Surveys of students, faculty, staff and alumni are important for collecting information that informs institutional practice, enables ongoing and continuous quality improvement, encourages engagement and enhances institutional effectiveness. Oversurveying, however, can lead to decreased response rates, increased frustration for campus constituents, less than useful information and duplication of efforts.
In the spring of 2022, the university Data Governance Committee formed a subcommittee to review institutional practices around surveying and to conduct a review of best practices from other institutions. The subcommittee included representatives from the Dean of Students’ Office, University Advancement, Marketing and Communications, Human Resources, Research Compliance/Institutional Review Board and the Office of Institutional Effectiveness.
The subcommittee, with full approval of the Data Governance Committee, developed the University Survey Approval and Coordination Guidelines and launched a Campus Survey Coordination Calendar, which is managed by Institutional Effectiveness. The new guidelines were approved by the executive leadership in late 2022 and fully implemented in January 2023.
Questions about the survey process or guidelines can be directed to , please contact Institutional Effectiveness (ie@boisestate.edu) or Shari Ellertson and Mark Fitzgerald, co-chairs of the Data Governance Committee.