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Five Questions with Tim Brennan

General Manager Asia-Pacific, Explorance, Australia

Connect with Tim

Tim chose to be interviewed in chair #3.

1. Tell us about what Explorance and what it does.

Explorance was founded in 2003 and is a privately held corporation with a local office in Melbourne servicing clients in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, as well as business units in Montreal, Asia-Europe, the Middle East and the North Africa region.

Explorance is a Student Journey Analytics (SJA) provider that supports learning organisations in making the right decisions with fact-based feedback analytics.

Our clients include a wide variety of learning organisations from various sectors made up primarily of academia, as well as consulting firms, government institutions, and corporations across the globe.

Through Blue SJA, Explorance is at the heart of the learning organisation’s continuous improvement strategies. By assessing needs, expectations and competencies, organisations can analyse with the full picture in mind and monitor their improvement over time.

2. Can you briefly summarise some of your collaborations with institutions?

We have been in close collaboration with a growing number of institutions in Australia and New Zealand since 2003. We work with the majority of higher education institutions in Australia, including five of the Go8 universities.

Our institution partners are diverse in their size and focus, be it their commitment to innovation and excellence in teaching, learning and research—specifically the innovative research universities (IRU)—research intensive through the application and interpretation of the latest technologies such as the Australian Technology Network, or developing elite international alliances or research partnerships with the Go8 universities.

Our collaborations range from providing the world-leading course and teaching evaluation tool, Blue, for the administration, collection, analysis and reporting of student feedback data, to partnering with institutions to engage learners in the feedback process, Bluepulse, from day one, anywhere, anytime. Our most recent offering, BlueX, gives higher education institutions a unified system to meet the surveying needs of students, teachers and researchers campus wide.

3. What are your thoughts around the future of data and analytics?

The future is now! We are currently witnessing the impact of data being turned into information that is informing decisions and resulting in action.

Examples from our institution partners include using analytics to better understand the optimal time for engaging students in their evaluations, through to what mediums students are using to access their evaluations (the learning management system, portals, via a smart device, on-or-off campus, etc.).

Moreover, institutions are leveraging feedback analytics to shape learning and teaching in real time, for example, students providing real time feedback on group work, access to learning resources, the built environment such as wi-fi access, or suitability of learning spaces. As a result, changes are being made to teaching pedagogy, course/programs and ultimately the student experience in a dynamic fashion.

4. What has Explorance planned or scoped to offer its clients in terms of data analytics and decision-making? (In other words, why should a potential customer choose Explorance?)

Blue enables integration with other campus solutions, empowering institutional leaders to bring in more data to create a fuller picture of how its ecosystem performs.

Many challenges exist in higher education due to ever-changing government regulations, an increasingly competitive landscape, and the digitisation of the economy.

The focus on student success and other key indicators such as first-year retention, engagement, and graduation rates, are fast becoming top priorities for every academic leader. At Explorance, we’ve been partnering with higher education institutions for more than 15 years, helping them navigate change through the gradual implementation of a Student Journey Analytics (SJA) framework.

With Blue SJA, we help institutions support their students throughout their academic lifecycle with a connected experience management process, continuous listening strategy, and robust decision support capabilities.

5. Tell us a bit more about yourself.

I am the General Manager and Vice-President of Operations at Explorance, Asia-Pacific. Based in Melbourne, Australia, I am leading the rapid growth of Explorance and Blue users in the APAC region.

I have a strong affinity for the education sector and a passion for surveys and feedback that leads to tangible outcomes. Prior to joining Explorance I was the Senior Manager of the Survey Services Centre at RMIT University, where I was responsible for the administration and reporting of student feedback across all global locations. I have also worked in vocational education and for The Australian Bureau of Statistics, so I’ve been in this field for some time and I strongly value the relationships I have built along the way.

On a personal level, I enjoy home renovation, travel and landscape gardening. I am hosting an open-garden event in the days prior to the upcoming AAIR forum showcasing my efforts in restoring a rural garden.

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  • About
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