AHEEF GCA Research Update: the AGS, the UES and the Crystal Ball Bruce Guthrie, GCA
AGS updates AQHE updates Graduate Outcomes Survey (GOS) Employer Satisfaction Survey (ESS) University Experience Survey (UES) UES discussion
GCA Survey Manager Information Forum Melbourne, late July AGS operations, UES processes Planning a new model SM Forum for 2014 Blue Mountains SIG Follow-up and feedback session today AGS 2014 and the Graduate Outcomes Survey UES 2013
AGS 2014 now under way No changes from AGS 2013 October 2013 (current) and April 2014 rounds Data collection Sept-Nov 2014 Reporting December 2014 through until end August 2015 The last AGS? Graduate Outcomes Survey (GOS)
Advancing Quality in Higher Education Implementation and transition Jul-Dec 2013 Jan-Jun 2014 Jul-Dec 2014 Instruments UES Full survey Full survey GOS Development Full survey ESS Pilot Development Full survey AGS (GDS and CEQ) October round April round Administrators New central body Establishment GOS development ESS development Graduate Careers Australia Workplace Research Centre AGS UES full survey ESS pilot AGS UES full survey GOS full survey ESS full survey
AQHE Request for Tender process similar to UES Graduate Outcomes Survey to be based on the AGS, but Census, sample or hybrid? CEQ? National data file availability? Timing of referent date
Innovation schedule from SM Information Forum Many questions arise Realistic within the time allowed? Post-election uncertainties funding? Access to national data files Department needs to work within its own privacy legislation: HEIMS data restricted UA and HEIMS talks
Regular tendering process planned Long-term management, planning and development? Document and data archiving and management? Survey champions? Future of the CEQ? Employer Satisfaction Survey (ESS) Workplace Relations Centre at U Sydney Pilot, four institutions, UniSA model Line manager requests
Consortium: GCA & Social Research Centre Won AQHE tender Project Advisory Group (PAG) Members: Professor Shirley Alexander, Graeme Bryant, Rob Dalitz, David DeBellis, Greg Jakob, Professor Richard James, Conor King, Caroline Perkins, Andrew Taylor, Jade Tyrrell, Michael Wells, Sonia Whitely, A/Professor Anne Young Chair: Bruce Guthrie
Website: www.ues.edu.au Mainly student centred: about the UES, FAQs, start the survey button, 2012 results, contact us Plus a page for institutions with UES description, UES marketing materials for download, manual, live fieldwork reporting
Participation All Table A and B institutions participating All now in field, staggered Some added extra questions Some in CEQ pilot (discussed below) Some covering population beyond UES mandated (such as of-shore internationals, other award levels) Slower responses from males and business and engineering students Targeted follow-ups
Instrument UEQ entirely online Essentially unchanged from 2012 iteration Probably needs some work for future iterations no routing or internal logic to skip irrelevant questions all subjects get all questions (domestics get questions aimed at internationals)
Sector liaison Transparency and collaboration SM Information Forum AAIR SIG in Blue Mountains AHEEF in Launceston AAIR Forum in WA will be a 90 minute UES update and feedback session
Sector liaison (cont.) Website Updated Manual (changes in red) All-stations emails Project Advisory Group Feedback process with SMs re report mock-ups under way at moment
Post-UES sector liaison End-of-UES feedback survey on the 2013 UES to feed into the 2014 iteration Forum in 2014? Need to get some continuity Need to get some long-term planning Need to iron out some of the issues around instrument and population PAG not in their ToR
Student liaison Pre-survey and post-deployment phases for materials etc Website Tiles for LMS, student association and institutional website use Media releases aimed at student media Social media templates Incentives (gift vouchers): 1 x $500 + 5 x $100 per institution UES help line 1800 Lecture PPT slide (next)
<Your university> is participating in the upcoming University Experience Survey (UES). The UES is being conducted to help <Your university> and the Australian Government improve the student experience. Email invitations will be sent soon. Click the link to make your mark on higher education in Australia. More information: www.ues.edu.au <Your university logo>
Sample or census Most strata (all but a handful) now a census to achieve target 35% response rate and 95% confidence interval levels This was always going to be the case Ramifications for the GOS Response rate as at mid-oct: 28.3% (21.1% in 2012) Sample = 324,250 with 91,729 responses 80.8% of our target response rate
Reporting and data files National data files vital (2012 also) Real-time fieldwork reports, monitoring the progress of data collection Supporting UES Data Dictionary Draft template for institutional reports and files due first week November (on schedule) Institutional reports due out mid-december
CEQ Pilot A number of institutions have agreed to participate in the CEQ pilot Items appear at the end of the UEQ Two versions: past tense and present tense Compare with UEQ items Assess performance of CEQ scales with these cohorts Possible eventual melding of CEQ items with UEQ items Mid-to-long-term prospects for graduate CEQ?