ACTIVITY 3: Tracer study

Tracer studies are a useful instrument for quality management and allow higher education institutions
to peak into the black box of the whereabouts of their graduates. It can also provide the information,
which indicates the outcome of its education and shows its strengths and weaknesses. Tracer studies
can, therefore, be used for evaluation purposes and as guidance for future planning. To implement an
own tracer study, it is recommended to have a team, which is experienced in questionnaire design,
masters empirical research methods and is knowledgeable in statistical analysis. In addition, you
might also need several (student) assistants for questionnaire dissemination and digitalization.
Besides preparing and launching the survey in the field, it is important to think through the follow-up
phase after the survey results are available: what is being reported and how? How are the results
spread into the faculties and departments? How to encourage actions which are taken from the
results? Our following exemplary PAP concentrates only on the conception of the survey leaving the
other phases of a tracer study out.
Task A: Conception of a survey for Tracer Study
After assessing the requirements for the plan you determine four major deliverables:
• Conception
• Design the survey inclusing layout and contents
• Test the survey
• Prepare for dispatch
1. For each deliverable, you divide the work into separate work packages. Each work package
has its own owner, duration, and details. The work package associated with your deliverables
include:
• Conception: define the objectives and themes of the survey, set the survey methods (online
survey or paper based survey), define the target graduates.
• Survey design: analyse relevant literature and research, clarify software and hardware
requirements, design the survey, discuss draft with relevant stakeholders.
• Survey testing: Review the survey, test the survey
• Dispatch: check and clarify private data protection rules, acquire the addresses (email address),
check the update the addresses, prepare invitaion letter, prepare for sending out.
2. To finish these work packages, there are some resources are required. The resouces involved
in each work package include
• define the objectives and themes of the survey (project team, stakeholders)
• set the survey methods (project team, material)
• define the target graduates (project team, stakeholders)
• analyse relevant literature and research (project team, material)
• clarify software and hardware requirements (project team, technical support for software and
hardware)
• design the survey (project team, tools, material).
• discuss draft with relevant stakeholders.(project team, stakeholders)
• Review the survey (project team)
• Test the survey (include pre test) (project team, material, groups of students who are invited for
the pre test)
• check and clarify private data protection rules (project team)
• acquire the addresses (project team)
• check the update the addresses, prepare invitaion letter, prepare for sending out (project team,
student assistants).
Deliverables/Workage Resources Description of strengths
Define the objectives and (project team, stakeholders)
themes of the survey
Set the survey methods (project team, material)

Define the target graduates (project team, stakeholders)

Analyse relevant literature (project team, material)

and research

Clarify software and (project team, technical

hardware requirements
Design the survey
Discuss draft with relevant
stakeholders
support for software and
hardware)
(project team, tools,
material).
(project team, stakeholders)

Review the survey (project team)

Test the survey (include pre (project team, material,
test) groups of students who are
invited for the pre test)
Check and clarify private (project team)
data protection rules
Acquire the addresses (project team)
Check the update the (project team, student
addresses, prepare invitaion assistants).
letter, prepare for sending
out

3. Cost and time management

3.1 Cost management plan
Estimated cost per working hour: $5 (wages paid to project team)
Estimated cost for printing surveys and mailling materials (the cost of stationery, envelop…) :
$150
Travel (expenses for transportation, lodging, subsistence (meals and incidentals), and related
expenses incurred by employees to distribute questionnaire): $100
Phone Call cost (phone interview, contact stakeholders) : $50
No Work Description Estimated cost (tổng
package/types of chi phí)
cost
1 Labour cost (wages paid to project team) $5 x 2.200h = 11.000
2 Printing surveys and (the cost of stationery, envelop…) $150
mailling materials
3 Travel (expenses for transportation, lodging, $100
subsistence (meals and incidentals),
and related expenses incurred by
employees to distribute questionnaire)
4 Phone Call cost (phone interview, contact stakeholders) $50
5 Contigency cost $1000
(thường lấy 5 –
15%)
Total cost $12.300

3.2 Time management

It takes about 2 months (400 working hours) to complete the first deliverable, 4 months (1000
working hours) to complete the second deliverable, 1 months (150 working hours) to complete
the third deliverable and 3 months (650 working hours) to comple the last deliverable.
Besides, project team have reviewed more than 150 scientific papers in this field, learned about
the software and hardware used to design and analyse the survey result).
4. Risk management
It is neccesary to explore any potential risks of your project (for example from literature) and
decide on measures you can take against it.
Potential risks and their potential impact on tracer study could be:
• Low interest from stakeholders, low response rate to tracer study by graduates because project
team did not provide stake holder appropriate and detailed information.
• Invalid contact information because project team did not update and carefully check
information (medium impact)
• Underestimating the workload because project manager did not understand task complexity
(medium impact)
To control these kind of risks, project team have different strategies.
• Low interest from stakeholders, low response rate to tracer study by graduates: risk mitigate
(good interation with stakeholders, attractive events, the guides will be pronouned early in the
project)
• Invalid contact information: risk avoidance (carefully check and update the contact
information)
• Underestimating the workload: risk avoidance (review carefully to-do lists, and set realistic
deadlines)
No Type of risk Description of risk How it can Impact How to
happen potential control
(priority)
Human risk Low interest from Project team low risk mitigate
stakeholders did not (good
Low response rate to provide stake interation
tracer study by holder with
graduates appropriate stakeholders,
and detailed attractive
information events, the
guides will
be pronouned
early in the
project)
Human risk Invalid contact project team Medium risk
không làm information did not avoidance
update and (carefully
carefully check and
check update the
information contact
information)
Resources Underestimating the project medium risk
Làm nhưng workload manager did impact avoidance
làm không not (review
đúng understand carefully to-
task do lists, and
complexity set realistic
deadlines)
‍

5. Communication management
Most if not all of the communications on quality issues will take place over e-mail, call
conferences and telephone.
The project team will maintain a schedule of monthly meetings to update the project status and
discuss potential issues. All workgroup members, subgroup members, project owners and other
who have expressed interest are included in the CC list for meeting agendas and meeting notes.
If a particular meeting is not needed, it will be cancelled. The workgroup maintains a Basecamp
web site for collaborative work. This site is accessible only to authorized users. Additional or
alternate workgroup collaborative work sites will be considered if the need arises.

No Description Who When Why How (onl or

(what) – name of off)
the meeting
Quality issues workgroup Each month To update the e-mail, call
members, project status conferences
subgroup and discuss and telephone
members, project potential
owners and other issues
who have
expressed interest
are included in
the CC list for
meeting agendas
and meeting notes

6. Quality management
Project manager has to guarantee the quality of the works to be done along the project as well as
focused on managing the quality of the project’s deliverables and the overal project result.
No Deliverables Quality Planning
Literature review What?
Research Lquan đến topic
Các pp, Theory
Điểm yếu/mạnh/kết quả của previous
researches
 Tính cấp thiết trong bài project of bạn
How?
Choose appropriate Keywords
Read the research
Summarize, analyze the research

Delivarables
 CSR

Findings and analysis

Marketing
of CSR practices that CSR initiatives
department function
assist the marketing recommendations
and CSR conception
unit's operations

Identify the function

of Marketing Define the CSR
department