Information Technology Services (ITS)

Annual EDUCAUSE student survey launches March 2022

Published on: February 17, 2022

On March 10, 2022, the annual EDUCAUSE Technology Research in the Academic Community (ETRAC) survey will be launched and sent directly to 4,000 – 6,000 undergraduate students across the University of Toronto’s (U of T) faculties and campuses. The goal of this survey is to gather information about students’ experiences and perceptions with the technologies provided by the University for use in their studies and in their daily interactions. The results will inform academic, administrative and technology groups about the way students perceive the services they use, and what opportunities may exist to develop new or enhance existing services.

The ETRAC survey program has been active for 23 years and is a valuable resource for assessing the services that schools provide to their students. This is the second year that U of T will participate. Download the 2021 Student Experiences with Technology in the Pandemic report here.

EDUCAUSE is a community of IT leaders and professionals working together to tackle challenges and leverage opportunities that are constantly evolving within higher education. The U of T Research Ethics Board has reviewed and approved the survey and the associated processes.

Why should students participate?

The selected subset of U of T undergraduate students who will receive this survey are encouraged to participate to help provide a better understanding of their wants and needs. The best way for us to learn and improve on services and technologies is to hear directly from the users.

“It is essential that the student voice is heard, and this survey is an excellent way for you to express your needs.” says Bo Wandschneider, Chief Information Officer (CIO). “In the end, it will help us stay informed and be able to better deliver solutions that are effective for you.”

What does this mean for the University?

This survey is the only structured mechanism that gathers student feedback on such a broad scale, and the data collected is invaluable to our institution. We are also able to gauge our feedback to data from other schools around the world who participate in the program.

The survey results, both internal and comparative, will provide better understanding and awareness of student and faculty IT needs and expectations. These data will assist IT@U of T in assessing the alignment of services to needs and will inform the prioritizing of strategic and tactical initiatives.

What students should expect:

On March 10, 4,000 – 6,000 randomly selected undergraduate students will receive an email from the Registrar’s Slate Customer Relationship Management application with the link to the Educause survey. Please note that all survey responses are collected anonymously. IP addresses and other personally identifiable data are not collected. The survey completion deadline will be May 9, 2022.

While every link should be considered for validity, students should feel confident about the link sent from noreply@utoronto.ca and will be signed by Marden Paul, Director, Planning, Governance, Assessment, Office of the CIO. The link will direct users to the EDUCAUSE survey instrument. Students may contact their Registrar’s office to confirm the validity of the survey.

For questions, please contact Marden Paul <marden.paul@utoronto.ca>.