By Natalie Sit
The Students’ Union may be phoning you to ask what you think a quality education is.
An initiative from SU Vice-President Academic Demetrios Nicolaides will try to identify what a quality education is. The survey will be conducted by Claros Research. According to a resolution passed at the Tue., Aug. 12 Students’ Legislative Council meeting, the survey will cost no more than $15,000, $8,000 of which will come from special motions. The remainder will come from the VP Academic and President’s budget.
Nicolaides felt the time was right in the current political situation to do such a survey.
"With things like increasing tuition, more of a research focus, it’s a big change," said Nicolaides. "The university says ‘Don’t worry you’ll receive better quality education.’ But a student’s perception is different from administration’s."
Because of the cost, Nicolaides has to prioritize which areas will be researched more in-depth. Haskayne School of Business Marketing Area Chair and Associate Professor James Agarwal says, in order to have a good study, the SU should have very specific goals.
"When you try to cover sub-topics, you need to cut them down," said Agarwal. "Covering a lot of ground is not doing it justice."
The Claros report is expected in November.