Survey Administration
Following the survey administration protocol managed the Office of Institutional Effectiveness (IE), SP&A assists individuals and departments within the Division of Student Affairs with designing, building, administering, and analyzing surveys.
Expectations of participating in Surveys
While the goal of SP&A is for data from surveys to be maximally useful for the participating of departments, there are a few expectations of participating in Surveys. These are:
- Active participation in the development of questions: In order to develop questions that would lead to actionable data it is vital that the intention behind the question is well understood. Often times, a dialogue is necessary to properly convey that intention.
- Active participation in the testing of the survey: Prior to any survey launch, SP&A provides a means of testing to all participating departments. These tests are necessary to catch potential errors in question structure, sequencing, logic, and grammar/spelling.
- Active promotion of surveys: Driving student participation to a specific survey must be a collaborative effort, especially for offices who have a limited target audience.
- Completion of Action Plans following receipt of data: With the number of surveys that are administered at the university, it is vital that we limit ourselves to surveys that produce actionable data. As such, at the end of a survey administration, participating departments are required to submit an action plan to detail how the plan to utilize the data gathered from the survey within 90 days of receiving their report.
Cyclical Surveys
To mitigate the risk of survey fatigue, SP&A encourages departments to consider contributing questions to surveys that are administered on a cyclical basis. Aligning data collection procedures with already established methods helps to establish expectations for students about when they will receive surveys, helps to ensure on-going and consistent data collection, and allows for quicker delivery of results.
Below find a list of cyclical surveys with administration timelines, the target audience, and a brief description of the survey. If you are interested in participating in any of the surveys below or would like a copy of previous results, please click the link in the name of the survey to send an email requesting inclusion or to request a report.
Early Campus Experience Survey
The Early Campus Experience survey assesses First Time Students experiences with Welcome Week, Residential Move-in, Panhellenic Recruitment, as well as serving as a resource to collect additional data that may be useful to understand the needs and wants of our new students. This survey is conducted on an annual basis in Early Fall.
Student Support Services Survey (S4)
The S4 survey is sent to all students at the University of Louisville. This is a rare opportunity for our student support offices to ask questions of students that do not use their services as well as students who do. This survey is conducted in a biennial basis in Mid Fall.
The Student Involvement Survey is sent to all students who engage regularly and in a leadership capacity with our Office of Student Involvement (OSI). It serves as an opportunity for OSI to understand the impact that students' involvement has had on the academic and personal goals as well as evaluate OSI's outcomes. This survey is conducted on an annual basis in Early Spring.
The On-campus Experience Survey is sent to all students residing in Campus Housing in the Spring. It serves as an opportunity for our Living Learning and Themed Community Coordinators to ask specific questions of their residents regarding their experiences in the LLC/TCs. It also provide an opportunity for Campus Housing to ask questions of all of their students. This survey is conducted on an annual basis in Mid-Spring.
The TRIO annual survey is sent to all students in our TRIO/Student Support Services program. It serves as an opportunity to assess TRIO students experiences with the program, and inquire about what additional support they may find helpful. This survey is conducted on an annual basis in Mid-Spring.
Point of Service
When requested, SP&A is available to assist with 'point of service' surveys, or surveys that are sent to students who have used a service or resource. Some of our cyclical surveys fall into this category but are conducted on a regular basis.
Ballots and Elections
In addition to surveys, SP&A administers the Homecoming Ballot (mid-Fall Semester) and Student Government Elections (mid-Spring Semester).