As Business Analyst for the U of G Program Management Office (PMO), Saveena Patara has been supporting and advising the Provost’s Office and Open Learning & Educational Support in the procurement of a student course evaluation system.

The project is co-sponsored by Tracey Jandrisits, Assistant Vice-President (Faculty & Academic Staff Relations) and Cate Dewey, Associate Vice-President (Academic) in the Office of the Provost. The project was initiated to seek a new solution for the student evaluation of learning and courses. While the current application has served the University’s needs for many years, there is limited feature functionality, a lack of integration with other University systems, and limited reporting or analytical capabilities.

We are excited that this project has enabled a more accurate and current understanding of best practices and needs as they relate to student evaluation of courses and students’ learning. We now feel prepared to pursue a solution that will enrich and support both the instructor and student learning experiences.

– Cate Dewey, Associate Vice-President (Academic)

As part of the procurement process, the University has elicited requirements from various sources, including a wide spectrum of stakeholders across campus. The new solution will:

• contribute to both student and instructor success by enhancing constructive and meaningful formative and summative feedback;
• enable deeper insights, particularly those obtained from students’ perspective, into the University of Guelph and University of Guelph-Humber’s strategies and processes in support of teaching, learning, and student success; and
• create efficiencies and reduce overall support requirements, freeing time for staff to engage in other support activities.

This project is expected to be completed by fall 2019, with the implementation project to commence shortly thereafter.

This project was approved by the U of G IT Governance Committee (ITGC). For more information on the ITGC, please refer to the Governance + Strategy section of this annual report.