IASystem vs SmartEvals

IASystem is a course evaluation system for colleges and universities assessing teaching and learning. It supports online and paper evaluations, with administrators able to customize forms across an institution, college, or department. Instructors can add course-specific scaled or open-ended questions. Students can access evaluations from Canvas, Blackboard, and other LMS applications through an LTI tool; a web API supports campus integrations such as displaying evaluation links in a student portal. Reports include course summaries, combined summaries, administrative high/low and ratings summaries, survey lists, and data exports. Institution-specific reliability estimates, item-level deciles, and regression analyses help interpret and adjust evaluation results. IASystem uses HTTPS, role-based permissions, and server-side processing for calculations, validations, and reports. Reports and extracts omit student names, IDs, and login information. A one-term pilot license is listed as free. Annual rates are per enrolled student, from $1.59 a year for institutions with 20,000 or more FTE students; enrollment categories list a 5,404 USD one-time setup fee. Paper forms and scanning cost extra, with costs depending on usage.

SmartEvals is web-based course evaluation software for colleges and universities. It automates evaluation management and reporting with administrative dashboards, ERP or SIS data synchronization, preloaded question banks, and automatic report distribution. Institutions can run summative and formative course evaluations, general surveys, and educational assessments. Email, text, and voice reminders, mobile access, and live response-rate reporting support evaluation participation. Reporting includes institutional and nationwide benchmarking, aggregate comparisons, longitudinal trends, text analytics, and demographic analysis. SmartEvals lists integrations with Blackboard Learn and Ultra, Canvas, Moodle, Brightspace, and other LMSs, plus LTI tools; it can also share data with ERP, SIS, or homegrown databases. Institutions can configure role-based permissions and customize reminders, survey forms, and reports. The maker says the hosted application uses US-based primary and failover data facilities meeting SSAE 16 SOC 2 standards, and that institutions retain ownership and control of their data. A free Lite plan is listed for schools currently using paper; other pricing is on request.