CalUsource training in the rearview mirror...

Twenty-eight training sessions within 22 workdays, reaching nearly 300 procurement professionals across the University of California (UC) and California State University (CSU) systems, must be some kind of record!

What was definitely record-breaking was your response to the CalUsource trainings, and we are grateful to each participant who completed our quick one-page training evaluation survey at the close of each sourcing (morning) and contract (afternoon) session. Out of a possible 525 respondents, we had a total of 369 responses (200 from UC and 169 from CSU), resulting in an amazing 70% response rate.

Participants gave our trainers, Sara Kayser and Christina Jones, rave reviews on their instructional abilities in the sourcing and contracts modules of CalUsource. 84% of respondents rated them either a 4.5 or 5 (out of 5)! Comments repeatedly cited Sara and Christina’s clarity, energy, enthusiasm, connection to the audience, subject knowledge, relevant examples, ability to answer questions, and classroom pacing.

75% of respondents rated the trainings overall either a 4.5 or 5 (out of 5), with frequent comments on how the sessions provided a good overview of the system, offered an opportunity for hands-on practice, and the helpful use of the “parking lot” to address longer-term issues and unanswered questions.

Despite these accolades, we’re striving to do better. That’s why we take your suggestions for improvement seriously. Your most common concern in the survey was information overload, with many reporting feeling overwhelmed and rushed. We get it – it was an extensive information download in one big dump! It felt that way for us, too…

That’s why we’ve designed the upcoming virtual webinar sessions in a more paced manner – two webinars per month on first and third Mondays, from 2pm – 3 pm. First Monday webinars will delve into Contract-related topics, and third Monday webinars will focus on Sourcing. The odd fifth Monday of the month (April, July, October) will feature Spend, or another special topic, as needed.

Along with these webinars, you’ll receive a News/Updates/Tips communication twice monthly, timed to allow plenty of opportunity for webinar registration and designed to keep you updated on what’s happening with CalUsource without littering your inbox.

There were a small number of respondents who expressed a concern for the state of the software itself. Because a few of our sessions suffered from inadequate training lab bandwidth and experienced some slowdown, certain respondents stated the software did not feel ready for prime time. The good news is that the reports from current users in the field have been the opposite – telling us that the software is agile, responsive and robust.  

Now that all locations are using CalUsource, please make it a point to complete our CalUsource Training Needs Survey, also shared with you in the March 22 edition of the CalUsource News/Updates/Tips. This survey explores your adoption of the tool and requests a self-assessment of your training needs going forward as a user of the tool in the real world.

Thank you for your enthusiastic response to our classroom training surveys – we are hoping for a repeat response level with our latest CalUsource Training Needs Survey. We’ll prioritize our ongoing training strategy based on your responses so please tell us what you want and need!