UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS
President’s Office
REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL UP15-DJ-0501 Survey Software
Answers to Bidder Questions
Question 1
How does UMASS envision students being able to use the software?
UMass Answer to Question 1
UMass Amherst – Students will be responding to surveys regarding course and evaluations, and other
informational assessments from Student Affairs. Individual departments will be surveying their students on
a number of departmental topics. Grad students will be creating surveys for their own work and as
assistants to departments.
UMass Boston – Students would only be responders to surveys. Primarily, students would respond to class
evaluation surveys but may also be responders to other general purpose and miscellaneous surveys such as
those initiated by our institutional research office, student life office or other student services offices.
There may also be surveys directed at employees and alumni.
UMass Dartmouth – Undergraduate, graduate, and law students would have access to the software to fulfill
course, program, and degree requirements that may necessitate survey research. Ideally, students would
access the software through our single sign-on. However, their level of initial access should not be the same
as for faculty and staff. They may initially be able to create a survey, for instance, but not administer the
survey until approval is granted through a designated faculty, staff, or department contact.
UMass Lowell – Students, as part of course, masters or doctoral requirements, may use the software for
research purposes (to create surveys, collect data). Thus they would have/need their own access point.
Actually, it should go through a faculty or staff access point (password). I am thinking our institutional
review board would want it this way - so that students could not just create, send out and manage surveys
at their own discretion.
UMass Medical School – Students will respond to surveys regarding Courses and Evaluations.
UMass President’s Office, Donahue Institute – Not applicable
Question 2
Will there be any need for paper based surveys?
UMass Answer to Question 2
UMass Amherst – no paper surveys anticipated.
UMass Boston – Yes, we are trying to transition from paper-based to online surveys but this will be an
iterative process. In addition, there may be some constituencies for which paper-based surveys would be
the best option, such as research surveying of external groups.
UMass Dartmouth – No need for paper surveys is anticipated (but a print format version of surveys would
be desirable).
UMass Lowell – This software would be for non-paper based surveying.
UMass Medical School – There are several departments who serve the underserved who use OCR to scan
their surveys (Not a show stopper).
UMass President’s Office, Donahue Institute - We presently use TeleForm for paper survey development
and OCR processing. We are open to alternatives to that system.
Question 3
What is the anticipated annual number of surveys to be processed?
UMass Answer to Question 3
UMass Amherst – not able to determine at this time due to size of campus and potential users and
applications.
UMass Boston – We offer approximately 7500 class sections per year, all of which potentially have class
evaluation surveys. Additionally, there may be up to a few thousand general purpose and miscellaneous
surveys.
UMass Dartmouth – Currently, there are over 100 active surveys or questionnaires in the university’s
existing online survey software program. However, this number does not capture survey activity outside of
this software program, and, as such, the number of surveys and questionnaires is likely even higher.
UMass Lowell – It would be less than 100 per year. If you are inquiring on the number of surveys returned,
this number is unknown. Sometimes our surveys go out to, for example, all students (10-17k) with a hopeful
20% return rate.
UMass Medical School – 300-400
UMass President’s Office, Donahue Institute – We estimate 40-60 unique surveys per year, with total
numbers of surveys processed in the 5,000 – 10,000 range possible, but highly variable.
Question 4
Does the software have to integrate with LMS or SIS programs? If so, which programs do you currently use?
UMass Answer to Question 4
UMass Amherst – we use Moodle (LMS) and PeopleSoft (SIS). Integration would be a desired feature but not
a required feature.
UMass Boston – Yes, we expect to be able to administer class evaluation surveys through our LMS portal.
Currently we use Blackboard Learn 9.1.
UMass Dartmouth - The University’s SIS system is PeopleSoft and the LMS is Blackboard Learn. Our current
survey tool does not directly integrate with these but we are using API hooks to integrate data from
PeopleSoft into surveys when appropriate – similar to Amherst, it would likely be a desired though not
required feature.
UMass Lowell – Unknown
UMass Medical School – Unknown
UMass President’s Office, Donahue Institute – Unknown
Question 5
Will this survey tool be used for course and/or faculty evaluations at the 5 campuses?
UMass Answer to Question 5
UMass Amherst – Not sure. Could be in the future.
UMass Boston – Yes
UMass Dartmouth – Not likely.
UMass Lowell – Not sure. Could be in the future.
UMass Medical School – Yes
UMass President’s Office, Donahue Institute - Some of our evaluation projects do engage students and
request feedback regarding grant funded programs in which they are participating, but course and faculty
evaluations are not presently anticipated.
Question 6
Can you provide an example of the type of survey that will be created/deployed through this survey tool?
UMass Answer to Question 6
The wide range and complexity of the surveys conducted throughout the University system make providing
samples impractical. However, the vendor should assume that a portion of the surveys will be of very
simplistic design, while others will require advanced branching and skip logic features. Detailed examples of
skip logic capabilities and innovative question structures and formats are strongly encouraged. Similarly,
surveys may feature not only text, but images, and in some cases require highly customizable layouts and
formats. Again, a thorough explanation of your product’s capabilities is advised.
Question 7
Have you tried a commercial solution? (Survey Monkey, Google Forms, etc.)
If so, why are you looking to create something custom?
UMass Answer to Question 7
We are not looking to create a custom program, but we are looking for a full-feature product capable of
satisfying the needs of our diverse user groups throughout in the University System.
Question 8
What is your budget for this project?
UMass Answer to Question 8
The University chooses not to disclose our budget for this project.