A FOLLOW-UP STUDY OF FORMER GRADUATES OF TRI-CITIES STATE TECHNICAL INSTITUTE, BLOUNTVILLE, TENNESSEE

This study is a follow-up of former students of Tri-Cities State Technical Institute who were graduated during the years of 1973-1979. The purpose of the study was to determine post-program labor market experiences of former students and student perceptions of teaching, equipment and nonacademic services of Tri-Cities Tech. Resulting data provided information for institutional program planning, decision-making and provided measures of accountability for state and federal resources allocation.; The population of the study consisted of 100 of the 156 former graduates of Tri-Cities State Technical Institute with majors in Chemical Technology, Electronic Engineering Technology, and Mechanical Engineering Technology. These curricula remained unchanged during the transition from an area vocational-technical school to a technical institute in July of 1978.; The survey instrument was divided into two sections. The first section was developed for obtaining demographic and descriptive information from former graduates. The second section elicited student evaluation of teaching, equipment and nonacademic services across a five-level Likert scale.; The survey instrument was mailed to each former graduate, and the final number of processed responses totaled approximately 65 percent of the population. The data were analyzed descriptively by computer which provided frequency and percentage of responses for each question of the survey instrument. The Likert scale portion of the questionnaire was subjected to further computer analysis in order to determine measures of central tendency in the response distribution.; Eleven research questions were employed to design the analysis of the data and present the findings. The following conclusions were drawn from the study: (1) Since graduates were overwhelmingly employed in the field for which they trained, the conclusion could be drawn that there was sufficient labor demand in the area for the fields of mechanical engineering technology, electronic engineering technology, and chemical technology. This conclusion could be drawn based on the finding that 80 percent of the graduates were employed in the counties surrounding Tri-Cities Tech. (2) Based on the findings that graduates perceived it was their training that helped them obtain jobs, that their training was utilized on the job, and that they were satisfied with their jobs, this study concluded that Tri-Cities Tech was fulfilling its mission of providing for the development of competencies required for productive employment and for further advancement while employed. Considering the limitations of judgment stated in the findings section, salary increases of 30 percent over a two-year period indicated that employers probably were not dissatisfied with their employees who were trained in Tri-Cities Tech. (3) Over a quarter of the respondents were enrolled in four-year institutions of higher education, indicating a need or desire for further education or credentials in their field. (4) As virtually all the respondents indicated favorable opinions regarding course instruction, technical labs instruction, and equipment appropriateness, this study concluded that the vital educational components of the technical educational programs were adequate to prepare the graduates for related employment as perceived by former students. (5) Although the majority of opinions were positive, some of the former students expressed an unfavorable opinion about the counseling and guidance, and job placement services. These services were not fulfilling their missions in a consistent manner. Those former students who marked negative responses were either unaware of the existence or potential of the services, did not need the services, or did not view these services as helpful.