Purpose
The purpose of the large-scale survey coordination process is to support the collection of high-quality, useful survey data, and to maintain a record of all large-scale surveys planned for a given semester/year to prevent over-surveying any given population on campus. A “large-scale survey” is any survey that is intended to be administered to one or more full populations of the College, including St. Olaf students, staff, faculty, alumni, emeriti/retired employees, and parents of current students, OR significant subgroups (10% or more) of any of these populations. Specifically, we aim to ensure that:
- Institutional and leadership needs for high quality data and information, gathered directly from institutional constituents, are relevant and sufficient to assess institutional goals and priorities;
- Survey results are shared with the community as appropriate;
- No single group or set of constituents is over-burdened in any given year with multiple requests for survey or questionnaire completion in fulfilling institutional, leadership, scholarship, pedagogical, and student needs; and that
- Survey projects align with the college mission
To view our survey database, click here.
Survey Coordinating Process
Note that the following activities are not considered surveys for this purpose, and you do not need to notify the SCT: Submitting a Survey Proposal Before you notify the Survey Coordinating Team of your planned survey, review the survey schedule to determine if the information you’d like to collect is already covered by one or more planned or recent surveys. You may be able to partner with the individuals or offices administering these surveys to collect the data you need (recent results from surveys administered through IE&A can be found on their home page). You may also use the annual survey list to determine an appropriate timeline for your survey administration. For timing purposes, you may also wish to consult the current academic calendar for potential dates to avoid such as finals week, academic breaks, Quiet Week, etc. If there is not an existing survey that meets your needs: Do I need IRB approval? Most survey projects will require at least a Type I IRB review. If the people being studied include individuals who are not current St. Olaf students or employees OR findings may be shared outside St. Olaf (including with a third-party organization administering the survey, if applicable), you will need to undergo at least a Type II IRB review. Visit the Institutional Review Board (IRB) website to learn more. Your Survey Planning Form and accompanying materials may be submitted at the same time as your IRB materials and reviews of each will occur simultaneously. 2023-24 Survey Coordinating Team Members
The Survey Coordinating Team (SCT) should be notified of all large-scale surveys before administration, unless listed among the exceptions in the flow chart below.
You must be logged in to post a comment.