Graduate School Surveys
Each year the Graduate School administers three web-based surveys--the Doctoral Exit Survey, the Master's Exit Survey, and the Doctoral Student Experience Survey. The first two exit surveys collect information from graduate students completing their degrees at UW-Madison, while the third survey collects information from doctoral students transitioning to the dissertator stage of their program. All three surveys solicit feedback on students' academic experiences (e.g. program quality, support, advising), and gather information on post-degree career plans.
Survey data are used internally by the Graduate School to help inform policy review and development. Data are also regularly shared with graduate degree programs in the form of interactive data visualizations to support program assessment and review efforts.
Doctoral Exit Survey (DES)
The Doctoral Exit Survey is administered to all graduating Ph.D. students as a required component of degree processing and conferral. Graduates must complete the DES prior to submitting their dissertation electronically to the Graduate School. More detailed information and a link to the survey can be found on the
doctoral degree completion page of the Graduate School website.
The current version of the
Doctoral Exit Survey Questionnaire has been used by the Graduate School since Fall, 2015. A visualization of DES data from the past five academic years can be viewed by those with a university NetID. To access the visualization, click on the following link:
Master's Exit Survey (MES)
The Master's Exit Survey is administered to graduating master's students as a required component of degree processing and conferral.* Master's students who have been issued a degree warrant by the Graduate School also receive an email with MES survey instructions and a link to the survey. Graduates must complete the MES prior to submitting their signed degree warrant to the Graduate School. More information and a link to the survey can be found on the
masters degree completion page of the Graduate School website.
*Students in the Library and
Information Studies MA program, and the School of Business full-time,
evening, professional, and executive MBA programs do not participate in the Master's Exit Survey and are exempted from the survey requirement.
Doctoral Student Experience Survey (DSES)
The Doctoral Student Experience Survey is administered to all Ph.D. students at the preliminary examination stage as a required step to move on to dissertator status. The survey covers career aspirations, academic experiences, and academic challenges, among other topics. Ph.D. students who have been issued a preliminary examination warrant by the Graduate School receive an email with DSES survey instructions and a link to the survey. Students are required to complete the DSES prior to submitting their signed degree warrant to the Graduate School. More information and a link to the survey can be found on the
preliminary examination page of the Graduate School website.
Programs can contact the Graduate School with any survey-related questions or requests by sending an email to
exitsurveys@grad.wisc.edu.
See Also:
