The purpose of the study was to describe a career profile of placement directors employed by colleges and universities having a Fall, 1971 minimum enrollment of 10,000 students.Questionnaires were mailed to 239 placement directors at 213 campuses across the United States in August, 1973. One hundred sixty-two questionnaires were returned yielding a 67.8 per cent return and 157 were usable resulting in a 65.7 per cent net return. Analysis of the data led to the following findings and conclusions:The mean age for all respondents was 46.7 and the median age was 49.7 years. Eighty-five per cent of the respondents were male and 15 per' cent were female. Fifty-three per cent of the respondents worked at employing institutions 10 years or more and 32.5 per cent had been director 10 years or more. Twenty-eight per cent were in post-master's degree status and 20 per cent held the doctorate. Fifty-four per cent had a master's degree and 16 per cent had a bachelor's degree as the highest degree held. Two-thirds of the respondents were administratively assigned to Student Affairs.The major areas of study most frequently reported were business administration at the undergraduate level, counseling and guidance at the master's level, and educational administration at the post-master's level. Counseling and guidance was the field of study ranked most valuable on the graduate level.' Undergraduate education was rated "useful" by 90 per cent of the respondents; 30 per cent reported undergraduate and 52 per cent rated graduate work "very useful" as preparation for placement work.Higher education was listed by 65 per cent of the respondents as the previous work experience immediately prior to current positions. Previous experience in business, industry, and government was cited by one-third of the respondents as the most beneficial. The nature of the job was reported by 92 per cent of the respondents as the factor of greatest value affecting the decision to accept the first position in higher education.Seven per cent of all respondents earned less than $12,000 and 13 per cent reported salaries of $24,000 or more. One-third earned $15,999 or less, one-third earned $16,000 to $19,999, and one-third earned $20,000 or more in 1973-74.The opportunity to work with students was the aspect of current positions which generated the most satisfaction with respondents. Students were ranked by 68 per cent of the respondents as the constituency to which primary responsibility was felt. The constituencies ranked second, third, fourth and fifth were the employing institution, the department, the placement profession, and employers, respectively. Ninety-five per cent of the directors were generally "satisfied" with placement work and 59 per cent were "very satisfied". Between 84 and 91 per cent agreed that placement administration offered sufficient challenge for consideration as a career, that placement had developed into a profession, required unique expertise and was good preparation for other administrative work in higher education.Sixty-four per cent of the respondents expected to remain as current positions until retirement or indefinitely. The need for career counseling and career planning for students was the major concern or problem for the 1970's and 1980's cited by respondents.Respondents reflected relatively low aspirations for further educational achievement. The directors indicated a high degree of motivation toward student relationships rather than the dynamics of administration, and expressed a generally high level of satisfaction with the placement career field.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BSU/oai:cardinalscholar.bsu.edu:handle/180608 |
| Date | January 1974 |
| Creators | Seeloff, Eugene R. |
| Contributors | Marconnit, George D. |
| Source Sets | Ball State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Format | xi, 178 leaves ; 28 cm. |
| Source | Virtual Press |
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