There is no enthusiasm for starting a master's program in religion, given today's market and the size of our faculty. Even before the department was obliged to contact these students for this report, individual graduates had volunteered information to faculty members in letters and cards. We were unable to obtain responses from his employer about his training at Tech, but he assures us that his work here gave him the necessary background for his current explorations in the realm of Buddhist meditation. We also hear from undergraduates who had taken a course or two and responded to a particular faculty member's approach to religion. One nuclear engineer remains a regular correspondent and expresses his gratitude for courses in this department that made him think about ethical issues in the workplace.
Numerical summaries are meaningless when the sample is as small as our alumni list.
The outcomes assessment process has been very worthwhile for the department in that it has helped the department clarify its own objectives and thereby helped the department plan for the future. Clearly, the concern for the student's progress in his or her collegiate career is a prime motivation behind outcomes assessment. This department is firmly committed to that goal. Working closely with the student while in residence and making periodic contact with them after graduation keeps the faculty alert to the changes in student interests and to their assessment of how well the faculty have prepared them for later life. They point to the nurturing of their intellects while at Tech and the broad education they received, which prepared them to be adaptable in the workplace.