A forecast of the critical tasks for educational placement officers in higher education at four year colleges and universities

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to identify the critical tasks of an educational placement officer for time periods, I (0-5 years) and II (10-20 years), and to prioritize these tasks based on consensus so that the highest ranked critical tasks could be identified. A Delphi study was conducted to accomplish the above purpose. A panel of twenty experts in the field of educational placement were nominated and selected to participate in the study. Round One of the study sought the identity of ten critical tasks in each of the time periods by the members of the panel. The respondents were asked to rank each of the 150 tasks for each time period in Round Two. A four-point scale from 4--very important (high priority) to 1--unimportant (low priority) was used. Upon the completion of Round Two the mode (consensus) was determined for each of the tasks. In Round Three respondents were provided the results of Round Two, to include their individual rating for each task and the group rating for each task. Each respondent was then requested to move toward group consensus or to provide a statement, known as the minority report, explaining why he or she would not change a specific task rating to achieve consensus. The minority report was requested when the respondent was more than one unit from the group consensus on any task. Eighteen conclusions resulted from the study. These conclusions included a concern about the consolidation of placement operations on college campuses; the acceptance of the counseling function by placement officers and the concomitant development of needed counseling skills; a pronounced managerial role for the educational placement officer; a greater involvement in college of education proceedings and community affairs; the development of effective communication and public relation skills; the development of outreach activities to service students more effectively; the cultivation of sound employer--placement relationships; and a need for a redefinition of professionalism in the field of educational placement. Additional conclusions were a lessening of the importance of the traditional interviewing service provided by placement; a relatively minor role in collective bargaining for placement officers; a lack of importance placed on third party recruiting methods; and a low priority on the establishment of national placement data banks...