Fanshawe ranks better than most, according to new KPI results
Like your mother's Sunday night roast beef dinner, this year's Key Performance Indicator (KPI) report for Fanshawe serves up the same old predictable, yet satisfying results.
Overall, Fanshawe ranked amongst the top five colleges throughout the province in the KPI survey, which is completed by students, graduates and employers who grade the quality of education provided by Ontario's 24 community colleges during 2004-05.
Fanshawe College scored above average in four of the five categories, just as it has for the past three years.
“These results show that Fanshawe College and our graduates are a vital and proven provincial resource,” said president of Fanshawe College, Howard Rundle.
Over 7,000 students, 3,000 graduates and 600 employers participated in the 2004-05 evaluation.
Marketing and communications manager, Emily Marcoccia, attributed Fanshawe's KPI success to the college's efforts to explain the survey and the many improvements the school has made in student services and facilities.
Building space at Fanshawe has grown by 50 per cent over the past five years to 1.5 million square feet, and that dedication to growth paid off with above average results.
According to the survey, 78.8 per cent of Fanshawe students were “very satisfied” with the overall quality of the facilities and resources of the school, while the provincial average was 71.7 per cent.
The overall quality of services at Fanshawe also received an above average standing, with 75.7 per cent of students saying they were “very satisfied.” The provincial average was 70.8 per cent.
Six months after the 2004-05 graduation, 92.7 per cent of Fanshawe alumni were employed and 93.8 per cent of employers were “very satisfied” with the quality of graduates they hired.
Marcoccia said for a college the size of Fanshawe, those employment figures are very impressive.
“Going to college is an excellent return on investment, and these figures prove it,” Rundle said. “Not only do our graduates get jobs, employers confirm our grads have got the skills they need.”
Over the years Fanshawe has consecutively produced low graduation rates, an area of the KPI that Fanshawe is trying to improve, and the 2004-05 school year was no exception, with only 56.1 per cent of enrollments making it to graduation. Falling in the bottom six of all colleges in the province, Fanshawe's graduation rate is four points below average.
“We need to grow in our graduation rate,” Marcoccia explained. “Our rate is not at all where we want it to be, in fact, it's not acceptable.”
Marcoccia said although the college has made headway in peer tutoring, mentoring and counselling sectors, officials say it will take three to five years for Fanshawe to see positive results in it's graduation rate statistics.
She added there have been incidents where students accept job offers before they finish program requirements, which will effects the graduate percentage.
“There are a lot of strategies in place to encourage students to stay in school,” Marcoccia said, such as required student success classes and easy access to retaking failed courses.
George Brown, Canadore and Centennial faired among the worst colleges in Ontario, while Conestoga College in Waterloo was given the best marks for the eighth consecutive year.
First introduced in 1998 by the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities to uphold accountability in the college system, the annual KPI survey measures graduate employment, graduate satisfaction, employer satisfaction and student satisfaction data to improve college-level program and services.
Overall, Fanshawe ranked amongst the top five colleges throughout the province in the KPI survey, which is completed by students, graduates and employers who grade the quality of education provided by Ontario's 24 community colleges during 2004-05.
Fanshawe College scored above average in four of the five categories, just as it has for the past three years.
“These results show that Fanshawe College and our graduates are a vital and proven provincial resource,” said president of Fanshawe College, Howard Rundle.
Over 7,000 students, 3,000 graduates and 600 employers participated in the 2004-05 evaluation.
Marketing and communications manager, Emily Marcoccia, attributed Fanshawe's KPI success to the college's efforts to explain the survey and the many improvements the school has made in student services and facilities.
Building space at Fanshawe has grown by 50 per cent over the past five years to 1.5 million square feet, and that dedication to growth paid off with above average results.
According to the survey, 78.8 per cent of Fanshawe students were “very satisfied” with the overall quality of the facilities and resources of the school, while the provincial average was 71.7 per cent.
The overall quality of services at Fanshawe also received an above average standing, with 75.7 per cent of students saying they were “very satisfied.” The provincial average was 70.8 per cent.
Six months after the 2004-05 graduation, 92.7 per cent of Fanshawe alumni were employed and 93.8 per cent of employers were “very satisfied” with the quality of graduates they hired.
Marcoccia said for a college the size of Fanshawe, those employment figures are very impressive.
“Going to college is an excellent return on investment, and these figures prove it,” Rundle said. “Not only do our graduates get jobs, employers confirm our grads have got the skills they need.”
Over the years Fanshawe has consecutively produced low graduation rates, an area of the KPI that Fanshawe is trying to improve, and the 2004-05 school year was no exception, with only 56.1 per cent of enrollments making it to graduation. Falling in the bottom six of all colleges in the province, Fanshawe's graduation rate is four points below average.
“We need to grow in our graduation rate,” Marcoccia explained. “Our rate is not at all where we want it to be, in fact, it's not acceptable.”
Marcoccia said although the college has made headway in peer tutoring, mentoring and counselling sectors, officials say it will take three to five years for Fanshawe to see positive results in it's graduation rate statistics.
She added there have been incidents where students accept job offers before they finish program requirements, which will effects the graduate percentage.
“There are a lot of strategies in place to encourage students to stay in school,” Marcoccia said, such as required student success classes and easy access to retaking failed courses.
George Brown, Canadore and Centennial faired among the worst colleges in Ontario, while Conestoga College in Waterloo was given the best marks for the eighth consecutive year.
First introduced in 1998 by the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities to uphold accountability in the college system, the annual KPI survey measures graduate employment, graduate satisfaction, employer satisfaction and student satisfaction data to improve college-level program and services.
