EPIC-N Resource Spotlight: Qualtrics Access and Evaluation Optimization Support
Author: Marshall Curry
Qualtrics Licenses Free to EPIC-N Members
One of the main elements of the EPIC Model is to evaluate the community/university partnership and program’s contribution and impact. As part of EPIC-N membership, members receive Qualtrics licenses, free of charge, for evaluation and support of all aspects of program performance. Qualtrics is a cloud-based platform widely used for organizational management, research, and evaluation. It enables users to conduct surveys and polls, and to garner feedback using a variety of distribution means. The evaluation results can be statistically analyzed and viewed in online and downloadable reports. This license also allows you to share your evaluation tools and reports and collaborate with other users.
Some of the other benefits of the Qualtrics platform are:
- The evaluation tools’ appearances are highly customizable
- Qualtrics has built-in email distribution capabilities, so you can send reminder emails to non-responders and thank-you emails to responders
- EPIC-N is building templates easily shared and branded for your organization using valid methodological instruments through the platform
- There is a large array of question types, including “basic” types (multiple choice, text, sliders) and specific types (heat maps, constant sums, timers, and file attachments)
- There are advanced conditional logic tools that allow for complex experimental designs and user-tailored survey paths
- You have the ability to translate your evaluation tool to multiple languages
- You have the ability to add scoring to an evaluation, and you can create quizzes for courses or compute subscale scores on psychometric questionnaires
- You have the ability to export data as an SPSS data file (*.sav), comma-delimited file (*.csv), text file (*.txt), HTML, or XML and send Qualtrics survey files (*.qsf) to others in the EPIC-Network for viewing.
“The Qualtrics platform has really helped us up our game with it comes to program evaluation,” says Teri Thomson Randall, Program Manager for the Livable City Year program at the University of Washington. “Prior to using the Qualtrics evaluation tools, we used Microsoft Office Word documents to make surveys and asked our faculty and community partners to fill them out. It was a cumbersome process, but with the Qualtrics tools and with EPIC-N’s support, we’ve been able to optimize our evaluation processes.”
Evaluation Optimization Support
Along with your free access to Qualtrics’ pay-only features as a member of EPIC-N, you receive dedicated support and assistance to help you create, test, optimize, and launch your evaluations to best fit your aspirations. EPIC-N’s support team will also help you to analyze and document your post-evaluation data. This is especially important for comparing your program metrics over time.
Along with one-on-one support, EPIC-N leaders, Mazi Ferguson, Laura Martin, and Gilbert Siame are stewarding the creation and evolution of EPIC-N’s evaluation tools, such as ready-made templates for all types of program operations (e.g., faculty check-ins, event evaluations, brand awareness evaluation, student evaluations, etc.). Each of these leaders has a long-standing career in evaluation and support, and they focus on the continuous improvement of not only the evaluation tools, but also EPIC-N staff’s professional development and training from organizations like the IUPUI Assessment Institute and the International Association for Research of Service Learning and Community Engagement.
“I received a ton of support from EPIC-N in developing our customized evaluation instruments,” says Randall. “I recommend taking advantage of EPIC-N’s tools and support because of the high level of personal one-on-one assistance that is given. The consistency that Qualtrics and EPIC-N’s support has added to our evaluation efforts has allowed us to illuminate our strengths and blind spots and improve going forward. “
Become an EPIC-N Member
Become an EPIC-N member to gain access to both Qualtrics’ pay-only features as well as EPIC-N’s dedicated support to help you optimize and launch your evaluations, as well as analyze your data to continuously improve your programs. Becoming a member of the EPIC-Network is easy and free (for a limited time). To join, simply fill out the online sign-up form. After receiving your request, EPIC-N staff will contact you to learn about your goals, provide resources, and connect you to other leaders in your region to start you on your EPIC journey.
*Read about the benefits and non-financial terms of membership.
