We evaluate the effectiveness of our undergraduate programs in three main ways:

1. Capstone courses require each student to become involved in the analysis of a real-world environmental problem.  How the students fare in these capstone experiences depends on the effectiveness of the instruction they received in previous courses, and grades are determined in part from faculty-student interviews in which the complete learning experience is evaluated.  We are currently developing a new capstone course (WILD 4910, Assessment and Synthesis in Natural Resource Science), which will assist us in gauging the effectiveness of the entire curriculum.  Students will be required to participate with faculty members in group activities and one-on-one interviews in which the entire undergraduate learning experience is evaluated.  

2.  The Department Head meets informally with graduating seniors at a working luncheon, followed by a formal anonymous questionnaire (AY 2012-13 exit interviews and questionnaire surveys).

3.  The data shown in the 2008 Employment/Education Survey were collected from a 9-month follow-up telephone survey.  We periodically conduct interviews with leaders in governmental regulatory and funding agencies to determine how our graduates served their needs.