The USyd Business School has stopped using the data intensive assessment program Cadmus after a decision made by the eTools committee in Semester 2 last year.
Cadmus is an assessment platform that allows universities to monitor students whilst they complete their assignments, alongside a variety of other data points including the time spent on the task, number of sessions, the total words added/pasted/removed, the times of first access and save, and final save and submission, the most common country it was completed in, and the number of resources accessed.
A University spokesperson told Honi Soit that no units are currently using Cadmus.
USyd was still listed as a trusted partner of Cadmus last week, amongst other Australian universities — including the University of Melbourne, University of Newcastle, Edith Cowan University, University of Tasmania, University of Western Australia, University of Adelaide, RMIT University, University of Southern Queensland, Western Sydney University, and the University of Canberra — and some international institutions.
After being asked by Honi about their continued inclusion despite ending the trial, a University spokesperson said that “As we no longer have a license with Cadmus, we’re asking them to update their website accordingly.”
As of April 2, USyd is no longer listed on the Cadmus home page. Edith Cowan University and Western Sydney University have also been removed. Honi contacted ECU and WSU, but they declined to comment on whether they still used Cadmus.
The University had been using Cadmus since 2021, initially in the Business School and the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.
2023 SRC President Lia Perkins and other members of the eTools Committee raised concerns about Cadmus in Semester 2 last year, but a decision had been postponed.