ICES Online

Paperless course evaluation system developed for the University of Illinois becomes commercially available

Challenge

The University of Illinois sought OJC to create an online version of their paper-based Instructor and Course Evaluation System (ICES). The new application would have to integrate with legacy university systems to utilize class enrollment data and authenticate users with their university ID. It also had to be flexible to handle multiple question types and diverse departmental procedures.

Solution

In 2001, OJC designed the initial release, called Evaluation ONline (EON). In 2007, OJC created an all-new release, called ICES Online, with significantly-expanded functionality and scope. OJC designed the system for maximum flexibility: many different kinds of questions may be used, instructors have control over who sees responses, and evaluation periods are configurable. Instructors easily browse the question banks to design an evaluation form tailored to the classes they teach and their own performance goals. Email is automatically sent to instructors, students, and administrators inviting them to design, fill out, and review evaluations.

ICES Online is used by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus and Global Campus and is now available through OJC as a commercial product.