Campus Survey Policy

Policy 206

Introduction

1.1 The purpose of this policy is to better manage and coordinate campus surveys. This will reduce survey fatigue among Appalachian State University students, employees, and alumni, as well as improve response rates of surveys that are critical for institutional decision-making purposes.

1.2 By having a central office responsible for coordinating surveys, a survey calendar can be maintained so the campus will be informed of approved survey activity and those conducting surveys can plan for the most optimal timing of their surveys.

Scope

2.1.This policy applies to all faculty, staff and students conducting a campus-wide survey as well as external requests to assist in the administration of an online survey to the campus.

Definitions

Appalachian

Appalachian State University, a constituent institution of The University of North Carolina, with its main campus located in Boone, North Carolina. This includes any officially designated location, program, or activity of Appalachian.

Campus-wide Survey

A questionnaire consisting of one or more items where the target population includes the entire population of members of the Appalachian community, or a subpopulation, or sample thereof, including students, faculty, staff, administrators, and/or alumni.

IRAP

Appalachian’s Office of Institutional Research, Assessment and Planning.

Primary Survey Administrator

The person submitting the online Survey Registration Form to initiate IRAP’s survey review process. This person should be the key contact person for the survey, such as the principal investigator of a research study, a faculty member supervising research by students, or the head of a unit or organization at Appalachian.

Policy and Procedure Statements

4.1 All campus-wide surveys shall be reviewed, approved and coordinated by IRAP before being conducted. IRAP shall also maintain a survey calendar and serve as a clearinghouse for all campus-wide surveys.

4.2 Faculty, staff and students who intend to conduct a campus-wide survey must complete an online Survey Registration Form (see 5.1.2 below) and submit the form to IRAP to initiate the review process at least two weeks prior to the requested survey launch date. IRAP may suggest the elimination of survey questions, combining surveys and/or scheduling surveys to minimize the burden on the Appalachian community.

4.3 IRAP will work with those conducting surveys to define the best target population and identify a sample of that population when appropriate. If IRAP’s assistance is not needed to identify a sample population, the Primary Survey Administrator shall notify IRAP of the survey recruitment methods and, whenever possible, shall provide a data file identifying those included in the sample population.

4.4 IRAP may request a plan from the Primary Survey Administrator for distributing survey results ahead of the survey distribution, especially for surveys that are not faculty or student research for a course or publication.

4.5 Some surveys conducted for research purposes will require Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval. IRAP will notify the Primary Survey Administrator ahead of survey distribution in such event. See Appalachian Policy 216 Human Subject Research Recruitment.

4.6 IRAP may develop internal protocols with further guidance consistent with this policy.