2001 News releases

Durham College No. 1 in Ontario for jobs

April 11, 2001

Oshawa, Ontario - Once again, Durham College has triumphed in the annual Key Performance Indicator (KPI) surveys.

Durham has placed first in graduate employment in Ontario and, for the second year in a row, Durham is first among the six community colleges in the Greater Toronto Area in overall KPI survey results. As well, Durham's student satisfaction rating jumped by nearly five percentage points and its graduate satisfaction rating was up from the previous year.

The statistics are based on surveys conducted during the past year of current Durham College students, new graduates and employers of new grads.

The surveys revealed that:

• 94.1 per cent of the college's recent graduates found employment in six months or less after graduation;
• 90.8 per cent of employers were satisfied with the educational preparation of the Durham grads they hired;
• 82.7 per cent of the college's new grads were satisfied with their education at Durham and its usefulness in helping them achieve their goals; and
• 79.9 per cent of students were satisfied with their overall educational experience at Durham and its usefulness in preparing them for the workforce.

"Our staff's commitment to students, graduates and employers is clearly evident in these results," said Gary Polonsky, president of Durham College & University Centre. "Educational excellence is the basis of everything we do and these KPI numbers support the fact that we offer high-skill, job-focused, real-world education in partnership with our community. Way to go team!"

Durham College students were equally thrilled with the results.

"Durham's unbeatable reputation and the outstanding success of its grads in starting their careers are two of the key reasons why so many students choose to study here, " noted Darla Price, incoming president of the Durham College student association and a student in the three-year Business Administration-Human Resources program.

The 94.1 per cent employment rate of the college's recent grads is particularly impressive, since the survey was done only six months after graduates had finished their studies and many were just beginning to reap the rewards of their job search.

All 25 Ontario community colleges are required to participate in the surveys. The KPI project was launched in 1998, to help make the colleges more accountable to the people and organizations they serve.

The KPI surveys have a financial impact on Ontario colleges. A portion of the funding colleges will receive for the 2001-02 fiscal year will be based directly on their individual KPI ratings. For the 2000-01 fiscal year, Durham College received $498,375 in KPI funding from the Ontario government.

To find out more about KPIs, follow the link on Durham College's home page (www.durhamcollege.ca) or visit the Web sites of ACAATO (www.acaato.on.ca) or Forum Canada (www.collegekpi.com).

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