Building a relationship of trust with its interlocutors, communicating transparently and punctually, informing with a widespread multimedia presence and investigating the needs of service users: this is the main objective that EDUCatt has always pursued, always trying to give the institution a face, both human and personal.
Between EDUCatt and the university community, an open discourse, a constantly evolving dialogue is built: periodically, thanks to qualitative survey tools, such as the focus groups of the LIFE team, or quantitative ones, such as the questionnaires carried out in collaboration with the Evaluation Committee of Università Cattolica; but also occasionally on the basis of the unexpected needs that may arise, thanks to the online surveys and the numerous contact possibilities ranging from the “direct line” to the listening service, up to MyEDUCatt area.
Project LIFE
Since 2011, EDUCatt has been engaged in a satisfaction survey of its main stakeholders’ needs, in order to initiate actions aimed at constant improvement and maintaining a stable and fruitful dialogue with the university population.
Both quantitative and qualitative surveys were conducted, involving both students and lecturers in the university.
In 2011, two satisfaction questionnaires concerning the services offered by the Foundation were developed and administered. The first was aimed at students in all locations, and the second at scholarship holders and/or guests of EDUCatt Residences. The response rate was over 40% and the data were analysed and processed in cooperation with the UC Evaluation Unit and IPSOS.
In the wake of this satisfactory result, a new quantitative survey was proposed in 2013, once again targeting students from all locations, but excluding freshmen who had used the services for too short a period at the time of the survey. Again, the data collected were analysed with the cooperation of the UC Evaluation Board, and the response rate was over 51%.
In 2015, the survey was carried out as part of the European project WISE (Welfare for Improved Social Dimensions of Education, http://www.wise-project.eu), a research project which was co-funded by the European Community and in a multidisciplinary relationship with three other European universities, and aimed at improving the students’ overall welfare condition.
In 2017, the Life project (Lightening Innovations for Empowerment) was launched, building on the data collected previously, with the aim of giving voice to the Foundation’s various interest groups. Both quantitative and qualitative surveys were proposed; in particular, quantitative satisfaction questionnaires were administered to the guests of the Residences (2017) and to the University’s teaching staff (2018), once again thanks to the support of the UC Evaluation Board. At the same time, in order to deepen the emerging aspects and to allow those who wished to participate in person, focus groups aimed at students at the Milan campus were held, managed by a series of professional psychologists (2017 and 2018).
After the positive experience in Milan, the Foundation decided to extend the focus groups as an opportunity for in-depth analysis of students’ needs also to the Rome campus, and progressively to the others, starting from autumn 2018.
Year 2019 saw the consolidation of needs satisfaction survey activities through focus groups in the student and residence communities of the locations where EDUCatt is present.
In 2020, despite the health emergency caused by COVID-19, the Life project did not stop, but continued in its mission of listening and supporting students digitally: the first online focus groups were inaugurated, giving voice to students who had remained at home or in the residences.
Thanks to these actions, EDUCatt is constantly listening to the needs and opinions of the users of its services, and this has enabled it to implement actions aimed at improving and meeting the identified needs more accurately, as well as enhancing the fundamental communication aspects so that the choices made can be understood by all.