Qualtrics Introduces ‘Return-to-Learn-Hub’ to Help Educational Institutions Reopen Safely

Over 30 higher education and 50 K-12 institutions across the U.S. have been leveraging the Return to Learn Hub to guide their reopening efforts, including daily symptom checking, contact tracing, and keeping a regular pulse of student and staff sentiment

Qualtrics, the leader in customer experience and creator of the experience management category, introduced the Return to Learn Hub. As educational institutions have reopened, they must do so in a way that prioritizes the health and safety of students, teachers, and administrators. The Qualtrics Return to Learn Hub has been a critical piece of their reopening plans and decision making.

Given Qualtrics’ long-standing history as the system of record for thousands of colleges and universities across the world, it’s no surprise that educational institutions are turning to Qualtrics to help them take action in one of the most critical moments in the history of academia. School districts, colleges, and universities across the U.S. are turning to the Return to Learn Hub to gauge student and staff sentiment around return to campus decisions, in addition to implementing daily symptom checks and self-certification and contact tracing at scale. Schools that have already leveraged Qualtrics include Charlotte-Mecklenburg School District, Fort Mill School District, Fort Worth Independent School District, Lafayette College, Maricopa Community Colleges, Marquette University, North Brunswick Public Schools, Southern Methodist University, the Savannah College of Art and Design, University of Delaware, University of Miami, University of San Diego, and more. The Return to Learn Hub was designed and is implemented in partnership with leading organizations including Character Lab, EY, Red Pepper, Ugam, and Walker.

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“We chose Qualtrics to help us manage our reopening efforts because they have been a trusted partner in our research enterprise,” said Dr. Jennifer Horney, Professor and Founding Director, Epidemiology Program, University of Delaware. “Our knowledge of their reputation and expertise in the research and academic space will help to ensure we have what we need to understand and act on the challenges we face in reopening. We will be able to apply best practices and solutions to meet our specific needs that enhance campus safety for our students, staff, and community.”

Qualtrics’ solutions take a three-pronged approach:

• Monitoring. A daily health check is performed for students, faculty, and staff to identify ill or at-risk individuals. This provides ill or potentially infected individuals with real-time guidance (such as refusing entry to buildings) as well as health resources and information about additional measures being taken on campus. The Return to Learn Hub also surfaces recommended actions to help staff establish baseline requirements for on-campus facilities.
• Tracing, Notifying, and Instructing. Through an opt-in platform, Qualtrics’ contact tracing solution confidentially contacts individuals who may have been exposed to COVID-19 and directs them to take specific actions in accordance with CDC guidelines. This helps schools locate hot spots on campus that may need greater attention from medical services or campus safety. By helping identify those who have been exposed to the virus, the Hub helps schools direct students, faculty, or staff to facilities for testing and provides instruction on actions to take, such as self-quarantining.
• Understanding and Preparing. The Hub includes a Return to Learn Pulse for students, faculty, and staff that has three components: 1) Well-being, designed with Character Lab, 2) teaching and learning, 3) school operations. Together they provide insight into student readiness to return to school including safety, housing, technology, and other environmental concerns. This allows for rapid identification of issues and process changes. The pulse also assesses preparedness for remote learning and actions schools can take to iterate quickly. The Return to Learn Hub also provides campuses with the ability to continuously and quickly pulse community members to identify ongoing concerns.

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“To maintain trust, reopen responsibly, and prepare contingency plans for remote learning, schools need to shift nimbly and keep a constant pulse on the situations facing students, faculty, and staff,” said Omar Garriott, Global Industry Lead for Education, Qualtrics. “In introducing the Return to Learn Hub, Qualtrics is providing a one-stop shop for schools to easily and scalably engage with everyone on campus to perform symptom checks, implement contact tracing, continuously pulse their community, and adjust to remote learning. Understanding and acting on experiences has never been more important in higher education. In a situation where the stakes have never been higher, we’re honored to continue partnering with so many amazing organizations.”

All solutions are built on the Qualtrics XM Platform™, which maintains the highest security certifications including ISO 27001 and FedRAMP. Qualtrics is also HITRUST certified, which means its technology platform provides customers the tools they need to manage HIPAA compliance.

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