Around the globe higher education faces unprecedented demands to provide evidence of quality and value for money often in the form of accountability and transparency regimes that aim to demonstrate quality and provide consumer information. At the same time new tools provide university leaders instructional staff and others with detailed information to inform quality enhancement efforts. In this climate “proving”— demonstrating worth and responding constructively to unfavorable results or ill-considered comparisons — can take priority over improving: using actionable diagnostic information to enhance university performance. Student engagement surveys offer an opportunity to examine this tension and imagine approaches that prioritise enhancement.
