While the new HEOA seeks to provide some relief to students through three major changes – price disclosure, unbundling, and textbook lists – it is not unrealistic to think these changes at minimum will require time before they impact costs that increased 186 percent Between 1986 and 2004, and even less realistic to believe that they will lower sufficiently enough to stem the tide of student abandonment.

Recognizing this fundamental change in student behavior and seeing the impact it was having on the student’s ability to successfully navigate the undergraduate curriculum, VSU’s School of Business entered an agreement with open source textbook provider Flat World Knowledge to initially provide texts for most of their core curriculum classes.

Of equal or possibly more importance is the ability of students to download the text to their computer or even their cell phone in a number of formats, thus adapting to the learning style of the student instead of vice versa. If that weren’t enough, flash cards and an audio study guide are also provided to supplement the text.

Sounds pretty good, don’t it? Sure, but as mom used to always say, “The proof’s in the pudding!” Or in this case, what are the metrics? Statistics collected within the School of Business suggest that under the old scheme, only 42 percent of the students were purchasing texts for their classes, eliciting the sound of surprise from one professor, who guessed that percentage was even lower given the economic times. In the new world, but prior to intervention for students who had not registered their texts, the adoption rate was pegged at an amazing 88%. Beyond the mere statistics, several members of the faculty also suggested that they were seeing rise in the energy level of the students towards their studies.

While it is still too early to declare this exploration into the future a resounding success, as this will only happen after the evaluation of grades and retention in this cohort, there can be no mistaking that these early statistics and the peripheral feedback indicate that a foundation has been constructed for every student in the cohort to have an exceptional opportunity to succeed.

To date we have 132 registered users, who have created over 200 surveys that have generated over 3600 responses. While these numbers alone are impressive, they certainly do not suggest the need to use the word transformational in its impact. No, it’s only in reviewing the details behind those numbers that one might glean what the true impact has been. One of the more interesting uses and examples of its impact came in the classroom.

A member of the School of Business Faculty who offers a marketing methods class incorporated Qualtrics into his curriculum. While the events may not be in the exactly right order, here’s a brief summary of what transpired. NASCAR visited our campus in the fall. In the aftermath of this event, the professor discussed with NASCAR the possibility of his class conducting a study of NASCAR’s influence on our community, which NASCAR considered and accepted. Students in the class were divided into teams, given a charge as to the nature of the project, taught how to use the tool and then asked to develop and complete their study. The information was collected and then each team developed a report which was subsequently provided to NASCAR for consideration. Ultimately, one of the team’s reports was selected by NASCAR in terms of how valuable the information would be in potentially marketing NASCAR to a younger and culturally diverse audience. The end result for the students enrolled in this class is that they received their instruction on methods, were able to apply these lessons in a practical way, and netted a finished project that was considered by a real world entity. In addition, for those on the winning team, it provided a potential entry on to their resumes!

Add to this story those of faculty and graduate students using the tool for their thesis research, course evaluations, policy and procedure questions, and collaborative research projects, as well as administrative and academic departments applying the tool to evaluate the satisfaction and determine the needs of their clientele and it becomes easier to suggest that the arrival and the sum total use of Qualtrics on our campus is providing a meaningful framework through which transformational change can and is occurring on our campus.

Simple Form Introduction

Within the Simple Form classification, I would include SharePoint Surveys. Based on the version of SharePoint that we are using at VSU, SharePoint Surveys are designed to be used in the most rudimentary of survey activities. That is, it seems like it would be ideal for use in a survey with a limited number of questions and to a well defined population. The following provides my review of several elements of SharePoint.

Sections: There was no functionality to permit sectioning with the survey. Nor was it evident that you could provide an opening introduction to the survey in SharePoint.

Presentation Templates: Based on what I could see, there was no tool provided during the survey development process to customize the look and feel of the survey.

Question Variety: The variety and form of questions that can be presented in the survey is limited to nine types and within some of the types there are presentation options. For instance, the Choice Type permits display in either in Drop Down or List form. In spite of this limited portfolio of options, designing questions can at times be confusing and periodically generates unexpected results. A sample of this is provided in Example 1 and 2, where the creation of Yes/No question with a default of Yes, results in an untitled box that is checked on the survey. Example 1: Creating a Yes/No Question in SharePoint. SharePoint does allow you to require a response, as well as to pre-fill a response. It is possible to reposition questions, but it is a rather cumbersome process in that you are provided a list of all questions and to move a question you need to accurately view what position number you want associated with the question.

Example 1: Creating a Question in SharePoint

SharePoint Survey Question Development

Example 2: Presentation of the Yes/No Question in the SharePoint Survey

Yes/No Response Box in SharePoint

Skip Logic: There was no ability to insert skip logic dependent upon response included in this version.

Data Analysis: The graphical presentation of results is also limited (Example 3), but can be downloaded into a spreadsheet for more detailed analysis. On front page you are only able to see the number of respondents.

Example 3: Summary of SharePoint Survey Question Response

SharePoint Analysis Report

Workflow: For all intents and purposes, there is no workflow and limited survey distribution available. The survey is posted within a folder in SharePoint, you can then cut and paste the address into an email, etc to inform the community of the survey. I also didn’t see a redirect capability that would allow you to forward the respondent to a thank you page once the survey is completed.

Other Similar Software: As of this moment, I have found no other package that provides as limited of functionality as this package.

Complex Form Introduction

Included among these vendors is Survey Monkey. These packages are often times offered solely on a per seat basis, although this is not universally true. In addition, they provide a more robust catalog of services, albeit not everything that would be desirable for constructing comprehensive surveys on a regular basis. The following provides my review of several elements of Survey Monkey.

Sections: There is the ability to develop the survey in sections and have an introduction to some or all of the sections.

Presentation Templates: Survey Monkey offers the ability to use pre-developed templates and provides for some limited template customization. For instance, I was able to load a University graphic to display at the top of the survey as well as make adjustments to the fonts and background colors.

Question Variety: Survey Monkey offers 15 types of questions for inclusion in the survey. Depending upon the question type, you have several options available. It is also possible to randomize response presentation, add a comment field for the question, require responses and pre-fill response. The flow is relatively simple and it is possible to reposition questions as needed in a reasonability easy fashion.

Skip Logic: There is a limited amount of Skip Logic that you can introduce through the survey design process. Specifically you can have two branches off of a question, but the branch must take you to a section and not a specific question. Survey Monkey suggests that you pose the skip logic question at the end of a section. This really didn’t work for me, so I developed sections that only had the skip logic question. Since you are able to reuse the Section Title, it was easy to follow-up with a detail section for people who responded accordingly. If you move sections around, as I did, you need to go back and review whether or not you need to re-point the skip logic. All in all, I found the functionality to be only serviceable.

Data Analysis: The data analysis capabilities found in Survey Monkey are only modestly more robust than that found in SharePoint. As with SharePoint, you can download responses to a spreadsheet. However, Survey Monkey does provide a little more flexibility in the manner in which data is formatted for downloading. The graphical presentation of survey results are definitely better than found in SharePoint, with additional information concerning how many people responded to a particular question (Example 4). Although I haven’t used it in any significant fashion, there is also limited Crosstab functionality.

Example 5: Summary of Survey Monkey Survey Question Response

Survey Monkey Analysis Report

Workflow: Survey Monkey provides three ways to promote the survey. The first is using Survey Monkey’s email function. Through this function you can either upload addresses manually or by using an address book that is created in Survey Monkey. There are significant benefits to using this function, as it will track respondents and have a means for allowing you to send a reminder message. The tool for creating the email message is rather rudimentary, but it works. The second method is to generate a link that can then be embedded in an email or on a web page. The final method provided, pop-ups on web pages, is the niftiest of the tools for what it does and what it takes to achieve it. After entering the some basic information, Survey Monkey generates a single line of code that you embed in your web page for the pop-up to appear. There is also the ability to permit respondent’s to save and return to a survey prior to submitting, but if I understand the methodology they use in determining the respondent, I’m not sure it would work where students are often times using a public lab computer.

Other Similar Software: There are a number of services that are similar to Survey Monkey. One that I visited is Surveygizmo. Each of these two services offers a free version, but each uses a very different method in limiting the free versions functionality.

Enterprise Form Introduction

Unfortunately, I have only had one demo and a limited free account of one Enterprise Form tool – Qualtrics. A single seat license for this product is about double that of Survey Monkey, however for institutions of higher education they offer an Enterprise license at about ten times the seat cost, depending up student enrollment. This realm of products is quantum leaps ahead of what is offered in the other forms, which in my mind would open up a wide array of potential uses throughout the Academic and Administrative Community’s within the University. Here are my observations of this product based on my limited insights.

Sections: Within the Qualtrics the term used is Blocks. Blocks permit several different options, including organizing your survey, creating branches, embedding text and/or URLs, and End of Survey. The branching logic appears to be pretty robust, especially when matched against the other Forms.

Presentation Templates: Qualtrics provides a number of templates that you can draw from. I’m fairly certain that the person who provided the demo stated that you could brand the survey, but I couldn’t see this functionality in the free version.

Question Variety: This is one of the areas where tools provided in the Enterprise Form blows the doors off the other Forms! While it was impossible for me to isolate the number of question types that were offered, I’m guessing that it is the fifties. Among the offerings that impressed me the most (although it is something that would not be used that frequently) are Hot Spots and Heat Maps. I could very easily see this being used in a web redesign project or as a tool for students in a Marketing Class. Another function that would be an asset in the design of the survey is a Page Timer function that is listed amongst the Question Types. Depending upon the way the survey is organized, this function could be used during testing of the survey in assessing the complexity of questions and thereby assist you in increasing the likelihood of someone completing a response once it is publically posted.

Skip Logic: When using Survey Monkey, it felt like I have to organize the survey around how I wanted to use Skip Logic. This certainly does not appear to be true in the Qualtrics solution. It appears, although it was not tested, that you are able to place the logic anywhere in the survey using the Branch Logic and better yet, you are not limited to two conditions. If I had used this tool, I would have combined my three survey instruments into one, using the Branch Logic to direct respondents according to their status, as well as based on responses to specific questions. Just a not however, that with this flexibility also comes a little more complexity.

Data Analysis: This is another area in which the Qualtrics solution excels, as it provides many of the bells and whistles one might desire when reviewing or reporting out on results. Beyond the bland reports that the others deliver, the Qualtrics solution offers an additional 24 or so different graphical outputs of the results that can then be downloaded to Word, Excel, PowerPoint or into a PDF. There is also the capability to post the results with a link that can be embedded into a web page.

Workflow: Qualtrics provides the tools to create a survey link, popup survey, embed a survey, or provide a web site feedback link. As the survey unfolds, you can view the number of respondents, send email messages to those that you wish to have participate in the survey, as well as to those that have not responded or a thank you note to those that have. The tool provided for constructing the messages is rather easy to use and provides the functions necessary to embed graphics, links, change formatting etc.

Other Similar Software: I haven’t really looked at other packages seriously, but Survey Methods appears to fall within the same classification.

Conclusion

While other tools may be appropriate given specific scenarios, there is no question that an Enterprise Form package makes the most sense both economically and in terms of functionality for institutions that are currently supporting multiple survey tool licenses.

Post Note

Other survey vendors not reviewed include: Digivey, StatPac for Windows, Creative Research Systems, QuestionPro, Vovici, Zoomerang.com, Checkbox Survey Solutions, Snap Survey, LimeSurvey (Open Source), Key Survey, PULSEWARE, and eSurveysPro.com

Every week since then, I visit at least once to catch up on what is going on in the industry, as well as to read periodic contributions on other topics from Liz Dietz, Vicki Tambellini, and others. In recent months, they have expanded the site to include premium content. While I haven’t availed myself  of that content, it hasn’t diminished their value to me in keeping current on the ever changing landscape of higher education technology and the organizations that support them.

As all of this suggests, if your are interested in the topic of higher education technology, this surely should be one of your stops on the www express!

 Why is that? Well, there are two primary reasons. Companies listed as acquired were significant brands themselves and thus only had a slight change to their external image (Business Objects Logo below). Others were simply folded into the parent company (First Logic’s acquisition by Business Objects), which in this case meant one company was removed, but in other instances also required the addition of a new company (Hitachi). 

The ramifications of these and other changes to those who are responsible for assisting in the transformation of institution cannot be under stated. Regardless of whether the question of acquisition has been considered previously, it suggests a need to incorporate new inquiries into our RFPs to better understand the stability of organizations that are being considered, honing current questions to better understand the potential implications of an acquisition, and to include language in documents designed to better protect our investment if the organization were to be acquired.

Yes, the times they are a changing, but with thoughtful consideration and vigilance throughout the purchasing process, we can reduce the risk inherent in these turbulent times.

One such selection that has worked its way into the inner sanctum of my listening world is The Project Management Podcast. This weekly program is designed for those looking to improve their project management skills. Since its inception late in 2005, the show has among other things delivered existing best practices and new developments in the field of project management to its listeners. The show is hosted by Switzerland’s Cornelius Fichtner,  who presents the information with a certain elegance, while retaining a good pace to the program. This highly recommended podcast can be found at iTunes or  the programs web site   http://www.thepmpodcast.com/.

http://www.vita.virginia.gov/oversight/projects/.

Beyond the fact that VITA has organized its material in an easy to find manner, the content included within each page is rich with deliverables conforming to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK). Among the specific items that they have incorporated into the site are the guidelines used by the State for Project Management, project deliverable templates, and an overview of the tools that are used for technology projects within the state.  

For those who are considering undertaking an informal review process of their own IT Project Management Methodology and tools, I certainly recommend visiting VITA!