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Review of Course Evaluation Software

The Office of Institutional Research, Assessment and Accreditation (IRAA) is partnering with Academic Information & Systems (AIS), Information Technology (IT) and Faculty Senate to conduct a review of vendors that offer course evaluations to consider a replacement for the current provider AEFIS.

Background

AEFIS was first used within Drexel University to assist with ABET accreditation and was eventually rolled out University-wide for course evaluations. Along the way, internal stakeholders have met challenges with the system that have hindered progress and led to some negative feelings towards course evaluations in general. Additionally, AEFIS has not kept pace with many of its competitors, which far surpassed AEFIS in discovery demonstrations in terms of functionality, especially for reporting. Based on these observations, Provost Jensen charged IRAA with pursuing other options. 

Reviewing the system is a first step towards addressing some of the issues that have been identified with course evaluations, such as poor response rates, survey length and marketing of this important feedback process. These and many other factors will be considered and discussed to improve the process for students and faculty.    

Committee Preparation

An initial small committee began working to create a process to identify and review the different software vendors in the course evaluation market, including Watermark, Anthology, Explorance and Qualtrics, which now has a course evaluations module. The purpose of this committee was to develop the resources and provide the content for a subsequent committee to submit a recommendation. This includes things like functionality, reporting, data visualization, cost and integration capability. The committee has since been expanded to include a more representative mix of staff and faculty.

Full Committee

Co-Chairs:

  • Faculty Co-Chair: Dana Kemery, EdD, MSN, RN, CNE, CEN, CPEN, Director of Innovative Course Design and Technological Infusion & Associate Clinical Professor, Undergraduate Nursing (CNHP); Senate Committee on Academic Support
  • Staff Co-Chair: Joseph Hawk, Executive Director of Assessment and Accreditation (IRAA)

Committee Members:

  • Anna Chrulkiewicz, Senior Vice Provost for Finance and Administration (Provost)
  • Melissa Kaufman, EdD, Interim Associate Dean for Education (DSPH)
  • Marc Kaufman, Assessment and Accreditation Analyst, Academic Affairs (CoE)
  • Joanne Mathiasen, PhD, Professor, Dept. of Pharmacology & Physiology; Co-Director, Master’s Program in Drug Discovery & Development; Course Director, Graduate Pharmacology and Graduate Physiology (DUCOM-GSBSPS); Senate Committee on Academic Support
  • Kathryn Matuch, Associate Vice President, Core Enterprise Systems (IRT)
  • Matt McKeon, Director, Enterprise Application Solutions (LeBow)
  • Tyler J. Montgomery, Program Manager, Academic Operations (CCI)
  • Rexine Patterson, Operations Coordinator II, Strategic Operations & Academic Services (CNHP)
  • Matthew Reindorp, PhD, Department Head & Associate Clinical Professor, Decision Sciences(LeBow); Senate Committee on Academic Affairs
  • Heidi Rubincam, Systems Analyst (AIS)
  • Manny Sanchez, Manager of Operations (IRAA)
  • Adrian Shieh, PhD, Teaching Professor (SBESHS); Senate Committee on Academic Affairs
  • Jason Silverman, PhD, Interim Associate Dean, Faculty Affairs & Research Professor, MS Mathematics Learning and Teaching (SoE); Senate Committee on Faculty Affairs
  • Maria Volynksy, EdD, ESL Coordinator and Associate Director, First Year Writing Program & Associate Teaching Professor, Department of English and Philosophy (CoAS)
  • Chanel Ward-Richardson, Systems Analyist Manager (AIS)

Charge and Timeline

The committee has been charged with the following:

  • Developing metrics to evaluate the different vendors
  • Developing a process to transition out of the current system without losing any data
  • Narrowing down the field to finalists and eventually a final recommendation
  • Creating the case for the final choice
  • Evaluating the feasibility of a fall 2024 launch

The committee has been charged with providing a recommendation in the spring of 2024 to facilitate a pilot during the summer for possible fall 2024 implementation throughout the University.

Stakeholder Engagement

The committee will regularly engage with survey administrators throughout the University as well as college/school administration. The committee will determine a process for sharing progress as well as seeking community feedback on the different available software options. 

Questions

If there are any questions about this process, please contact Joseph Hawk, executive director of assessment and accreditation, at jmh356@drexel.edu.