One of the most exciting projects has been the program survey, designed to help the board and the alumni relations office understand the needs and wishes of the alumni community. The survey was designed and implemented almost entirely through volunteer work, with some crucial budgetary and administrative support from the college. We are now just beginning to look at the data we acquired and to start thinking about some of the program implications of the finding.

Over the next few issues of Reed, we plan to share with alumni the work that the alumni board is doing in an effort to provide Reed alumni with the best possible programs and services. This article is the first of the series. We want to thank George Joseph '51, who wrote it, to the entire board, who continue to devote hours of work to the project, and to all alumni who contributed by participating in the survey.

--Marianne Brogan '84, Director of Alumni Relations

Survey results are in

From time to time the college has undertaken more or less formal and more or less scientific surveys to determine who our alumni are, what they think about Reed, and other demographic and attitudinal information. The last survey was done in 1994. However, past surveys have not provided much guidance about how alumni view existing alumni activities or what they want from the alumni association. Recognizing this led to the idea of developing a broader survey that could lead to more pointedly detailed information that would be of greater use in working with and for alumni.

The objectives of the survey were to be fairly wide-ranging, but the focus was on finding out what alumni want and expect from the association. The board wanted to know how alumni feel about the information they get about Reed, what interests they share, in what sorts of alumni activities they are interested, and what services they would like the college and the board to provide.

The questionnaire took shape in the late summer of 1995 and was tested in the Washington, D.C., area in early October. Some of the survey questions were quite fact specific (When was the last time you visited the Reed campus? Have you ever attended a reunion at Reed?), some introspective (How much affinity do you feel for your class at Reed?), some were activity-specific (Have you volunteered for Reed College or the alumni association in some capacity during the last few years? Which of the following activities would interest you?), some were more or less judgmental (Are you satisfied with the information you receive from Reed regarding alumni association news and activities? Which of the following best describes how you feel about being a Reed alumnus?), and some were technology-specific (Do you currently have access to and use the World Wide Web services on the internet?). The survey also included three open-ended questions (Is there anything that the alumni association could do to increase your participation in school activities?).

We already knew quite a bit about our alumni, including their ages and class affiliations and general attitude about Reed. As of fall 1994, 30 percent of alumni were occupied in education, 25 percent in business and industry, and most of the rest almost equally in arts and communications, health care, government service, law, community service, and professions other than law and medicine. A high proportion hold advanced degrees. Thirty-seven percent live in Oregon and Washington, 21 percent in California, 18 percent north of Virginia and east of Ohio, 7 percent in the North Central states, 7 percent in the Mountain and Southwestern states, 6 percent in the South, and 4 percent abroad. (1 percent live in Hawaii, but that gives a total of 101 percent--sed quaere.) Alumni chapters are active in the Bay Area, Southern California, New England, New York, Portland, the Seattle area, and Washington, D.C.

The questionnaire was administered by telephone interviews between January and April 1996 by Reed students under the supervision of Marianne Brogan '84. One-hundred sixty alumni had been selected randomly in equal numbers from each of the seven chapter areas and an at-large area. The goal, which was attained, was 50 completed surveys per area, totaling 400.

Jon Rivenburg, director of institutional research, presented preliminary results to the board in September, and additional analysis of the survey results is currently under way, including an examination--of vital interest to the seven chapters--of how Reed alumni differ in different regions of the country.

The next article will contain more detailed information on survey results about alumni interests, attitudes, and activities. At the very least, we now happily know that most Reedies still like Reed: 89 percent have positive or very positive impressions of the college, and 94 percent would recommend the college to prospective students "if appropriate." Oh, yes, Reed alumni are also fairly well connected: 59 percent have email capability and 54 percent have access to the World Wide Web. Those figures are certain to increase, and that will make it easier for all of us to maintain a closer relationship with the college and with each other.

--George Joseph '51