Analyze:  Powerful Inferences at a Glance

TechQual+ uses a variety of reporting mechanisms to graphically illustrate the results of the campus assessment.  The data may be broken down by a variety of classifications (faculty, staff, student, major, or by college affiliation) and the resulting graphs are produced automatically by the TechQual+ web portal.  The portal shields participating campuses away from the complexities of data analysis by producing reports, graphics, and PDF documents that are ready to be shared with any audience within your institution.

The greatest strength of the TechQual+ approach, is the focus on "zones of tolerance."  End user satisfaction is conceptualized as an evaluation of a technology service given pre-existing expectations.  Each concept is measured by five or six separate questions.  For each question, respondents are asked to specify (on a scale of 1 to 9) their minimum service level expectation (the lowest level of performance acceptable to the end user), their desired service level expectation (the level of service that the end user really wants), and the perceived performance of current services as related to the minimum and desired service levels.  When comparing the minimum service level to the desired service level, the gap between them constitutes a "zone of tolerance" that indicates the range of service performance the end user considers acceptable.  In the end, end user satisfaction is measured as a range of service levels (from low to high) as opposed to a single scaled point.

End users have a variety of different needs and expectations based on their skill levels, their job responsibilities, and their own unique preferences.  By assessing performance as it relates to a "zone of tolerance," IT organizations are better able to pinpoint existing service inadequacies while also understanding how those services are prioritized by the end user community.  This approach has been found to be conceptually valid and reliable and more practical for managers who seek to prioritize or re-allocate resource levels to best match expectation levels.

Each of these reports is generated automatically for institutions conducting a Higher Education TechQual+ Assessment. By generating these reports automatically, this project shields technology managers from the burdens and rigors of conducting data analysis and preparing reports.

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