CHAPTER TWO

ACADEMIC AFFAIRS

290	Institutional Planning and Analysis
290.1	Policies on Institutional Surveys
290.1.1	Objectives
	These institutional survey policies establish the source of official data and means for designating surveys as institutionally sanctioned or “official” surveys. The purpose of the following policies is to provide for a systematic, consistent procedure to respond to data and survey requests from both external organizations and units within the campus community. In particular, students, faculty, and staff will know when a survey is official, so that they should respond to help shape campus decisions. In addition, administrative units will know where to direct inquiries and when official surveys are scheduled.
290.1.2	Statement
	The University regularly encounters two major kinds of surveys. Those that seek aggregated data about Cal Poly – such as the total number of students enrolled, or proportion of full-time faculty. Requests for aggregated data tend to come from organizations off campus, such as the media, federal agencies and publications that rank colleges and prepare guides for prospective students and parents. Those that seek to gather new, statistically meaningful data directly from individual students or other members of the Cal Poly community (and that typically is not available in campus databases). While the data for these surveys are collected at the individual level, the results are compiled in categories pertinent to the study. The Office of Institutional Planning and Analysis (IP&A) responds to requests for aggregated enrollment and related data. Annually, IP&A completes and posts the Common Data Set, developed by universities nationwide to cover answers to the most commonly asked questions. An important exception is the U.S. News and World Report survey, for which Cal Poly prepares a complete response. IP&A coordinates with other campus offices to obtain their input as needed. Requests for data to be collected from individual students and other members of the campus community (including alumni) are more complex, primarily because of the need to respect each individual’s privacy (as mandated by FERPA for students) even though the study will not report individual responses. Also, these requests also can involve significant staff time and other resources, particularly when the data are not available in existing databases and can only be obtained by surveying students and others directly. The issues associated with administering surveys to campus community members are related to, but different from, Human Subjects Committee review of research-based surveys. The Office of Institutional Planning and Analysis coordinates the designation and administration of official surveys of campus individuals with the advice of a university-wide committee, the Institutional Survey Administration Committee (ISAC).
290.1.3	Institutional Procedures and Guidelines for Surveys of Individuals
	This policy applies to requests to survey individuals from within Cal Poly (including its auxiliaries and other affiliates such as the Alumni Association) and from external organizations, including mandated surveys. Official surveys are administered to a broadly-defined group of individual students, faculty and/or staff at the college, division or campus level using campus lists and distribution systems – e.g., in residence halls, in multiple classes across the campus, by U.S. or campus mail, by email, or on the web. Departmental or individual classroom surveys and membership surveys by student clubs who use their own lists are exempt from review. This policy does not apply to short, ad hoc requests for input from users of a service, such as feedback on a visit to the library or health center or users of a particular computer lab, but does apply if a campus service provider decides to seek systematic input from a cross-section of the campus community about a particular service or program. Campus offices that conduct official surveys routinely, with established methodology, may continue such surveys on a repeating basis after noting them on a multi-year master calendar in accordance with this policy. Specific procedures and guidelines for surveys of individuals have been developed by the Office of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. They may be viewed at: http://www.ipa.calpoly.edu/

Reference

· Date approved by the President: TBD

· Office responsible for implementation: Office of Institutional Planning and Analysis

· Date when the policy is to be reviewed and by whom (where stipulated):

· Sunset clause (where stipulated):

· Related University Policies/Documents/Manuals/Handbooks: “Institutional Procedures and Guidelines for Surveys of Individuals: Office of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs.”

· Any laws, regulations or codes of practice which should be referred to in conjunction with the policy: U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, Code of Federal Regulations, TITLE 45 - PUBLIC WELFARE; PART 46 - PROTECTION OF HUMAN SUBJECTS.