2019 OUGS Survey

• To be eligible for the $5.00 Incentive gift card, the 2019 Ontario University Graduate survey must be completed.
• Eligibility for the Incentive opens on January 31st, 2022 at 8:00 a.m. E.T., and closes on June 30th, 2022 at 11:59 p.m. E.T.
• CCI Research Inc. will make one attempt to send a gift card to a provided email address. CCI Research Inc. is not responsible for lost, stolen, or misdirected gift cards.

The Ministry of Colleges and Universities has contracted CCI Research Inc. (the Contractor) to conduct the annual Ontario University Graduate Survey of labour market outcomes (the Survey).

The purpose of this Survey is to compile and publish aggregate information about employment status, job characteristics and continued schooling in a way that does not identify any individual. This information is used for research and to help current and future students make informed decisions about their postsecondary options and career choices. Participation in the survey is voluntary. Every university has provided the names, student numbers, contact information, university program information, gender, and language of communication of its graduates to the Contractor for the purpose of conducting the survey.

The Ministry requires the Contractor to protect privacy by:

• Using the personal information for the sole purpose of conducting the Survey.
• Providing only depersonalized (name, student number, and contact information removed) survey responses and summary reports at the aggregated level to the universities and the Ministry. Assigning a unique Survey number to each graduate and using it only to:
  • Determine if his or her response has been received;
  • Compile Survey data based on graduate characteristics; and
  • Manage incentives.
• Protecting personal information in accordance with the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Data Act and the Freedom of Information and Privacy Act, including:
  • Storing it in a physically secure location separate from other records; and,
  • Applying administrative, technical and physical safeguards that protect against unauthorized access, use, modification, and disclosure of personal information.
• Securely destroying all personal information and Survey data 18 months after the depersonalized Survey responses and summary reports have been transmitted to and reviewed by the universities and the Ministry. The Ministry will use the results of the Survey to:
• Publish aggregate information about labour market outcomes;
• Evaluate postsecondary funding, programs and policy; for policy analysis and for statistical activities relating to postsecondary education; and
• Support other research projects consistent with these objectives carried out by third parties. CCI Research Inc. is committed to protecting your privacy in relation to your personal information and maintains administrative, technical and physical safeguards to protect against unauthorized access, use, modification, and disclosure of personal information in accord with the above statement.

For more information about the collection, use, disclosure and treatment of your personal information at CCI Research Inc. please contact CCI by e-mail at privacy@cciresearch.com, or by telephone at 1-888-246-8068 extension 221, or by mail at 71 Broadway, Orangeville, Ontario L9W 1K1

1. What is OUGS?

The Ontario University Graduate Survey (OUGS) is conducted annually by the Ministry of Colleges and Universities (MCU), with support from Ontario universities, to collect data on employment rates, labour outcomes and experiences of alumni from undergraduate programs, both six months and two years after graduation. See: Ontario University Graduate Survey (OUGS) | Institutional Analysis & Planning | University of Waterloo (uwaterloo.ca) for more details.

2. How often is the survey run?

OUGS is administered annually to students who graduated from alumni programs two years prior. The last survey was sent to 2018 graduates in 2021 and achieved a response rate of 33%.

3. When does the survey take place?

The survey of 2019 graduates is available from January 31 to June 30, 2022.

4. Who can participate in the survey?

All 2019 graduates with valid mailing and emaill addresses, who have signed up to receive communications from UWaterloo, as per CASL legislation rules, through UWaterloo’s alumni office.

5. How can students participate?

2019 graduates will receive an email invitation and reminder emails from CCI (ontario.graduates@e.cci-survey.ca), sent to the email address registered with our Alumni Office.  Email invitations will include a unique survey link for each respondent.

6. Why should students participate in the survey?

This is an opportunity for alumni to provide feedback on their employment after graduation which can help current and future students understand the employment prospects of recent university graduates. Your response helps to determine the graduate employment rate of your program, institution, and graduating year. The employment rate is one of ten performance metrics used by the Ministry of Colleges and Universities to measure outcomes and allocate government funding for universities across the province.

7. How long does the survey take?

Less than 6 minutes of your time.

8. What are the incentives?

After completing the survey, a $5 gift card of your choice from one of the following vendors: from Starbucks, Amazon.ca, or Indigo.ca will be emailed to you from CCI Research Inc.

9. When will the results be available?

Summer / early fall 2022.

10. Where and how will the results be displayed?

Recent survey results can be found at ontario.ca/universityoutcomes. Waterloo Key Performance Indicator results can be found at: Ministry of Colleges and Universities (MCU) Key Performance Indicators (KPI) | Institutional Analysis & Planning | University of Waterloo (uwaterloo.ca)

11. How are the results used?

The Ministry will use the survey results:

• to publish aggregate information about labour market outcomes;
• to evaluate postsecondary funding, programs and policy;
• for policy analysis and for statistical activities relating to postsecondary education; and
• to support other research projects consistent with these objectives carried out by third parties.

12. Will my responses be kept confidential?

Participation in this survey is confidential and voluntary. Although some questions within this survey require a response before proceeding to the next, you may opt out of the survey at any time by closing the survey. See Privacy Policy for more details.