Case Study: Kwantlen Polytechnic University achieves actionable student insights and a better strategic plan with ThoughtExchange

Building a better strategic plan with unparalleled insight into student experience

Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) in Vancouver—a multi-campus institution with about 20,000 students and 1,400+ employees—needed a faster, more inclusive way to gather input for a five‑year strategic plan. Traditional surveys and focus groups had limited reach and took months, so KPU sought a simple, technology‑driven approach to engage stakeholders across campuses and understand what mattered most to students and staff.

KPU partnered with Thoughtexchange to run an Advanced Exchange that let participants confidentially share and rate ideas from any device. In a few weeks and with a much smaller team, they achieved roughly 2x the engagement of prior efforts, produced richer, actionable data, and identified student experience as a top priority—resulting in a clearer, more confident strategic plan and a database of insights to guide decisions and resource allocation.

Kwantlen Polytechnic University

Alan Davis

President