FAQ - IT Service Quality Benchmark Survey

Who should complete the survey?

All ongoing permanent, fixed term, casual and sessional academic and professional staff members who receive a personalised email invitation to participate are asked to complete the staff survey.

All students including under and post graduate, research, honours and PhD candidates who receive a personalised email invitation to participate are asked to complete the student survey.

I am both a staff member and student. Can I complete both surveys?

If you have received a personalised email invitation to participate in both surveys - Yes, you can and we encourage you to do so. Your feedback from both a staff and student's point of view is very important to ITDS and we would love to hear from you. However, staff members who are also students will only be entered into the prize draw once as a staff member and using their staff ID.Please refer to the full list of terms and conditions for entry into these draws.

Can casual staff and part-time students complete the survey?

Casual staff members and/or part-time students who have received a personalised invitation to participate are eligible to complete the survey.

Why are only a selected number of students receiving personalised email invitations to participate in this year's survey?

Our university is required to participate annually in a number of student based surveys, the majority of which need to be conducted within the second semester.  Each survey is designed to target different aspects of the student's learning experiences and in an effort to avoid “survey fatigue” a predetermined number of students are randomly selected for each and sent invitations.  Depending on the type of survey being held and targeted demographics required, a number of lucky students may receive invitations to participate in more than one survey!

How are students selected to participate in this survey?

A random selection of students across all disciplines/schools/course codes including under/post graduate, honours, research and PhD candidates studying either part or full time will be made. This process will ensure that a broad cross section of students will be selected so that IT and Digital Services can best understand the individual and collective IT and digital needs of all our students. These lucky students will receive, via student email, personalised invitations to participate and by successfully completing this survey will have the chance to go into the draw to win one of eight prizes.

How are staff members selected to participate?

Staff members are not subjected to the random selection process. All staff members who are listed as current employees with the Office of Human Resources around the middle of September each year, will receive an invitation to participate.

How do I access my copy of the survey?

Selected students and all staff will receive an email from Voice Project on behalf of Western Sydney University on Monday 9 October 2017 with a unique survey link attached. The survey will be accessible from any computer or mobile device with Internet access.

Is the survey anonymous?

Yes, all survey responses are completely anonymous. You will be provided with a unique survey link that allows Voice Project to send targeted reminders and produce reports for different areas or demographic categories. The University will not have access to these links and cannot determine who has or hasn’t completed the survey.

Will staff or students be identified by the demographic questions?

Both Voice Project and Western Sydney University are committed to ensuring confidentiality for all survey respondents. As such, results will only be reported for groups with 10 or more respondents in a particular demographic or area, to ensure no individual can be identified.

Will my manager see my survey responses?

No, individual survey responses, access to raw data or the servers on which the raw data is stored will not be provided to anyone at the University.

Tell me more about the unique survey link?

Western U has provided Voice Project with a list of names, email addresses and other demographic information such as course/discipline or business unit/school and campus information. Voice Project will use this information to send personalised emails and reminders to people and to produce additional reports based on this demographical information. Once you have completed the survey your link will no longer work and your name will be included in the staff or student participation prize draw.

Aren’t we told not to click on links embedded in emails?

Cyber Security is taken very seriously at Western Sydney University. We will always advise students and staff to be cautious and vigilant before downloading attachments or clicking on hyperlinks. Basically only open links from emails you are expecting or can confidently verify authenticity. Things may not be what they seem, if in doubt don't click! If you are concerned then use the alternative method of "copy and paste" the URL into your web browser's address bar. This will allow you to check out the site before entering.

Spam for example can look legitimate but can carry malicious software or viruses that are designed to harm our network, your computer or yourself.

Be Smart; Be Sceptical; Be Secure

For more information please visit Information Technology and Digital Services’ Cyber Security webpage.

How can I verify authenticity of the survey participation email I received?

During the week commencing 2 October, the IT and Digital Services unit will send you an email advising you, firstly of your selection to participate and secondly, to expect a further email to arrive Monday 9 October from Voice Project containing your invitation and unique survey link.

For easy verification, the subject line and sender details should look like this: -

“Subject: [ITDS] Invitation to complete the Western Sydney University IT Service Quality Survey

From: VOICE PROJECT on behalf of Western Sydney University”

However once received, should you have any concerns or doubts regarding the legitimacy of the email and/or your inclusion in this survey please do not hesitate to contact the IT Service Desk via My IT, Email: itservicedesk@westernsydney.edu.au or Phone (02) 9852 5111 or x5111.

Can I start the survey and come back to it later?

Yes, if you are half way through the survey but need to finish later, you can close the survey down, and re-access the survey using your unique link. It acts like a personal password.

Can I complete a hardcopy survey?

No, the survey is only available online and accessed using your unique link attached to the email sent to you.

What if I am on leave when the survey is open?

If you want to provide your feedback and have received an email invitation to participate, you can still complete the survey from home or elsewhere using any computer or mobile device with internet access.

Is the survey mandatory?

All staff and students are strongly encouraged to complete the survey however; it is not mandatory.

Why should I complete the survey?

The survey is an opportunity for you to have your say and provide valuable input to our IT planning process and help deliver real change and improvements in the areas you indicate are important to you. Completing the survey also puts you in the running to win a Westfield Gift Card!

What does the survey cover?

The survey aims to measure IT performances and services provided by the Information Technology and Digital Services operational unit and be able to benchmark results against other participating Australian and New Zealand universities.

What type of questions does the survey ask?

Most of the survey questions are statements which require you to rate how much you agree/disagree with the statement. For example, "What is your impression of the overall service level provided by the University IT Support teams?"

You will be asked to rate how much you agree/disagree with each statement according to the following rating scale:

  • Unacceptable
  • Below Standard
  • Variable - mostly poor
  • Variable - mostly good
  • Good
  • Very Good

There will also be several open ended questions with free text fields to will allow you to provide more detailed responses if required.

When can I complete the survey?

The survey will be available online from Monday 9 October to Sunday 22 October 2017.

How long does the survey take?

The survey takes approximately 15 minutes to complete. Most questions ask you to rate how much you agree or disagree with a statement. There are only a few open-ended questions allowing a more detailed response.

Why is the survey being conducted?

To enable Information Technology and Digital Services’ continued ability to meet Western U’s strategic and global objectives well into the future. ITDS would also like to

  • build on information already provided and
  • receive feedback on work completed as a result of previously completed benchmarking surveys
  • identify existing or new key interests and concerns of staff and students
  • understand what is working well and not so well
  • help pinpoint areas requiring IT and digital improvement.

How will the results be used?

The results of the survey will allow for an informed decision making process to commence with the aims of identifying and prioritising areas for IT and digital improvement and change across the University. Results will also be compared to those collected in previous years to understand how effective or successful previous initiatives and changes have been received by both students and staff. The benchmarking component of this survey will allow the University to measure the relative service levels we deliver and see how we compare with other universities in our region.

Can I access the results?

Yes, the results received will be available via this website.

We also hope to be able to provide staff and students with ongoing updates on new initiatives and improvements being made as a result of feedback received.

How will improvements be evaluated?

The outcomes of the 2017 University IT Service Quality Benchmark survey will be formally evaluated through comparison with the results collected and received from the previous four surveys held in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015.

What is Voice Project and why was it chosen?

Voice Project is a leading provider of customer satisfaction or service quality surveys. Since their inception in 2002, they have implemented more than 1300 consulting projects across 400 commercial clients involving close to 2 million employees, leaders and clients. Their core purpose is "improving organisations by giving people a “voice"” and use surveys to improve engagement, leadership and service quality.

They are the sole providers of the annual University IT Services Benchmarking Survey which attracts participation from many universities across Australia and New Zealand.

Complete the survey and enter the prize draw!

To say thank you for participating in our survey, your name and staff/student ID number will be automatically entered into our prize draws. This information will be saved separately from your survey responses which will at all times remain anonymous. Students will have the chance to win one of several gift cards. Staff there is a prize draw for you too!

Students

  • First Prize - $500.00
  • Second prize - $250.00
  • Third to Seventh prize - $100.00

Staff

  • First Prize - $200.00

To further maintain confidentiality, the winning entries will be drawn by Voice Project, results published on the IT Benchmark Survey webpage and winners contacted via their student or staff email accounts.

Students who are also staff members will only be entered into the staff prize draw using their staff ID number.

ITDS staff members will not be entered into either the staff or student prize draws.

Please refer to the full list of terms and conditions for entry into these draws.