We take a data-driven approach to program design, management, and improvement. Each element is assessed for effectiveness and we continue to adapt our programming as we move forward.

We survey students and instructors, gather formal and informal feedback from event attendees, Purposeful Work Interns, and student workers in the Student Employment Development and Reflection Program, hold focus groups on campus of student participants and non-participants, and survey Core Employers. Since the first year of the initiative, Bates Institutional Research, Analysis & Planning has collaborated with Purposeful Work to assess the reach and impact of Purposeful Work programming through questions on the Senior Survey. Below are illustrations of selected data we have gathered.

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Since the inception of the Purposeful Work initiative, Bates seniors’ confidence in their own career-related abilities has increased significantly in all measures surveyed. The biennial survey of college seniors is conducted by the Consortium on Financing Higher Education (COFHE). This increase in career confidence can be attributed to the successful programming offered by many partners across campus, often in collaboration with Purposeful Work.

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