Evaluation Cycle
The Evaluation Cycle is the University's feedback mechanism to find out what students and graduates have to say about its core programs and services. The Evaluation Cycle commenced at this University as a systematic program in 1997, and has now built a substantial database of information to monitor satisfaction and improvements in a range of areas. It is part of a formal Accountability Structure adopted by the University of separate cycles of planning and budgeting, reporting on outcomes and performance, and evaluation.
Current Evaluation Cycle Surveys
Surveys that are currently run by the Evaluation Cycle include:
- Melbourne Experience Survey (MES)
- Quality of Teaching (QoT)
- Quality of University Management and Administration (QUMA)
- Australian Graduate Survey (AGS) which is made up of three major components:
Discontinued Evaluation Cycle Surveys
Surveys that have been conducted by the Evaluation Cycle in the past but are now discontinued or subsumed by other surveys include:
- Quality of Administrative and Support Services for Students (QASSS) - now subsumed under the MES
- Quality of Research Supervision(QRS) - now subsumed under the MES
- Grad Views
- International Students Survey (ISS)
- Employer Feedback Survey (EFS)
Survey Schedule
The timetable of surveys for the 2007-2008 is available for University of Melbourne staff only.
What happens to the results?
The data are analysed, and reports of current and trend data are compiled and distributed to University senior executive, Academic Board and various of its sub-committees, Faculty Deans and managers, and other relevant officers depending on the subject. A primary audience for Evaluation Cycle reports is the Teaching and Learning Quality Assurance Committee (TALQAC), a sub-committee of Academic Board.
TALQAC has as part of its terms of reference a responsibility to review and assess quality in teaching and learning in all award courses and associated student support programs, and to provide advice to Academic Board and to Planning and Budgets Committee on matters under its purview.
The data are used for external reporting (to the Commonwealth Government's Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, for example), as well as for internal reporting (for example, faculty or course reviews, some of which occur annually).
Individual organisational units within the University discuss the results further with their particular client groups. They also use results to develop further more detailed and targeted evaluations of their services.