By Mat Labranche
Students of the college have been administered Key Performance Indicators, a set of surveys mandated by the provincial government to collect and report performance data on colleges within the province.
“I’d say the main purpose is to determine overall student satisfaction with the college,” said chair of general arts and science, Sherryl Fraser, who handles the communication aspects of the KPI. “It is a very serious survey at Algonquin. Of all surveys administered to students at the college, this is one of the most important.”
Another objective of the surveys is to ensure that the public has relevant and reliable information regarding the province’s colleges. This is to provide students with necessities in choosing future studies.
Students who avoid the surveys are only hurting themselves. While the information is utilized by the government, it is also a useful eye-opener to colleges, as it gives them a foundation for improvement.
“For a number of years, students were dissatisfied with a lot of the facilities within Algonquin College. Then last year we had a marked improvement, as our percentile went up dramatically,” said Fraser. “That is based on the KPI results. For example, we now have the ACCE building and the Student Commons [because of the results]. So the surveys really are looked at and addressed.”
While the results won’t come back until the summer, Fraser is still looking forward to them.
“Last year, Algonquin College was ranked No. 1 amongst large colleges, so we are absolutely looking to maintain that this year.”