evasys announces new partnership with University for the Creative Arts
The University for the Creative Arts (UCA) has recently partnered with evasys to deliver an institution-wide approach to unit level surveys.
UCA operates across three locations in the southeast of England – Canterbury, Epsom and Farnham – and delivers creative industries courses covering business, art, design and media to almost 10,000 students. The institution also works with global partners to deliver courses for thousands of students across Europe and Asia, and has established a joint campus, the Institute of Creativity and Innovation, with Xiamen University in China.
With around 1000 established staff working across nine different schools, the quality and standards team at UCA wanted to adopt an institutional approach to unit level surveys that aligned well with conditions laid out by the Office for Students and provided a deeper level of understanding around student experience.
Getting the best data out of each level of experience the student has
The incumbent system for surveys at UCA had been used for over a decade, however, it wasn’t fit for purpose for the new unit level approach.
It was important to UCA to understand students’ experience as they moved through units, and the institution’s quality framework had been modified to be more unit led. UCA needed a survey and evaluation system that captured data right from the beginning and fed it up into institutional processes for continuous monitoring.
The UCA quality and standards team began research into alternative systems for student evaluation and identified evasys, given that it is the market-leading survey and evaluation provider within the UK. Several members of the UCA leadership team had experience of working with the company and solution from previous roles. and the quality and standards team were also aware of evasys and its role in HE survey and evaluation solutions.
Aimee Clark, Head of Quality and Standards at UCA, said:
“We needed a solution that was easy to understand for everyone, had a really good interface, and had lots of options for the different ways in which we work. And because we are a multi-site university with creative courses, we required something that was tailored to our needs and the way that our courses are structured. The evasys solution offered all of this.”
Aimee Clark, , Head of Quality and Standards at UCAA smooth implementation
At UCA, evasys was required to integrate with the institution’s VLE, Blackboard, and the team at evasys worked alongside the quality and standards team to liaise with the UCA colleagues needed to ensure a smooth implementation and integration process. The Student Survey Portal has also been deployed, to enable students to access surveys directly, including through a QR Code.
Nicola Chambers, Senior Quality Officer at UCA, commented:
“To get our evasys system implemented, I’ve had all the support I could possibly need – it’s been really positive.”
Nicola Chambers, Senior Quality Officer at UCA
With the first surveys from the new system due to go out in early November, the quality and standards team had already completed training and had the opportunity to get even more familiar with the system prior to going live with surveys. After seeing evidence from other evasys clients, the UCA team are expecting an uptick in survey response rates as a result of the new system, which will enhance metrics that are critical to the quality framework and instrumental in demonstrating that UCA is meeting standards set out by the Office for Students.
Plans for the future
As UCA continues to partner with evasys for student surveys and insights, expansion of use is already in discussion. There’s interest in utilising evasys for pre-enrolment surveys and in actively deploying the evasys “Closing the Loop” feature to ensure that students know that their feedback is being heard and acted upon.
Aimee Clark concluded:
“We’re definitely interested in expanding how we use evasys in the future, and it’s great that evasys has practical experience in the higher education sector. Many team members there have worked in institutions, so they know how we operate on the ground and there just seems to be a great solution suggested in every meeting we’ve had. The understanding that the evasys team has of HE culture and the different roles that people have in the university is quite unique for a software vendor. We’re excited to get started with evasys; we can see it’s going to have a really positive impact.”
Aimee Clark , Head of Quality and Standards at UCABruce Johnson, Managing Director of evasys UK, added:
“We’re thrilled to welcome UCA as an evasys partner, and can’t wait to see the impact that evasys will have on survey response rates, academic staff engagement with the process and the insights that will be gained through the extensive reporting available. It’s been a real pleasure working with Nicola, Aimee and the wider team to support a successful implementation and I’m looking forward to continued partnership working with the UCA team as their evasys use develops and grows.”
Bruce Johnson, Managing Director, evasys
