Ontario College Student Experience Survey (OCSES): FAQs

The Ontario College Student Experience Survey (OCSES) measures key aspects of the student experience. It provides students with an opportunity to give feedback about their program and Niagara College. It is not an evaluation of a specific course, subject, or teacher. Participating colleges use survey data for continuous improvement and system-level benchmarking. Students are invited by email to complete the online survey every year – please see the Eligibility to Participate section below. This year, students will also be provided with in-class time to complete the survey.

The survey is administered by the Institutional Analytics & Reporting (IAR) department on behalf of Niagara College and in collaboration with the Ontario College Application Service (OCAS).

If you have questions about the OCSES, please email [email protected].

Purpose of the Survey

Your opinions are important. The information you share helps inform planning and continuous improvements in academic programs and college services for current and future students.

This survey period is tentatively scheduled for February 2027.

Eligibility to Participate

In the winter term, students who are enrolled in a regular postsecondary credential program and have completed at least one term of their current program will be invited by email to fill out the survey online.

The survey link you will be provided is unique to you. Please do not share it with others.

You can expect an invitation email from:
Niagara College <[email protected]>

Who’s Listening

  • Dr. Fay Lim-Lambie
    Dr. Fay Lim-Lambie
    Vice President, Academic
  • Dr. Chris McGrath
    Dr. Chris McGrath
    Vice President, Students

Directors, Deans, Associate Deans, and Program and College Services Staff
all take a keen interest in your feedback about your College experience.

How long will the survey take to complete?

The core survey questions take approximately 10 minutes to complete. Students who choose to enter the prize draw should allow an additional 2–3 minutes. After submitting the main survey, students who wish to enter the prize draw will be directed to a separate prize draw survey to provide their contact information. Students are also invited to participate in an optional additional section of the survey, which may be skipped or may take a few extra minutes if they choose to participate. Providing written responses may add additional time, depending on the length of the comment. Students can stop the survey and return to complete it later at any time during the survey period.

What Participation Involves

Your participation in this online survey is voluntary. Participating in the survey will not impact your status at Niagara College.

The OCSES survey, excluding the optional college-specific questions, will include questions on your college experiences in four areas:

  • teaching and learning quality;
  • program-related knowledge and skills;
  • work-integrated learning; and
  • student services and resources.

It will also ask a few demographic questions including previous education and your main goal of education. Each year, colleges may also include a small set of custom questions on topics of interest to help them better understand and support their learners.

The survey instrument was developed with an emphasis on program quality and reflect standards referenced by the Postsecondary Education Quality Assessment Board (PEQAB) and the College Quality Assurance Audit Process (CQAAP).

By choosing to complete and submit the survey, you are providing your consent for Niagara College and its partners to use your responses as described on this page. Most questions are optional, and you may skip any you prefer not to answer unless they are marked as required. You can exit the survey at any time.

If you change your mind after submitting the survey, you may request to withdraw your participation during the active survey period by emailing [email protected] from your NC student email address. After the survey period ends, results are aggregated and de-identified and it is no longer possible to remove individual responses.

For accessibility options please refer to the Accessibility section.

Confidentiality and Uses

All responses are confidential and results are reported in aggregate. Open-ended comments may be summarized, grouped, or redacted to remove names or details that could reasonably identify an individual or very small group, while still reflecting the intent of the feedback. Comments that do not require redaction may be anonymized and reported as submitted.

Information from this survey is used for Niagara College purposes, including quality assurance, program and service planning and review, student success and retention initiatives, and sector-level benchmarking and reporting in de-identified or aggregate form (for example, through OCAS and participating colleges). For more detail on data ownership, consent, and privacy, please see the Data Ownership, Consent, and Indigenous Data Governance section near the bottom of this page.

All data will be securely stored by OCAS, SurveyMonkey, and Niagara College on Canadian servers.

For more information, please see:

Anonymized data may be shared with other Niagara College departments for additional analysis. The privacy and confidentiality of the information you provide will be protected in accordance with the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, R.S.O. 1990.

Survey Questions

View the Ontario College Student Experience Survey Instrument

Survey Incentives

To show our appreciation for you taking the time to complete the survey, all survey respondents will be invited to participate in the 2027 OCSES incentive e-gift card program.

All students who complete the survey may enter a random draw for a chance to win one of the prizes listed below:

  • Gold Prize: 1 x $500 e-gift card
  • Silver Prizes: 2 x $200 e-gift cards
  • Bronze Prizes: 12 x $50 e-gift cards

Eligibility for the incentive programs opens at 10:30 AM EST on TBC (To Be Confirmed) and closes at 11:59 PM EST on TBC (To Be Confirmed).

The prize draw will take place on TBC. Students who wish to enter the prize draw will be directed to a separate 2027 OCSES Prize Draw survey after submitting the main OCSES survey.

For complete prize eligibility, deadlines, and contest details, please review the Communicable Disease Surveillance (CDS) Survey: Prize Draw Terms and Conditions (link below).

Review the 2027 OCSES Prize Draw Terms and Conditions

Winners may receive a maximum of one main prize ($500, $200, or $50).

Accessibility

In compliance with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA), OCAS is providing a fully accessible online survey using SurveyMonkey, compatible with current screen readers and assistive technologies. Students may use assistive technologies or devices at their disposal to complete this survey.

Niagara Region Campuses

Should you require alternative accessible options to complete the survey, please email the Health, Wellness and Accessibility Services (HWAS) Reception Desk [email protected].

If you have a disability and would like to access alternative delivery options for completing the survey, please contact the Test Centre:

Welland Campus [email protected]

Daniel J. Patterson Campus in Niagara-on-the-Lake [email protected]

Data Ownership, Consent and Indigenous Data Governance

Data Ownership & Consent: Survey data and responses are collected and held by Niagara College, which is responsible for their use and protection in line with privacy laws and institutional policies. By participating in this survey, respondents consent to Niagara College’s use and sharing of their responses as described on this page. Occasionally, anonymized and redacted data may be shared with Niagara College students for educational purposes, such as course-based projects, ensuring strict confidentiality and privacy. Survey data are retained to support longitudinal analysis of the student experience. Niagara College will retain de-identified survey response data for up to 25 years, after which they will be securely destroyed or permanently de-identified in accordance with College records retention schedules.

Students who have questions about this survey or their responses can contact [email protected]. For more information about privacy and access to information at Niagara College, please refer to the Niagara College Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Policy.

Indigenous Data Ownership & Consent: Planning & Institutional Research acknowledges Indigenous data sovereignty principles, including OCAP®, and commits to applying them when collecting, storing, analyzing, or disclosing information relating to Indigenous Peoples.

Notice of Collection: The personal information in this survey is collected under the authority of the Ontario Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology Act, 2002 and the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA). It will be used for the purposes described in the Purpose of the Survey and Confidentiality and Uses sections above, including quality assurance, program and service planning and review, student success and retention initiatives, and sector-level benchmarking and reporting in de-identified or aggregate form through OCAS and participating colleges.

If you have questions about this collection, please contact Niagara College’s Freedom of Information (FOI) Coordinator. Current contact details are available on the Niagara College Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Policy.

Background

The Ontario College Student Experience Survey was developed through the collective efforts of Ontario’s publicly-funded colleges, starting with a steering committee formed in 2020. In addition, working groups were tasked with developing the various components of the survey, setting the parameters for survey administration, and recommending a survey administrator. The Ontario College Application Service (OCAS) was subsequently chosen to create and distribute the online survey using SurveyMonkey.

Last updated: October 15, 2026

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