Feedback from our campus community is essential for guiding activities across the institution, and surveys are often an effective way to collect that information. To ensure we don’t overburden students, faculty, and staff with too many surveys, a review, approval, and coordination process for institutional surveys has been developed.
Institutional surveys requiring review, approval, and coordination
Institutional surveys of current students, faculty, or staff generally require review, approval, and coordination by the Institutional Survey Review Committee (ISRC) if they will be sent to 500 or more individuals.
However, the following types of institutional surveys are exempt from submission and committee review:
- Alumni surveys.
- Post-event or post-service feedback surveys.
- Course and teaching evaluations.
- Surveys solely for academic research, which are generally approved by the IRB.
This new institutional survey review process is not meant to hinder academic research or interfere with the essential functions of the university, schools, colleges, divisions, or departments. Instead, it aims to ensure that campus surveys are focused, efficient, and designed to support meaningful operational impact.
Additional information and questions
The Institutional Survey Review Committee web page has more information, including pre-survey considerations and a complete description of the process, including how to determine if your survey should be reviewed.
If you have questions, please reach out to surveys@provost.wisc.edu.