UW–Madison has begun a multi-year transition from HelioCampus Assessment and Credentialing (formerly AEFIS) to a new system called Blue for digital course evaluations. A select number of departments began piloting the system in fall 2025.
The majority of faculty and staff using digital course evaluations will be asked to start transitioning to Blue during the 2026-27 academic year, with the goal of full implementation by summer 2027.
The project is sponsored by the Division for Teaching and Learning and DoIT Academic Technology, with the project implementation team consisting of faculty and staff representatives from across campus.
On This Page
Benefits of Blue
Driven by a need for enhanced functionality and improved user experience – as evidenced by users across campus (including via a survey) and via an in-depth technical review – the decision to transition to Blue was made to better meet the evolving needs of campus, instructors and students. Blue will help campus advance the student evaluation of teaching (SET) process by:
- Providing improved usability
- Streamlining student access
- Prioritizing accessibility
- Mitigating bias
- Helping increase response rates
- Offering enhanced reporting, including advanced analytics for actionable insights
- Reducing administrative work
The SET process is vital for shaping curriculum development, advancing teaching and enhancing student learning. Ultimately the process supports campus’ teaching excellence and student success.
Timeline
The majority of faculty and staff using digital course evaluations will be asked to start transitioning to Blue during the 2026-27 academic year, with the goal of full campus implementation by summer 2027.
High-level project milestones include:
This is an accordion element with a series of buttons that open and close related content panels.
March 2025 – September 2025
- Tool implementation and system integration (SSO, data integration)
- Cybersecurity review completed
- Data governance review completed
- Accessibility evaluation completed
- User experience testing completed
- Phase 1 Implementation fall 2025
- College of Agricultural and Life Sciences (CALS)
- School of Human Ecology
- InterLS
September 2025 – August 2026
- Collected and incorporated fall 2025 feedback into summer and fall 2026
- Historical data and reporting archiving approach developed and prototyped
- Phase 2 Implementation fall 2026
- School of Business
- School of Nursing
- College of Letters & Science (Center for Law Society and Justice, Astronomy, and French & Italian)
- Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies
September 2026 - May 2027
- Phase 3 Implementation spring 2027
- Recruiting remaining administrative divisions and onboarding spring 2027 pilot participants
- Implementing fall 2026 pilot
- Testing new features
- Test historical data and reporting archiving approach
- KnowledgeBase articles are created and updated as needed
FAQ
This is an accordion element with a series of buttons that open and close related content panels.
Why does this tool transition matter to instructors, administrators and students?
The transition to Blue matters because it enables more accurate and relevant feedback that can improve the teaching and learning experience at UW–Madison. Overall, Blue provides instructors, staff and students with a more intuitive and user-friendly interface. In particular, instructors benefit from clearer insights into their teaching and a more streamlined and effective system for gathering and analyzing data. Students have a greater opportunity to voice their opinions in an easier to navigate system that’s more tailored to their courses.
How different is Blue from HelioCampus AC?
The transition from HelioCampus AC to Blue will simplify many aspects of the course evaluation process and provide a more user-friendly experience for students, instructors and department administrators.
One of the most significant changes is how course and instructor information is managed. In HelioCampus AC, department administrators were required to manually add courses and instructors to the course evaluation system each semester. In Blue, course, section, enrollment, and instructor information will be automatically populated using data from the Student Information System (SIS).
As a result, department administrators will no longer need to maintain this information separately in the course evaluation system. Instead, they should ensure that course and instructor information in SIS is accurate and up to date. Changes made in SIS will flow into Blue automatically, helping keep course evaluation records aligned with official university records.
Blue also provides an updated interface and additional functionality designed to make it easier for students to complete evaluations, for instructors to access and interpret their results, and for departments to administer the course evaluation process.
What support will be provided to instructors and staff to make the transition to Blue?
To help with the transition, instructors and staff will have access to a variety of resources and support options including:
- Guided Walk-throughs and Tutorials: Step-by-step, self-paced guides will be available for instructors and staff to consult, as needed, as they make the transition and start using the new system.
- Dedicated Support: UW-Madison support staff will be available to answer questions and provide technical assistance throughout the transition period.
- FAQ Guide: A FAQ guide will be available, addressing common questions and issues.
- Feedback Opportunities: After the initial training and implementation, instructors and staff will have opportunities to provide feedback about the new system. The feedback will be used to refine the system and offer additional resources or adjustments, as needed.
When will instructors and staff be asked to make the transition?
The majority of faculty and staff using digital course evaluations will be asked to start transitioning to Blue during the 2026-27 academic year, with the goal of full campus implementation by summer 2027.
What will happen to the course evaluation data in HelioCampus AC?
The data from HelioCampus AC will not be migrated to the new tool (Blue). Individual instructors will be able to download the data until April 1, 2027. All data will be archived and accessible in alignment with campus data retention policies.
Find more information about how to access and download course evaluation reports in HelioCampus AC and Blue, now and into the future.
Will results in Blue be anonymized?
Yes. Blue ensures that all feedback is anonymized, meaning no individual student responses will be identifiable. Summary data will be provided, with no personal identifiers attached. This process upholds confidentiality while allowing instructors to review and act on feedback.
Do instructors have to change anything in their teaching to better use course evaluations via Blue?
Instructors do not need to alter their teaching methods specifically to accommodate Blue. However, the feedback they receive may highlight areas for improvement or affirm successful practices. It’s a great opportunity to reflect on teaching and potentially implement any useful changes based on student feedback.
If you have additional questions or feedback, please contact us!
Project Team
This is an accordion element with a series of buttons that open and close related content panels.
Implementation Team
The project implementation team consists of faculty and staff representatives from the following areas:
- DoIT Academic Technology
- Office of Student Learning Assessment
- Center for Teaching, Learning & Mentoring
- School/College and department representatives (faculty and academic staff)
- Office of the Registrar
- Office of Data, Academic Planning, and Institutional Research
Sponsors
Executive Sponsors
- Wren Singer, Executive Associate Vice Provost for Teaching and Learning
- Tamara Walker, Academic Technology Director and Associate Vice Provost for Learning Technologies
Sponsors
- Nick Curtis, Assessment Director, Office of Student Learning Assessment
- Kristy Bergeron, Learn@UW Associate Director, DoIT Academic Technology