Getting good grades
Edward P. Salek, CAE, Executive Director | TLT Headquarters Report September 2019
Industry-specific education programs deliver on STLE’s value proposition.
Nearly 100% of students who took an STLE education course in Nashville said they would recommend it to others. STLE will offer 12-13 education courses at its 2020 Annual Meeting next May in Chicago.
STLE’s member value proposition promises that we are an organization where you will Connect, Learn and Achieve.
Data collected from students who attended the 2019 Annual Meeting education program in Nashville earlier this year demonstrates impressive results from the learning aspect of our value proposition.
Four hundred twenty-eight students attended 12 one-day courses offered in Nashville. An evaluation survey asked them to rate their level of knowledge on the subject before taking the course and after, using a five-point scale. On average, students who responded said their knowledge improved by 47% after taking one of the 12 courses. Participants in five courses reported knowledge gains of 50% or more. In two cases, the before and after knowledge gain was almost 70%.
Nearly 100% of the respondents said the course they took met their expectations and they would recommend it.
In addition to evaluating the success of current courses, STLE also used the meeting to launch a survey focusing on student demographics. Better audience definition is the key to creating a stronger connection between student needs and course content.
The primary focus for the demographic survey was the Basic Lubrication 103 course because work is underway on a redesigned version of this important offering. This new course is designed to introduce the students to the reasons we use lubricants and the functions of lubricants. It will be designed to be taught in a traditional manner but also be presented as an online course with little change.
Here’s some of what we learned about the STLE education audience from the demographic survey:
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53.8% of attendees had less than a year of experience in the industry. Followed by 25.6% who had 1-5 years of experience. Looked at another way, this means that roughly 80% of this audience has fewer than five years of experience in the industry.
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64% of attendees hold a bachelor’s degree, 15% a master’s and 8% doctorates. We can infer that they likely have some formal training in either chemistry or engineering, as those are the most common backgrounds of people who enter this industry. However, 51% of attendees have had no other education or training in tribology and lubrication before attending this course.
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42.5% of attendees are in sales and marketing. The seconded largest group represented is engineering at 22.5%. These are followed by positions in research and development, corporate management, technical services, business development, procurement, product management, quality assurance and route delivery.
A complete schedule of 12-13 education courses being offered at the 2020 Annual Meeting in Chicago will be available soon at
www.stle.org. Two education opportunities already confirmed for next year are the popular Basics of Grease course (taught by NLGI instructors) and a new Metalworking Fluids Formulation course. Dates for the 2020 Chicago meeting are May 3-7, with education courses on Sunday, May 3, and Wednesday, May 6.
You also can find information on the website about education courses offered by the various STLE Local Sections in the U.S. and Canada.
You can reach Certified Association Executive Ed Salek at esalek@stle.org.