238. The following appeared in a memorandum from the president ofMira Vista College to the college's board of trustees. "At nearby Green Mountain College, which has morebusiness courses and more job counselors than does Mira Vista College, 90percent of last year's graduating seniors had job offers from prospectiveemployers. But at Mira Vista College last year, only 70 percent of the seniorswho informed the placement office that they would be seeking employment hadfound full-time jobs within three months after graduation, and only half ofthese graduates were employed in their major field of study. To help MiraVista's graduates find employment, we must offer more courses in business andcomputer technology and hire additional job counselors to help students withtheir resumés and interviewing skills."
In the memo, the president appeals that additional courses inbusiness and computer technology and hiring more job counselors would helpstudents with their resume and interviewing skills. The argument is problematicas it reveals several unproven assumptions and imprecise methods of evaluation.
To begin with, when it comes to compare the percentage of students who getjob offers, the methods of measurements have some statistical shortcomings. Forone thing, the president compares the samples of 70 percent of theseniors who informed the placement office in Mira Vista College with 90percent of last year’s graduating seniors got job offers. Each has its ownstandards of total samples. It remains the doubts that the numbers of seniorswho informed the placement office is only a small proportion of senior class,either or cannot represent the whole group. Thus, the president’s assertionthat Green Mountain College has higher percentage of senior students in gettingjob offers in not unsubstantiated. Secondly, the president fails to mention the total amount of studentat each college, thus cannot jump to the conclusion that larger numbers ofcounselors in Green Mountain College is more successful at helping student tofind job. Thirdly, the author ignores the possibility that the time parametersdefining the two schools’ job-placement record rate differ. Mira Vista’s recordwas determined only three months after graduation. It is entirely possible thatGreen Mountain’s record was based on a longer period of time. Fourthly, theauthor does not give further description of the employment opportunities thestudents in two colleges obtain. An in-depth description
allows readers to better assess thejob-placement records beyond databases, which serves as a important factors inevaluation. “Perspective employers” that the author mentions cannot picture theoverview of the job opportunities.
Moreover, the president fails to provide evidence that 90 percentof last year’s graduating seniors got job offers due to the fact of morebusiness courses, more job counselors in Green Mountain. That is to say, he orshe fails to establish the causal relationship between these two facts. The job-placement record might result from other possible factors.Perhaps, the Green Mountain students have stronger capacity of communicationskills and other qualities that allows them to perform well in interviews andthus find more job opportunities. Or Without ruling out other possibleexplanations, the author cannot conclude that additional business courses andjob counselors would enhance Mira Vista’s job-placement record.
Finally, the president fails to provide the evidences that morecourses in business, computer technology and more counselors will necessarily enhancestudent’s writing skills in resume and interviewing skills in Mira Vista College. Here, the presidentmakes a logical flaw which results from an incomplete comparison. Assuming thatmore students in Green Mountain College get job offers due to the businesscourses and job counselors, the author cannot jump to the conclusion that this would lead to better performance of students inresume and interviews. Many other factors can contribute to differences in theemployment of the students in Mira Vista College. They probably are more likelyto seek for further study rather than finding a job, which turns down theirmotivation in job hunting. Or they are more earnest to take writing coursesrather than business lessons. Additional business courses and computer coursesand job counselors might not be applicable in Mira Vista College.
In conclusion, the argument is implausible though it seems to bewell presented. To strengthen it the author must show that additional coursesand job counselors would fortify student’s capacity of job hunting and thusimprove the job-placement record of Mira Vista College. Additionally, thepresident should adjust the methods of measurement and take other factors intoaccount, in order to make the comparison more reliable.