Allison B. Sekuler, Associate Vice-President and Dean (Graduate Studies), mcmaster u
“CRi is one of those rare companies that combine innovation with a remarkable insight into what the clients need. Because of their considerable knowledge of and experience in the university environment, CRi had a quick grasp of all our key issues, and they worked proactively to address all of our needs. They are always friendly and efficient, keeping us on track and delivering perceptive, practical results that are highly useful to my team and me.”
Kate Tippin, Lazaridis School Of Business
“I really think that with the CRI study we’ve participated in, it showed us that, on our own, we had really only just scratched the surface of what there is to discover.”
Kathryn MacLeod, Director, University of Victoria
“Having worked with the team at CRI on numerous projects in the past ten years, I can attest to the skill, care and thoughtfulness they bring to any project. The information that we received from their demand analysis contributed to our decision-making for our brand new residence projects.
The CRI team are excellent listeners with strengths in information gathering and survey design. They bring a depth of experience and knowledge of quantitative methods and can translate good data into valuable information. The team is also highly responsive and cares about their customers. I value their insight and experience in higher education.”
Amy Bryson, Western university
“CRi’s survey absolutely met our expectations. There was good data in there, it was comprehensive. It provided us some actionable things to really look at, consider and think about. It was a pleasure working with Kirk and CRi throughout the process. My experience was very positive.
Dan seneker, bishop’s university
“CRI’s readiness and retention surveys have been very effective for us. Getting the best return on your investment is important. The readiness survey has helped us with this as we're able to see not only who's more likely to be at risk before they set foot on campus, but we also get a better idea of what resources will be needed and in demand once they get here.
That's where the readiness & retention surveys really help us: identifying students at risk and the services they are likely to need to be successful.”
Kathleen Massey, Vice Provost (Students), University of Lethbridge
“When I was at McGill, CRI’s work afforded us the opportunity to use a strategic, evidence-based approach to setting tuition. They provided us with more than a theoretical framework, adding to that an easy-to-use tool to balance critical numbers like tuition cost, as well what the financial support for students would look like.
This helped us to understand enrolment estimates while balancing our accessibility goals and market demand. If not for CRI, we wouldn’t have had the tools to do that.”
Laura mitchell, concordia university
“In terms of transition to first year, the work that we did with CRI on the retention survey had us asking students to reflect on where they're at coming in, along with any challenges that they're feeling. We were able to proactively reach out to the students, and depending on their assessment scores, we could offer them different supports.”
Roger Côté, Vice-President of Services, concordia university
“[CRi showed] excellent ability to understand client needs and develop a responsive research strategy to meet those needs. Strong ability to cut through the clutter of data to focus on the meaningful insights which directly address the initial need for the research.”
Chris Alleyne, AVP Housing & Ancillary Services, Western University
“CRI has become our go-to partner when we're looking to develop everything from housing demand studies to customer analysis surveys.
I appreciate the solutions-focused ideas Kirk and his team bring to the business problems we are trying to solve, and their analysis and recommendations help us make research-informed decisions.”
Lisa Haslett, Director, Business Services and Continuing Studies, UNBC
“CRI has been an essential partner in determining UNBC’s housing needs and supporting student success. Engaging them three times over five years, CRI has provided flexible solutions that have evolved with increased understanding of our needs.
A pleasure to work with this professional team, CRI demonstrates extensive skill in finding the answers we require and conducting in-depth analysis of the situation to maximize student satisfaction and institutional ROI.”
Kathryn MacLeod, Director of Residence Services, University of Victoria
“CRI carried out two in-depth student surveys for us over the last four years. Not only did each survey provide us with insights into the needs and wants of our students, but the change in students’ needs between the surveys provided us with even more food for thought. We have used these results to make decisions on how and what we build in the future and to guide facilities and programming decisions for our current inventory. CRI has been flexible, creative and responsive to our needs.”
Gerald Gongos, Campus Planner, Simon Fraser University
“Simon Fraser University was in need of determining the potential level of interest for student accommodation at its Surrey campus. In response, we reached out to a third-party survey and research firm that could provide both survey and analysis supported in large part by experience and advanced analytical methods. CRI was the best choice to make as they understood our needs and objectives and delivered accurate and comprehensive data.
While using an effective housing demand calculator tool, the Surrey Housing Demand Survey was distributed to more than 31,000 students with nearly 4,000 qualified respondents. SFU considers the work foundational to decision making and successful through both approach and commitment by a highly professional consultant team.”
Peggy Wakabayashe, AVP Housing, western university
“[CRi was] flexible… very open to listening and responding directly… good at picking up nuances… they showed us how to make research results relevant to our day-to-day operations. We felt we were getting a report and response completely customized to our situation, not some template response where we were being fitted to a formula.”
Joe Stokes, registrar, ontario tech university
“CRi was easy to work with and provided our university with valuable data on our current enrolment profile. More importantly, the team made sound observations, and provided functional recommendations for using the data across the broader academy.”
Zoe Woods, Director of Residence and Housing, Simon Fraser University
“SFU recently worked with Kirk and the CRI team to design and complete a student housing demand survey for our Surrey campus. The resulting survey was sent to 31,000 students and saw a return of nearly 4,000 qualified entries. This survey allowed for comprehensive data gathering and the resulting analytics were both thorough and accessible. The CRi team took the time to ensure they understood our goals and worked with us to create a survey to meet this need.
They also took the time to thoroughly review the resulting analytics and tools provided (e.g. Calculator tool) and remained accessible throughout our partnership for check-ins and touch points --- we had many questions about the data! CRI’s awareness of student housing and the importance of the student experience, combined with their expertise in survey and data analytics, made Kirk and the CRI team the best possible partner for SFU. “
Laura Stanbra, Vice President of Student Services, algonquin college
“CRi consistently delivers a professional and well executed survey combined with an exemplary analysis and presentation of the survey results. Projects are delivered on time, within budget, and exceed my expectations. CRi lives up to their motto of “cutting through the clutter”, as their end product provides an evidence-based roadmap of how to improve client relations in a tangible and meaningful manner.”
Brenda Rothwell, Executive Director, Algonquin College Foundation
“We engaged CRi to conduct our Alumni Relations survey after reading their detailed and well-thought-out proposal. Throughout the process, they provided excellent communication, insightful comments and asked meaningful questions that helped us discover more thoroughly what we actually needed to know about our stakeholders.
The survey results were presented in depth with meticulous attention to detail and a clear explanation of how the results pertained to our alumni. CRi’s observations and recommendations will help us immensely as we move into a strategic planning phase.”
Asa Kachan, Registrar, Dalhousie University
“We've just completed our first CRi Admissions and Recruitment survey, and we're delighted with the useful information we received back from it. The survey results helped us identify some immediate changes we wanted to make, and also informed our long-term decision-making.
The survey measures broad trends and specific details. Everything from who our students viewed as their strongest influencers to when our application offer arrived in relation to others, and much more. We're looking forward to next year's survey, to see the impact of improvements we've made.”
Brad Tucker, Director of Institutional Planning, Concordia University
“With CRi’s assistance, we are identifying necessary improvements in how we meet the expectations of our applicants, how we can address issues of student retention, and how we can respond more proactively to the needs of our faculty members for greater support in their research programs.
In CRi we have found a research partner who works with us to ensure that we get the answers we need in a timely and cost-efficient manner.”