Australian National University: Making the Barometer results accessible to all staff

The Australian National University have been using the International Student Barometer (ISB) and the Student Barometer (SB) since 2012. Around 22,000 students are invited to take part each year.

Reporting of the Student Barometer at ANU includes a top-line report and presentation provided by i-graduate, plus internally generated summary and in-depth reports.

Challenges 
In 2013, staff at the university highlighted a need for more condensed reporting of the Student Barometer results, tailored to individual service divisions and academic areas based on specific focus areas. Busy staff had limited time to read full written reports, which meant that findings were often not acted upon quickly and efficiently.  

Using the Barometer data
Following consultation and review, the team at ANU highlighted the key sections from their own internally generated Barometer reports and created individual topic papers for the different service divisions and academic areas. Topics were selected based on known areas for improvement or issues of topical debate around the university.

The topic papers have covered a variety of topics including:

• Learning resources
• Safety
• Student support
• Graduate employability
• Pastoral care in residences

The papers provide the individual service divisions and academic areas with bite-size information supported by the Barometer data and are supplemented by relevant student comments (both positive and negative). The papers allow the service divisions and academic areas to focus on key aspects requiring improvement and easily create action plans to resolve any issues.

The Australian National University have found the topic papers have had a very positive impact and have led to the Barometer data being used to drive forward change throughout the institution.