Data, Academic Planning & Institutional Research

Survey Assessment and Review Process

Feedback from our campus community is important to inform activities throughout UW-Madison. Due to the high demand to survey the UW—Madison community and without a formal process in place, the Provost invited the Vice Chancellors to delegate a representative from their units to develop and serve on a new committee to coordinate campus survey efforts. The goals of the Survey Assessment and Review Committee include:

  • Providing visibility to the campus community and assisting in the coordination of surveys in the field at any given time during the year.
  • Reducing duplicated efforts and improve survey response rates.
  • Reviewing surveys that our community members are asked to complete.

This webpage has the following sections:

 

Overview of the survey review process

The graphic describes the survey review process. The first step is to review the submission criteria and the survey calendar for surveys in the field. If your survey does not meet the criteria for needing review, you may proceed with administering it. If your survey does meet the criteria for needing review, submit the materials via the intake form. The Survey Assessment and Review Committee will review your submission. If the committee approves, you may proceed with survey administration, including analyzing and reporting. You will be given a post-survey questionnaire to complete. If the Survey and Assessment committee gives contingent approval or requests a revision, complete the additional materials and request them as submitted. If you have questions at any time during this process, reach out to us at surveys@provost.wisc.edu

Surveys requiring review and approval

Surveys gathering information about institutional functions or operations, or that strategically impact the institution must be submitted for review.

  • Institutional functions or operations include survey data with the intended use of planning, managing, operating, controlling, or auditing university functions, operations, and mission. Some examples include Administrative Quality Satisfaction Survey, biennial transportation survey, and student housing survey.
  • Strategically impacting the institution includes topics covering, but not limited to, campus climate, student success, outcomes, satisfaction, and strategic planning. Some examples include campus climate surveys, Healthy Minds Survey, National Survey of Student Engagement, First Destination Survey, post-graduation plans or exit surveys.
  • Regardless of content, if a survey’s target audience is all students, all faculty, or all staff it must be submitted for review.

If you are unsure if your survey meets any of the criteria, please err on the side of caution and reach out to us at surveys@provost.wisc.edu.

Surveys exempt from review and approval

Surveys that meet any of the following criteria do not currently require committee approval:

  • Those that do not collect information about institutional functions or operations or strategically impact the institution (unless the target population is all students, all faculty, or all staff).
  • Alumni surveys.
  • Research surveys from tenure-track faculty and those with permanent PI status. In general, these surveys are approved for research purposes by the IRB. Note: Surveys with overlapping goals of institutional function or operations or strategically impact the institution do need to go through the survey committee.
  • Feedback surveys administered to participants of events or service users after the program or service. For example, a unit holds an event and asks for participant feedback.
  • Course or teaching evaluations. For example, a CP125 course evaluation.

Survey submission and timeline

Submission form

Units complete a Qualtrics form. A sample of the form is available for download.

Timeline to submit a request

If you are administering a survey in the:

  • Fall semester submit to the committee by July 15.
  • Spring semester submit to the committee by December 15.
  • Summer semester submit to the committee by April 15. 

We understand surveys come up on shorter timelines and the committee will work to fit into the approval process.

Survey calendar

Surveys approved by the Survey Assessment and Review Committee are shown on the calendar.

Survey Assessment and Review Committee

The committee provides a written report to leadership twice a year. Current members include:

  • DAPIR—Bethany Crowell and Sara Lazenby.
  • Division of Enrollment Management—Cori Splain.
  • Division of Teaching and Learning—Regina Lowery.
  • University of Wisconsin Survey Center (UWSC)—Jennifer Dykema.
  • Finance and Administration—Paul Seitz.
  • Human Resources—Lucien Gerondeau.
  • Student Affairs—Ning Sun.
  • Office of Strategic Diversity Planning and Research—James Yonker.
  • Office of the Chancellor—Adam Kindschy.