Adler University (“the University” or “Adler”) promotes the strategic, coordinated, and ethical use of surveys as a vital tool for institutional assessment, planning, and continuous improvement. As with all institutional data efforts, survey activity must be conducted responsibly, with proper oversight and in alignment with University priorities and applicable laws.
Contact Office
Office of Institutional Effectiveness and Accreditation
Purpose
This policy governs the development, approval, and administration of surveys targeting Adler students, employees, and alumni, whether conducted on or off campus and through any platform or method, including those requiring Adler credentials, to help ensure data integrity, protect privacy, and reduce redundancies.
Adler has created this policy to:
- Provide centralized oversight of institutional surveys
- Prioritize the distribution of surveys that benefit the broader interests and goals of the University as a whole.
- Promote good survey design, sampling, and administration that conforms to methodological best practice.
- Reduce survey fatigue and unnecessary survey proliferation.
- Reduce the collection of duplicate information from multiple surveys.
- Reduce the number and frequency of surveys administered to the same constituents.
- Promote communication and collaboration between university programs and administrative units with similar data needs.
- Ensure the appropriate dissemination of survey results to internal and external audiences.
- Ensure that survey research is done ethically and respects our community members’ time and attention.
Scope
This policy applies to all University faculty, staff, and students, as well as any external individuals, organizations, or third-party vendors conducting or distributing surveys on behalf of Adler University. It specifically governs all surveys directed toward current students, employees, or alumni of Adler University.
This policy does not apply to:
- IRB- or REB-approved research conducted solely for generalizable knowledge, unless the target population of that research survey includes
Adler University students, employees, or alumni. In such instances, review will focus on scheduling and overlap with existing survey projects. - Course evaluations managed by the Office of Institutional Effectiveness and Accreditation (OIEA)
- Event registration forms, intake questionnaires, and transactional feedback tools (e.g., post-workshop evaluations)
Policy Type
Institutional
Definitions
Institutional Review Board (IRB): University board charged with reviewing, approving, and monitoring student research activities involving human subjects.
Institutional Survey: Survey used to collect data for institutional planning, assessment, program evaluation, and/or accreditation.
Population: All individuals who make up a group of interest. For example, all master’s degree students, or all online students.
Research Ethics Board (REB): Same as IRB above, only for students attending programs via our Vancouver location.
Research Survey: A survey used to collect data for research purposes only. These surveys are not intended to inform policy or decision-making within the University.
Survey Administrator: Individual responsible for the creation, distribution, and oversight of a given survey.
Policy
To ensure the ethical, coordinated, and strategic use of surveys, all members of the Adler community must comply with the following requirements when conducting or distributing surveys that target students, employees, or alumni for
institutional purposes.
Surveys including those intended to support assessment, evaluation, planning, or decision-making must be reviewed and approved by the Office of Institutional Effectiveness and Accreditation (OIEA) prior to distribution. This oversight helps ensure alignment with University priorities, avoids redundancy, maintains data integrity, and protects respondent privacy.
Distribution must be coordinated with the Office of Communications by contacting news@adler.edu or inside@adler.edu to determine an appropriate channel (e.g., newsletter link, email via Qualtrics, etc.).
Surveys must not be sent from personal email accounts or distributed using attachments or non-University-approved platforms.
All data collection tools must comply with privacy laws and institutional data security standards (e.g., FERPA, HIPAA, PIPA).
Survey results must be used responsibly, shared with relevant stakeholders, and— when not coordinated through OIEA—submitted as a summary report to OIEA for institutional archiving.
Failure to follow these requirements may result in suspension of survey access, notification to a supervisor, or other administrative actions.
Survey administrators who are not working directly with OIEA must still follow all applicable University policies
Procedures
- Survey Approval and Coordination
- Submit a Survey Request Form to OIEA including purpose, population, proposed timing, and sample questions or, if available, the full questionnaire to be used at least four weeks in advance of the intended launch date.
- OIEA will review survey proposals for alignment with this policy, existing survey activity, methodological soundness, and relevance to strategic priorities.
- OIEA reviews the request and either approves, requests revisions, or denies the request with a rationale to the requestor within two weeks following form submission.
- If approved, OIEA will coordinate timing on the University Survey Calendar and issue launch authorization.
- Survey Distribution
- If timing permits, survey administrators may choose to coordinate with OIEA to facilitate survey distribution using tools within Qualtrics or Forms.
- If survey administrators are not coordinating with OIEA, they must contact Communications via news@adler.edu or inside@adler.edu to determine an optimal plan for survey distribution (link in a newsletter, email distribution via Qualtrics, etc.).
Compliance
Failure to adhere to Adler University’s Survey Policy may result in disciplinary action, including revocation of survey privileges, suspension of data access, or other corrective measures. Concerns related to survey misuse or unethical data collection should be reported to the Office of Institutional Effectiveness and Accreditation (OIEA). Questions about this policy or requests for clarification should also be directed to OIEA. Individuals who become aware of a violation of this policy are encouraged to notify OIEA promptly.
Implementation
This policy takes effect September 1, 2025. All surveys scheduled to launch after this date are expected to adhere to this policy
Oversight
The Office of the Provost holds ultimate oversight and authority over this policy.
The Office of Institutional Effectiveness and Accreditation is responsible for implementing and enforcing the policy.
Related Documents and Forms
University Survey Request Form