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NACAS Auxiliary Performance & Experience (APEX) - Benchmarked Assessment 

 

Quantify Your Value. The first purpose-built platform to measure, benchmark, and improve the full auxiliary experience.

 

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Select an option below:

 

 

 

Start driving strategic investment with the first comprehensive auxiliary experience assessment platform.

Developed by NACAS in partnership with Sheridan College and expert customer insight teams, the APEX Platform transforms raw experience data into actionable intelligence for leadership decision-making.

APEX is built on a consumer research framework rather than a campus questionnaire, with frontier AI models reading every response so no signal is left sitting in the data. Your report answers key questions: where you are exposed, what is driving it, which areas need attention, and where student spending is bypassing your operation. 

 

 

 

Key Deliverables for Leadership

Strategic Benchmarking

Instantly compare your performance against relevant peer groups (size, type, geography).

Actionable Dashboards

Identify service gaps, justify capital projects, and optimize revenue streams.

Deep Narrative
Insight

Go beyond scores with deep text analysis to uncover true student sentiment and unmet needs.

Cost-Effective Tracking

Modular design captures the complexities of a multi-unit auxiliary portfolio.

Modules & Time Commitment

Select the module(s) of interest.

 

SERVICE AREA CORE (MINUTES) EXTENDED (ADD'L MINS)
Dining
3
3
Bookstores

3

3
Meal Plan
3
3
Card Systems
3
-
Vending
3
-
Housing
3
-
Print/Copy/Mail
3
-
Retail Stores
3
-
Parking
3
-
Secure Your Spot
APEX - Benchmarked Assessment

Price

  • $3,950.00 USD
    • FTE up to 4,000 students
  • $4,950.00 USD
    • FTE 4,001 - 20,000 students
  • $5,950.00 USD
    • FTE above 20,000 students

Interested in referring other institutions to NACAS APEX?

Confirm your referral by contacting info@nacas.org for $1,000.00 USD off of your benchmarking fees!

Sign-Up by October 20, 2026 and save 15%

There are only 50 spots per intake 

Sample Modules

*Sample questions are subject to change

mustafaNalwala
APEX provided Conestoga College with valuable, actionable insights through a highly intuitive and user-friendly reporting platform. What stood out most was the quality of the analysis, the clear and practical recommendations, and the ability to benchmark our results against peer institutions. The insights helped us quickly identify strengths, opportunities for improvement, and priorities that will enhance the student experience and support data-informed decision-making.
Mustafa Nalwala M.Ed.
Associate Director, Student Ancillary ServicesConestoga College Institute of Technology & Advanced Learning
TyroneSmiley
We elected to participate in this benchmarking program as part of our ongoing commitment to continuously improving the services we provide to our students, faculty, staff, and guests who utilize dining and retail services, bookstores, parking, and all auxiliary service units. As auxiliary services continue to play a critical role in the overall campus experience, we are intentionally exploring ways to better align operations, enhance service delivery, and identify opportunities for collaboration across units. This benchmarking experience will provide valuable data and insights to help inform future decision making, assess growth opportunities, and determine how we can more effectively and efficiently leverage each area to support one another while meeting the evolving needs of our campus community.
Dr. Tyrone M. Smiley
Executive Director, Auxiliary ServicesDivision of Finance, Business, & OperationsMiddle Georgia State University

Participating Institutions

Brown University

Centennial College

Central Michigan University

Central Washington University

Conestoga College

Elon University

Florida International University

George Brown College

Georgia Gwinnett College

Georgia Tech

Grinnell College

Humber College

Indiana University – Indianapolis

Middle Georgia State University

Ontario Tech University

Santa Clara University

Sheridan College

Simon Fraser University

Southern Illinois University - Carbondale

St. Bonaventure University

University of Bristol

University of Idaho

University of Lynchburg

University of Manitoba

University of Minnesota Duluth

University of South Florida - Tampa

University of Texas - Austin

University of Texas - San Antonio

University of Utah

University of Victoria

University of West Georgia

Washburn University

Washington State University

Western Connecticut State University

Wilfrid Laurier University

Xavier University

BrandSpark's Background, Value, and Capabilities

  • Proven longevity and credibility: Operating for 25 years as a consumer and market research and awards organization trusted by national brands, institutions, and associations.
  • Nationally recognized credentials and programs: Extensive experience managing high-profile, third-party endorsed programs in Canada and the U.S., covering recruitment, governance, scoring, and public reporting.
  • Purpose-built infrastructure: Proprietary in-house technology and data management systems built specifically for multi-stakeholder research, benchmarking, and licensing programs, powered by frontier AI models.
  • Multi-institution management: Demonstrated ability to coordinate research across multiple organizations while maintaining methodological consistency, comparability, and fairness.
  • Independent and defensible methodology: A neutral third-party standing with established protocols to protect credibility and minimize institutional risk.
  • End-to-end execution: A single accountable partner handling strategy, research design, fieldwork, analytics, reporting, governance, and ongoing management.

Protect the Clients You Have.
Win the Clients You Want.

Through NACAS APEX, you can sponsor independent student-experience research at campuses you serve. With the institution's agreement, you can do the same at campuses you want to serve.

APEX is the NACAS benchmark of campus services, developed with Sheridan College and administered by BrandSpark, a leading consumer insight firm. Institutions run the survey themselves, and every participating campus answers the same questions, so results can be compared across campuses.

Protect

Measure the campuses you serve every year. Slipping satisfaction shows up while there is still time to act, well ahead of a renewal or an RFP, and repeating the survey shows whether students noticed the changes you made.

Win

Sponsor a survey at a prospective campus, where that institution agrees to share its results with you. You see student experience there before you bid. You can also commit to independent APEX measurement inside a proposal, so an institution knows performance will be tracked by a third party for the length of the contract.

Grow

Sponsor a group of campuses and define the benchmark segment you want to understand, by institution size, geography or other variables collected across participating campuses. That shows which parts of the student experience are strong and which are weak in the market you actually compete in, and where your offer may need to change.

 

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Why Apex

Independent. The institution runs the survey using a standard question set that no provider wrote, so leaders get evidence independent of the provider being evaluated.

Benchmarkable. Every participating campus answers the same questions, so results compare directly.

Repeatable. The same questions each year show movement over time instead of a single reading.

 

Cross-service. Dining, housing, the bookstore and campus retail, recreation, transportation and parking, and card services, so you can concentrate on the areas you operate.

Institution-controlled. Each institution owns its own data and agrees in writing before a sponsor sees it. NACAS will not pass results to anyone the institution has not approved, and the same terms are open to every business partner.

Auxiliary Leaders Are Already Paying For This

The spring 2026 pilot drew about six thousand responses across thirty-five institutions. The full launch has just opened, with fifty more institutions expected this fall. NACAS publishes the list of participating institutions, so you can see which campuses are already measuring.

“Valuable, actionable insights… the ability to benchmark our results against peer institutions helped us quickly identify strengths, opportunities for improvement, and priorities.”

- Mustafa Nalwala, M.Ed. · Associate Director, Student Ancillary Services, Conestoga College Institute of Technology & Advanced Learning

Bring us one account you want to protect and one you want to win.

We'll show you where APEX fits. Start with a single campus, a group of campuses, or several years at the same campus. Arrangements covering five or more campuses can be discussed directly.

What You Would See Across Your Campuses

A business partner view of the APEX dining module, built on the same structure institutions receive.

Satisfaction scores tell you students are content. They can’t tell you what that is costing you. APEX is built on a consumer research framework rather than a campus questionnaire, with frontier AI models reading every response so no signal is left sitting in the data. What comes back answers commercial questions: where you are exposed, what is driving it, which accounts need attention, and where student spending is leaving your operation.

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