The Situation: Ms. Sara Burnheart is the director of personnel at Electro-Tronics Corporation (ETC), a major employer of your program’s graduates. At a reception of the Corona Chapter of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), Ms. Burnheart collars you near the hors d’oeuvres and regales you with the following: “I just can’t believe you are still teaching C++ at HMPAVTS. Nobody uses C++ anymore, don’t you know that? Good heavens,” she shrieked, “you people are wasting your time and our tax dollars with that obsolete language. Tactile BASIC is what you should be teaching!” Then Mr. Ruddertail, the current president of the VoTech State Board, joins you, giving Ms. Burnheart a hearty greeting and discussing with her their last week’s golf game.
Two days later, you get a call from the state Department of Vocational-Technical Education, asking why you are still teaching C++. Your school decides that this might be as good a time as any to evaluate all of the offerings in your Electronic Technology program.
The Problem: Develop a needs assessment procedure that will allow you to respond to the state’s request. Include the types of people you would involve in each step, the types of questions you would ask, and the techniques that you would use.