Gathering employer assessment inputs from focused discussion group sessions with campus recruiters

The Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) requires all accredited engineering schools to assess the capabilities of their graduates. One source of program outcome assessment data is feedback from employers concerning the work performance of engineering graduates. This paper describes procedures for planning and conducting focused discussion group sessions with corporate recruiters. A review of literature related to gathering employer assessments is presented. Following the description of the protocol for the discussion sessions is a summary of observations from focused discussion group experiences over two semesters on the Clemson University and the University of Florida campuses.