Placement Rate Calculations

Career Services

Policy:

The career services department calculates and communicates job placement rates on a weekly and annual basis. There are two rates that are used to monitor job placement: unadjusted and adjusted. They are defined as follows:

Unadjusted Rate – represents the percentage of total graduates who obtain employment in or related to their field of study. The unadjusted rate is calculated by dividing the total number of graduates placed in their chosen or related field of study by the total number of graduates.

The population of placed graduates includes students who are placed in their field of study or who advance in jobs related to their field of study while they are in attendance or after they have graduated from MTI.
The unadjusted rate is based on the award year July 1 to June 30. The rate is typically calculated in January immediately following the end of the award year. This allows students who graduate at the end of the award year time to obtain employment so they can be included in the calculation. In addition, this enables the college to ensure that all graduate files that should be included in the calculation are closed out and processed.

Adjusted Rate – represents the percentage of graduates actively looking for work who obtain employment in or related to their field of study. The adjusted rate is calculated by dividing the total number of graduates placed in their chosen or related field of study by the total number of graduates less the number of graduates who declined to activate with the career services department and the number who were deactivated from using MTI's career services.

The population of placed graduates includes students who are placed in their field of study or who advance in jobs related to their field of study while they are in attendance or after they have graduated from MTI.
The following individuals are not included in the calculation: graduates who decline activation or are deactivated by the college because they are: 1) not looking for work in their field of study, 2) continuing their education, 3) choosing not to pursue licensure when it is required for employment, 4) unable to be contacted; 5) employed, but the college cannot verify their employment.
The adjusted rate is based on the award year July 1 to June 30. The rate is typically calculated in January immediately following the end of the award year. This allows students who graduate at the end of the award year time to obtain employment so they can be included in the calculation. In addition, this enables the college to ensure that all graduate files that should be included in the calculation are closed out and processed.

Definitions:

Graduate
An individual who successfully earns a diploma or degree.

Job Placement
Full-time or part-time employment in a position that is related to the individual’s field of study and provides financial compensation for duties performed. 2) Employment through a temporary job placement agency in an assignment that is related to the individual’s field of study and is no less than three months in length. 3) Employment that is obtained with or without the assistance of the career services department 4) Students that are already employed in their field of study at the time of graduation will be counted as “placed.” NOTE: Unpaid internships or volunteer positions are not considered a job placement

Placement Waiver (or waiver)
A placement waiver (or waiver) documents the status and reason why a graduate is not included in the adjusted placement calculation. The group of graduates who are not included in this calculation are sometimes referred to as waivers. The following statuses are not included in this calculation and are considered waivers: declined activation and deactivated.

Please note: As an ACCJC-accredited institution, Campus is not bound by specific job placement calculations that are mandated by the state or regional accrediting body. The calculations the college uses to determine its adjusted and unadjusted job placement rates have been developed by the college and are reviewed on an annual basis. Campus’s job placement rates are intended to serve as reasonable and appropriate indicators of its success in helping its students/graduates prepare for and obtain employment. Information regarding the types of employment Campus students/graduates are obtaining is available upon request from the career services department.

Procedure:

As a student approaches the end of his/her program, the student activates with the Career Services department. The activation process begins in the Career Preparation B (B122B) course. For diploma programs, this course is typically scheduled in the last term of the program. For degree programs, the course is typically scheduled in the last term of the first year. The activation process is considered complete after the student meets with career services staff and all remaining terms and/or externships have been completed, per program requirements.
Statuses for employment fields that require licensure:
- Graduate obtains his/her license and is placed in a position where licensure is a desired or required qualification for hire = ‘placed’
- Graduate does not obtain his/her license and is placed in a position for which the graduate qualifies as a result of completing his/her program of study = ‘placed’
- Graduate is actively seeking employment and is not yet placed, regardless of whether or not he/she is licensed = ‘active’
- Graduate is not actively seeking employment and is not placed, regardless of whether or not he/she is licensed = ‘deactivated – not looking for work in chosen or related field’
Placement waivers must be documented using a Career Services Student Waiver which must be verified by a third party and approved by the director of career services.
The career services staff attempts to contact all graduating students to offer assistance and support during their job search.
- When the department is unable to contact a graduate who has activated with career services – After three failed attempts to contact the graduate, as well as his/her emergency contacts, a letter will be sent to the student reminding him/her to check in. If all attempts to reach the Revised: 2/12/2020 Executive Committee Approval: 2/13/2020 Effective: 2/13/2020 graduate fail, a waiver will be completed. The Unable to Contact by Phone or Email (UTC) waiver letter will be sent via certified mail to the student’s last known address
- When the department is unable to contact a graduate who has not activated with career services - After three failed attempts to contact the graduate, as well as his/her emergency contacts, a waiver will be completed. The Unable to Contact by Phone or Email (UTC) waiver letter will be sent via certified mail to the student’s last known address.
In the event a student declines to activate with career services, a waiver will be completed. If the waiver is not signed in person by the student, the Declined Activation waiver letter will be sent via certified mail to the student’s last known address.
When waiver letters are sent via certified mail, the receipt is to be attached to the waiver and kept on file.
Placement rates are provided to the executive committee on a weekly basis. These calculations are based on July 1 of the current award year to the date the calculation is performed.
The Monthly Placement Summary is created at the beginning of the month by the director of career services. The summary lists the previous month’s placements and includes the following individuals:
- Graduates who are considered first-time placements. These graduates are those who obtain initial employment related to their field of study with or without the assistance of career services.
- Graduates who are not first-time placements, but who come to career services for assistance. These graduates are those who obtain employment subsequent to their initial job placement. To appear on the report, these graduates must have activated and received assistance from career services. These graduates will appear on the report for the month in which they are placed and will be identified with an asterisk.
All reported placements must be verified by career services staff through contact with the student/graduate or with the student/graduate’s employer
Concurrent with the creation of the Monthly Placement Summary, the director of career services will verify that each graduate placed during the month has had his/her employment verified and that documentation is on file.
Placement reports, waivers, and verification of employment are to be retained seven years.
Annual placement rates are typically calculated in January for the preceding award year (July 1 to June 30) in order to ensure that all files that should be included in the calculation are closed out and processed. These rates are considered preliminary until verified by the annual career services audit.
The adjusted and/or unadjusted placement rates are to appear on the website and other promotional materials. The disclosure must include a brief explanation of what the placement rate(s) represent and how they are calculated. A link to the placement rate calculation policy or to a brief description of the calculation may be included in the disclosure as well.
Graduate survey – An electronic survey is sent to graduates on an annual basis. A summary of the data is compiled and shared with the Executive Committee, Academic Team, Enrollment Team, and Career Services.

Career Services Graduate Statuses

Students/graduates will fall into one of the following career services statuses, defined as follows.

Active
- Graduate/student has met with career services staff to activate with the department. This applies to those who are re-activating with career services as well as those who are activating for the first time.
- Graduate/student may be a current student who is in the last 4-weeks of their program or the last 4-weeks of the first year of a degree (based on the student’s expected graduation date); a recent graduate; or a past graduate.
- Graduate/student lives in the local area
- Graduate/student is following through and checking-in with the department on a weekly basis.
- Graduate/student is actively looking for work through the career services department and also through his/her own efforts.
- Graduate is actively seeking employment and is not yet placed, regardless of whether or not he/she is licensed. [For employment fields that require licensure]
Active/Out of Area
- Graduate has met with career services staff to activate with the department. This applies to those who are re-activating with career services as well as those who are activating for the first time.
- Graduate is a recent graduate or past graduate.
- Graduate lives out of the area but remains in contact with the department.
- Graduate is following through and checking-in with the department on a weekly basis.
- Graduate is actively looking for work through his/her own efforts.
Declined Activation
- Graduate/student declines activation due to one of the following reasons:
  - Continuing education.Not looking for work for reasons including, but not limited to: military service, health, incarceration, death, or personal.
  - Not looking for work in chosen or related field. This includes individuals who choose not to leave their current place of employment.
  - Other reason(s) not listed above.
- Graduate/student may be a current student who is in the last 4-weeks of their program or the last 4-weeks of the first year of a degree (based on the student’s expected graduation date); a recent graduate; or a past graduate.
- Considered a waiver.
Deactivated
- Graduate/student was at one time active with career services.
- Graduate/student is deactivated by career services or by request for one of the following reasons:
  - Continuing education.
  - Not looking for work for reasons including, but not limited to: military service, health, incarceration, death, or personal.
  - Not looking for work in chosen or related field. This includes individuals who choose not to leave their current place of employment.
  - Unable to contact graduate (graduate was active at one time; CS is unable to reach the graduate through various methods of contact).
  - Other reason(s) not listed above.
- Considered a waiver.
Not Yet Active - Unable to contact graduate
- The graduate/student has not been activated and career services is unable to reach the graduate/student through various methods of contact.
- Considered a waiver.
Placed
- Status applies to recent or past graduates.
- Graduate finds employment in his/her chosen or related field of study.
- Graduate finds employment with the assistance of career services or through his/her own efforts.
- Graduate obtains his/her license and is placed in a position where licensure is a desired or required qualification for hire. [For employment fields that require licensure]
- Graduate does not obtain his/her license and is placed in a position for which the graduate qualifies as a result of completing his/her program of study. [For employment fields that require licensure]
Not Yet Active
- This is the default Anthology career services status from the time of enrollment
- The status applies to current students/graduates.
- Student or graduate has not met with career services staff to discuss placement or to activate
- Not considered a waiver.
Terminated
- Status applies to recent or past graduates.
- Graduate is terminated by career services for a violation of terms
- Student is deemed ineligible to receive career services.
- Not considered a waiver.

Students completing an initial program of study who subsequently continues their education in an additional program of study with the college will be considered to be in a Declined Activation status (waiver). At the time the student completes their second program of study, the student will be considered Not Yet Active, until such time when the student meets with the Career Services department for their activation (Active). At the time of activation, the student’s status for both completed programs will remain active until such time obtains employment in their chosen or related field of study.The placement should only be counted for the individual program to which the employment position is most closely related. The program of study for which the student did not obtain employment should remain in Active status.

Calculations

Unadjusted Rate
- Total (verified) number of graduates placed in chosen or related field of study / Total number of graduates*

(*diploma & degree graduates within all statuses, and PM completion)

Adjusted Rate
- Total (verified) number of graduates placed in chosen or related field of study / Total number of graduates – waiver statuses*

(*declined activation + deactivated + not yet active: unable to contact)

Note: The adjusted rate does not include graduates whose employment cannot be verified. In addition, students who were counted as graduates in the prior award year and appear on the current year’s report are removed from the calculation.

Verification of Employment

Career services verifies the employment of all graduates who are placed. The calculations used to determine MTI’s placement rates are based on verified placements and documented waivers.

Acceptable forms of employment verification include the following:

Employment Information Exit Interview form, signed by the graduate
Written verification from the graduate. Email or social media messages are acceptable.
Campus commencement form, signed by the graduate.
Written employment verification provided by employer. An email verification is acceptable.

The following information is required for all employment verifications:

Employer name and contact information
Employment start date
Job title
Salary
Field of employment

Social media posts (e.g. Facebook or LinkedIn) other than direct communication to the Career Services Department are not acceptable verifications of employment. Two-way communication between the graduate and career services must occur. In the event the college is unable to obtain a written verification from the graduate, the college will request verification directly from the graduate’s employer.

For instances where the college knows 1) that the graduate is employed and 2) the name of the employer, but does not receive verification from the graduate or the employer, a certified letter will be sent to the graduate asking him/her to verify the employment information the college has on record. If the college is unable to verify a graduate’s employment, the graduate will not be included in the placement calculation. Note: The process of verifying employment was updated and formalized effective May 2015.

Annual Review of Placement Data

The registrar and academic officer conduct an annual audit of placement data and reporting. The review will include the following:

Executive committee review of the placement rate calculations and policy.
Verification of adjusted and unadjusted placement calculations reported for the prior award year (July 1- June 30) – effective 2012
Review of hardcopy and electronic graduate records to verify that placement statuses are being documented, employment is being verified through the graduate or employer, and proper policies and procedures are being followed for waivers.
Review of verification of employment supporting documentation and what is documented in Anthology. A random sampling of 15-20 graduate files is reviewed.
Confirmation that the career services department is conducting semi-annual review of graduate salary data to ensure that the salary information being shared with students and the public accurately reflects what our graduates typically earn