  Seven respondents did not report their major.  Respondents were nearly equally distributed among the classes of 1997, 1998, and 1999.

 

Nine of the 32 respondents (28%) went on to post-graduate training programs.  Six (19%) are working in health or social services.  Five (16%) are working in wildlife or resource management.  Four (12%) are working as teachers.  Eight (25%) are occupied in other ways.

 

The survey consisted of two parts:  1) Respondents indicated their responses to 30 statements by circling one of the following - SA = strongly agree   A = agree   N = neutral   D = disagree   SD = strongly disagree   DNA = does not apply.  2) The survey asked for written comments in response to the following questions:  What were the best aspects of the biology/ wildlife program?  What were the worst aspects of the biology/wildlife program?  What changes in the biology/wildlife program would have better prepared you for life after college?  The survey also provided space for additional comments.

 

Survey results (presented below) supported the following conclusions. 

 

Graduates of the Biology and Wildlife programs go on to a wide range of post-graduation experiences.  Several Wildlife majors went on to jobs or graduate school in wildlife/resource management.  Biology majors went on to a great diversity of jobs (e.g. lab tech, carpentry, computer tech, secretarial) or to post-graduate training in a wide array of professions (e.g. teaching, medical school, business administration, law, etc).  None of biology majors went on to graduate school in biology.

 

These students majored in Biology and Wildlife primarily because they found the subject matter interesting and because they anticipated a career in these fields. 

 

Respondents strongly felt the most valuable aspects of the Biology and Wildlife programs were:  elective courses, interactions with other students, and courses that provided lots of hands-on laboratory activities.  Respondents also valued interaction with faculty members (personal interactions and involvement in faculty research) but were fairly divided in their opinions on this.  Courses satisfying university requirements (the Core Curriculum) were perceived to have less value than Biology and Wildlife courses.  Respondents were ambivalent about oral and writing intensive courses, courses in chemistry, math, and statistics.

 

Respondents felt that the program would be improved by increasing opportunities for student involvement in research and improvements in instruction and advising.  Respondents strongly felt that grading standards and the number of required courses in the program should not be relaxed.

Results of survey summarized by number of responses to each question, mean, and variance (scoring SA as 5 and SD as 1).

 

                                                                                                                      Number of Responses

                                                                                                                 SA       A       N       D    SD   DNA     mean    var

1.  I majored in Biology or Wildlife because:

a.  I wanted to get a biology/wildlife job after graduation.                            10    16      5      0      1      0      4.1   0.8

b.  the program had a good reputation.                                                         7    18      6      0      0      0      4.0   0.4

c.  my friends were biology/wildlife majors.                                                   1      2      8      7      5      8      2.4   1.2

d.  I liked the faculty members.                                                                     5      8      8      3      0      7      3.6   0.9

e.  the courses were interesting.                                                                  14    12      3      0      0      2      4.4   0.5

f.  the program prepared me for life after college.                                          4      4    12      7      3      1      3.0   1.3

 

2.  The most valuable learning experiences I had at UAF were:

a. required courses in my major (105-106, ecology, genetics, etc).               7    15      4      5      0      1      3.8   1.0

b. elective courses in my major.                                                                  15    14      3      0      0      0      4.4   0.4

c. oral intensive courses (O courses) in my major.                                         1    12    16      3      0      0      3.3   0.5

d. writing intensive courses (W courses) in my major.                                   4    10    13      5      0      0      3.4   0.8

e. courses in chemistry, physics, and/or geology.                                           3    10    14      4      1      0      3.4   0.7

f.  courses in mathematics and statistics.                                                        6    15      8      3      0      0      3.8   0.8

g. courses fulfilling University requirements (Core Curriculum).                      7    12      7      5      0      0      2.7   1.0

h.  courses with lots of laboratory activities.                                                  9    15      7      1      0      0      4.0   0.6

i.  independent study courses.                                                                       3      8    11      4      0      6      3.4   0.8

j.  experiences unrelated to the biology/wildlife program.                               5      9    15      0      0      2      3.7   0.6

k.  one-on-one interactions with faculty members.                                       13      9      7      2      1      0      4.0   1.2

l.  interactions with other students.                                                              11    13      7      1      0      0      4.1   0.7

m.  involvement in faculty research.                                                               8      3      4      4      1    12      3.7   1.8

n.  student jobs in the biology and wildlife department.                                  7      4      4      3      0    14      3.8   1.3

o.  student jobs on campus but not in the biology department.                       3      9      9      3      0      8      3.5   0.8

3.  The Biology and Wildlife program could be improved by:

a.  relaxing grading standards.                                                                      0      0      2      8    22      0      1.4   0.4

b.  reducing the number of required courses.                                                 0      1      6    13    12      0      1.9   0.7

c.  reducing overlap in material among required courses.                               6      4      6    12      4      0      2.9   1.8

d.  providing more opportunities for student involvement                             17    11      2      2      0      0      4.3   0.7

     in faculty research.                                                                                   

e.  providing more opportunities for students to conduct                              16    12      2      2      0      0      4.3   0.7

     their own research.                                                                                  

f.  providing more opportunities for developing writing skills.                         8    13      7      4      0      0      3.8   1.0

g.  providing more opportunities for developing                                             5    14      9      4      0      0      3.6   0.8

    oral communication skills.                                                                          

h.  training faculty to be better instructors.                                                   10    16      5      0      1      0      4.1   0.8

i.  providing better undergraduate advisors.                                                 12    11      8      0      1      0      4.0   0.9

 

 

 

Department of Biology and Wildlife

University of Alaska Fairbanks

Post-Graduation Interview

 

Dear UAF graduate:

 

The Biology and Wildlife faculty and I wish to get feedback on your experiences as a biology or wildlife student at UAF.  We will use this information to make improvements in the program.  Please take a few minutes to answer the following questions but we'd welcome additional comments as well.  Thanks very much for your time and input.

 

                                                                        Sincerely,

                                                                        Joan Braddock,

                                                                        Department Head

 

Circle one:   B.A. - Biology     B.S. - Biology       B. S. Wildlife

 

Semester and Year Graduating _______________

 

Please describe your present occupation:___________________________________

 

Please indicate your response to the following statements by circling one of the following:  SA = strongly agree   A = agree   N = neutral   D = disagree   SD = strongly disagree                 DNA = does not apply

 

1.  I majored in Biology or Wildlife because:

a.  I wanted to get a biology/wildlife job after graduation.                                 SA   A   N   D   SD       DNA

b.  the program had a good reputation.                                                            SA   A   N   D   SD       DNA

c.  my friends were biology/wildlife majors.                                                      SA   A   N   D   SD       DNA

d.  I liked the faculty members.                                                                        SA   A   N   D   SD       DNA

e.  the courses were interesting.                                                                       SA   A   N   D   SD       DNA

f.  the program prepared me for life after college.                                             SA   A   N   D   SD       DNA

 

2.  The most valuable learning experiences I had at UAF were:

a. required courses in my major (105-106, ecology, genetics, etc).                   SA   A   N   D   SD       DNA

b. elective courses in my major.                                                                       SA   A   N   D   SD       DNA

c. oral intensive courses (O courses) in my major.                                            SA   A   N   D   SD       DNA

d. writing intensive courses (W courses) in my major.                                       SA   A   N   D   SD       DNA

e. courses in chemistry, physics, and/or geology.                                              SA   A   N   D   SD       DNA

f.  courses in mathematics and statistics.                                                           SA   A   N   D   SD       DNA

g. courses fulfilling University requirements (Core Curriculum).                         SA   A   N   D   SD       DNA

h.  courses with lots of laboratory activities.                                                      SA   A   N   D   SD       DNA

i.  independent study courses.                                                                          SA   A   N   D   SD       DNA j.  experiences unrelated to the biology/wildlife program.                                      SA   A   N   D   SD       DNA

k.  one-on-one interactions with faculty members.                                            SA   A   N   D   SD       DNA

l.  interactions with other students.                                                                    SA   A   N   D   SD       DNA

m.  involvement in faculty research.                                                                  SA   A   N   D   SD       DNA

n.  student jobs in the biology and wildlife department.                                      SA   A   N   D   SD       DNA

o.  student jobs on campus but not in the biology department.                           SA   A   N   D   SD       DNA

3.  The Biology and Wildlife program could be improved by:

a.  relaxing grading standards.                                                                          SA   A   N   D   SD       DNA

b.  reducing the number of required courses.                                                    SA   A   N   D   SD       DNA

c.  reducing overlap in material among required courses.                                   SA   A   N   D   SD       DNA

d.  providing more opportunities for student involvement                                   SA   A   N   D   SD       DNA

     in faculty research.                                                                                     

e.  providing more opportunities for students to conduct                                   SA   A   N   D   SD       DNA

     their own research.                                                                                    

f.  providing more opportunities for developing writing skills.                             SA   A   N   D   SD       DNA

g.  providing more opportunities for developing

    oral communication skills.                                                                            SA   A   N   D   SD       DNA

h.  training faculty to be better instructors.                                                        SA   A   N   D   SD       DNA

i.  providing better undergraduate advisors.                                                      SA   A   N   D   SD       DNA

 

 

What were the best aspects of the biology/ wildlife program?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What were the worse aspects of the biology/wildlife program?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What changes in the biology/wildlife program would have better prepared you for life after college?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:

 

 

 

 

 

 

PLEASE RETURN THE COMPLETED QUESTIONNAIRE IN THE STAMPED, SELF-ADDRESSED ENVELOPE WE HAVE ENCLOSED.

 

THANKS AGAIN  FOR YOUR TIME AND INPUT