In Pursuit of Engagement and Excellence
Consistent alumni response generates meaningful, actionable data
Words: Dr. Kirk D. Farney M.A. ’98, Vice President for Advancement, Vocation, and Alumni Engagement
Dr. Kirk Farney
Photo by Mike Hudson
In early 2024, Wheaton College engaged its alumni in the thorough Alumni Attitude Study (AAS) survey. The respected Performance Enhancement Group designed the questions to give insight into how alumni feel and how we can continually improve how well we work together.
The last time we did this was in 2017. More than 350 educational institutions have used the AAS process, providing a strong source of comparable data that Wheaton can use to better understand its survey findings.
We are sorting through the particulars of our results, but there are immediate findings we would like to share with you here. I direct you to our graphics on the following pages, where you can see an accessible breakdown of the response rate by the decade of your class, gender, ethnicity, location, theological alignment, which programs had the most impact on you during your time at Wheaton, and how well you feel Wheaton College prepared you spiritually. Further, we will share more information during the next several months using different avenues, including social media, video, and additional email communications. We are excited to enhance an already robust relationship with our alumni that sets us apart from many other institutions of higher learning.
Our results fall into Actionable Results, Prioritized Improvement Opportunities, Enhanced Brand Recognition, and Alumni Partnerships categories. For example, we see a clear opportunity to build greater alumni involvement. Specifically, we have many alumni with lower levels of connectedness who still readily recommend the College to prospective students and parents at a much higher level. This is engagement we can deliberately pursue.
I am pleased to say that 93% of respondents reported their choice to attend Wheaton College as either a good or great decision. And, given that many of our best ambassadors are present and past students, it was very heartening to learn that 86% of respondents say they proactively promote Wheaton at least occasionally. Our alumni believe strongly that the education received at Wheaton prepared them most effectively for further graduate education and understanding of biblical perspectives. This was reasonably consistent across cohorts of graduation eras.
Wheaton alumni also noted key factors that affect their decisions to give, such as high-quality faculty, knowing that gifts have an “impact beyond Wheaton College,” and providing financial support to current students. Alumni placed a strong emphasis on “knowing that Wheaton graduates people with a strong ethical and moral foundation.” Significantly, 81% of Wheaton College alumni believe that Wheaton performed at a good to excellent level when they were students for “developing moral/ethical decision-making abilities.”
Even a college with an average relationship with its alumni base needs to monitor and consider all responses. But God has blessed Wheaton with a unique strength. Our graduates engage with us in droves and with heartfelt opinions. Out of 26,500 alumni who received the survey, a staggering 5,161 of you responded. That 19% response rate is substantially higher than the average institution’s 3–6% response rate.
Not only is the percentage response rate exceptional, but the number of individuals who responded gives us an enormous statistical advantage in gleaning useful, accurate information. Statistical best practices say that any number between 1,000 and 1,500 responses is enough to have a statistically significant analysis. You have reached the 95% confidence interval when you hit that range. Thus, Wheaton’s more than 5,000 results validate our findings at a high level. In statistical terms, you provided the “magic numbers” needed to understand alumni opinions not just as a whole but even the statistically valid numbers needed to hear and understand individual classes.
So, we thank you. Your dedication to your alma mater and its mission is unswerving, which provides true encouragement to those of us who work at or attend Wheaton College
Alumni Attitude Study: Survey Highlights
As printed in the Winter 2025 issue mailed to all domestic alumni.
For a full-size version of this graphic, view pages 56 and 57 of the complete PDF here.
