Those with positive and successful experiences with outcomes assessment should be encouraged to share their experiences. Some feel their programs are doing a good job with outcomes assessment already, through a combination of exit interviews and surveys of graduates and their employers. The longer you wait, the lower the return rate. Also, some graduates may be difficult to locate. Most agree that employers should also be surveyed.
Many programs using the survey approach fail to use the data to make curricular adjustments.
Commitment to outcomes assessment is often difficult to achieve because of faculty inertia. Administrative encouragement for this activity is also lacking at some universities. Others put substantial weight on this activity. More outcome data are needed at both undergraduate and graduate levels, but undergraduate needs are the most acute. There is a great deal of diversity among undergraduate curricula.