Some highlights from the Alumni survey are below. For a pdf of the full results please click here Periclean survey data ALL.
In December 2012, I sent out an email and two follow up reminders a week apart to 167 email addresses from 153 Periclean Alumni. In the email was a request to fill out a survey regarding the long-term impact of being a Periclean Scholar. Out of 153 alumni, we received 81 responses for a total response rate of 52.9%. Here is a breakdown of the response rate per class: Class of 2006 — 44.8%; Class of 2007 — 40%; Class of 2008 — 53.3%; Class of 2009 — 66.6%; Class of 2010 — 53%; Class of 2011– 43.3%; Class of 2012– 72%.
The purpose of the survey was to look at the long-term impact that being a Periclean Scholar has after graduation. Below are some highlights of the data.
- 86% of alumni responded that being a Periclean Scholar had a major or moderate impact on their career path, with only 13.6% saying that the program had little to no impact. In the same way, 95% of alumni said that being a Periclean Scholar somewhat or a great deal influenced their non-career life choices. One alumnus commented, “Periclean Scholars has been my most life-changing experience so far, hands down. Through Periclean Scholars, I traveled outside the US for the first time, found direction in my career path, honed my skills and passions, and worked with an incredible, inspiring group of colleagues I’m proud to count among my closest friends.” Another wrote, “Periclean helped me in terms of having experience– I now work for one of the world’s largest development organizations (World Vision), working with college students. Having experience doing development work as a college student really helped me get in the door and has also helped me as I think about our audience. Why do these students care? Why should they care? What kinds of stories would they want to hear? Issues and people they would be interested in? Etc. My Periclean Scholars experience has been incredibly valuable in this job.”
- The survey also focused on individual’s current knowledge of their Class’ project and county of focus. When Alumni were asked to what extent they have kept up with news and events related to their Class’ county of focus, 74% said they have kept up somewhat, with 13.6% closely keeping up. 12% of alumni have kept up very little with their Class’ country of focus. One respondent wrote, “While I do try to stay up to date on what is going on in India (I follow the Times of India on Twitter), it has become harder since there is so much going on in my own community that I want to be aware of. Still trying to find a balance.” More alumni have kept up with their Class’ issue of focus in their community with 59% somewhat keeping up and 24.7% closely keeping up.
- The survey asked whether travel to the Class’ county of focused had occurred and nine alumni had said that they have been on an average of two trips.
- The Periclean Scholars program requires contact among Class members, Mentors, and the Director. The survey asked how often the individual has maintained contact with members of their Periclean Class and the majority responded that they have occasional or frequent contact with fellow members of their Class. Only ten responded that they have had very little contact with members in their Class.
- The Director keeps in contact through regular emails and a newsletter update on average every six weeks. In the survey Alumni were asked how thoroughly they read the newsletter. 40.7% said they read it thoroughly, 7.4% pass it on to others after reading, and the rest of the respondents said they glance through the newsletter.
- The majority of individuals described contact with the Director as a moderate level of contact, although the level of contact with their Class Mentor was significantly less with 32 responders saying they have had very little contact with their Mentor and 35 responders saying they have had a moderate level of contact. Only 11 individuals have maintained close contact.
- When asked how their Mentor can better serve individuals’ needs, one comment read, “I think it would be great for each mentor to set up either a conference call or a video chat type forum that once per year or so, the whole class can be invited to call in to briefly update each other on their lives and their class project.”
- We also asked about a series of questions regarding finances and knowledge of the Periclean Scholar Alumni Association and Periclean Foundation. Only 12 responders were not aware that there was an Alumni Association or Periclean Foundation. The majority of responders were aware of the Association and Foundation but only had a vague idea of how it works.
- When asked how the Association can better serve, one comment read, “Finding some way to bridge the gaps of distance between students would be good. The newsletters definitely help because they let Alum know what’s going on but as everyone is busy it can feel sometimes like the purpose of reaching out is only to ask for donations/fundraising – which to be fair is a factor we committed to when signing on as Scholars – and it can lead to a disconnected feel. I wish I could offer a suggestion as to how to make that easier but I can’t think of what could be a good method to ensure people feel engaged on a more dynamic/hands-on level. I would suggest it may be a good idea to look into ways to “reunite” Pericles classes by perhaps organizing service trips during the summer or 1-2 times per year which alums could go on as well. I know a lot of people from my class continue to travel down to Honduras and I don’t know if other classes have people who do the same but I know the interest would be there to continue “being a Periclean” by doing a service trip even though we’ve graduated.”
- When asked about monetary giving, 56 of responders have financially supported the Periclean Scholars Alumni Association or their Class initiatives. 45 of responders have financially supported causes related to their Class’ mission.
- The survey also asked about what the program was like as an undergraduate. When asked how they would rank Periclean Scholars among the other affinity groups, 49 responses said the Periclean program was more influential in terms of the undergraduate experience compared to other groups. Only 6 individuals said Periclean was less influential than other campus groups. Fellows programs, sororities and fraternities, and sport teams were mentioned among the other groups.
- Out of 81 alumni, currently 58% are currently working, or have obtained a graduate degree. 22.22% are currently working in a formal long-term service program (Teach for America, AmeriCorps, or Peace Corps). 71.6% have participated in a local community service program (Special Olympics, Kiwanis Club, book drives).
All in all, we have found that the Periclean Program greatly impacts our Scholars’ lives after graduation.
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