Campus Surveys

The information below outlines procedures that faculty and staff should review and follow when creating a campus survey. The Campus Labs survey tool can be accessed through the eWeber portal. For questions, contact data@weber.edu.

Survey Definitions

  • Constituents: Any prospective, current or former students; or university employees.
  • University survey: Sample consists of 100 or more prospective, current or former students; sample consists of 50 or more university employees; or sample is randomly selected from campus constituents.

Survey Approval

All surveys intended for distribution to members or prospective members of the Weber State community must be approved by Institutional Assessment using the appropriate procedures.

Institutional Assessment approval is not required for faculty-supervised survey research that contributes toward students’ academic progress; evaluation of an event by participants; feedback from clients at the point of service; teaching evaluation forms; leadership and management evaluation surveys; or forms collecting information for administrative purposes.

  • Exclusions

    The following common survey types do not need to be submitted for review and approval:

    • Evaluation surveys administered to program participants or service users at the conclusion of the program or service
    • Class projects surveying students only within that class
    • Surveys distributed via social media, listservs or other media through which students, faculty or staff are devising their own sample
    • Surveys to fewer than 100 undergraduates
  • Survey Requests Approval Criteria
    • If the requestor is a student, does the need for the survey fall within the acceptable scope of a class or academic position on campus?
    • If the requestor is a faculty or staff member, does the need for the survey fall within the scope of university needs?
    • Is the purpose of the survey clear and is it explained to the prospective participants?
    • Does the survey provide information useful for planning or improving services?
    • Is the survey well-designed and of an appropriate length? Does it follow sound survey methods and practices? Are the questions easily understood and interpreted?
    • What actions are being taken to ensure the confidentiality of the responses?
    • When will the survey be conducted? What is the optimal timing to ensure it does not interfere with other university surveys and activities?
    • How will the results be used?
    • Will the findings be disseminated to appropriate university audiences? Who will have access to the information and will it help them make better decisions as a result?
    • Has the IRB approved the project, if required?
    • Can the proposed survey be combined with other planned surveys?
    • Does the survey follow university and federal policies for collecting and managing data?

Submitting surveys for review

Student surveys will be approved by an appropriate faculty member. For surveys that require Institutional Review Board approval, faculty must provide documentation indicating the project has been approved or has been submitted to the IRB and is undergoing review. Formal review of requests may take up to two weeks from receipt of materials.

Samples

We will only share campus constituent samples in the following instances:

  • Faculty: If the survey information provides data to inform university decisions OR if the provost has approved the request.
  • Staff: If the survey meets university needs and has an appropriate VP approval.
  • Students: For most classroom projects, University samples are not provided for more student projects, except for projects involving research related to access (veterans, CCEL, etc.) OR for funded research if the project has received approval from the provost, faculty advisor and the IRB.
  • Executive Level: Provided as needed for university decision-making.

Institutional Review Board Approval

Weber State University Institutional Review Board protects the rights and welfare of human research participants involved in research conducted by employees or agents of Weber State University. The IRB ensures all research projects meet federal, state and university guidelines.

The IRB reviews any research projects involving human subjects conducted on WSU property, sponsored by WSU, conducted by employees or agents of WSU or that involves the use of non-public information to identify or contact human research subjects.

IRB Exemptions 

To meet exemption requirements, research must fall within the following categories:

  • The study of some educational practices.
  • Surveys of adult subjects or public figures (non-sensitive topic areas only).
  • Observation of non-institutionalized adults, and minors under specific circumstances.
  • Archival or secondary use of data or specimens with no identifiable info.
  • Demonstration or service projects under the “Social Security Act.

For more information about the IRB review process or for instructions on completing an IRB application, visit WSU’s IRB site.