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1. Surveys that address all faculty, staff, and/or students within the University
2. Surveys that are aimed at a broad subset of the population (e.g. first-year student population)
3. Surveys covering a variety of topics (e.g. use and satisfaction with various university services) which utilize survey software.

IV. DEFINITIONS

Refer to Rowan University Technology Terms and Definitions for terms and definitions that are used in this policy.

V. POLICY

1. Any person, (now referred to as Survey Administrator) proposing to distribute a survey to the Rowan community must submit a completed Survey Schedule Request Form (SSRF) to the Office of IERP prior to engaging in survey activities under the scope of this policy. The SSRF requires the following information:
   1. Identification of the individual acting as Survey Administrator who will be responsible for survey administration activities as well as compliance with this policy (and all other applicable policies). Students administering research surveys will also identify the faculty advisor designated as principal investigator on the SSRF.
   2. Detailed population/sample size description when requesting email addresses for members of the Rowan community. Principal investigators requesting email addresses to administer census surveys will not be fulfilled. (Students needing help should discuss sampling methods with their faculty advisors.)
   3. Copy of the survey questionnaire
2. To ensure confirmation of requests for specific calendar dates and to schedule timely production of sample frame email lists we recommend Survey Administrators submit the completed SSRF at least eight weeks prior to survey launch date.
3. Administering an institutional survey establishes an obligation on the part of the survey researcher to use the data responsibly, including not distributing the data to others in, or outside the university, unless the researcher is an authoritative source for and an authorized distributor of the data and the recipient is authorized to receive the data.
4. Survey Administrators for institutional surveys may also be asked to share survey data and reports with the Office of IERP upon request.
5. IERP staff members serve as honest agents in administering Rowan University's survey policy as it pertains to research surveys.
6. Survey administration oversight by the Office of IERP does not supersede the policies and procedures of the Institutional Review Board (IRB). If a survey research project is subject to review by the IRB, proof of IRB approval is required before the Office of IERP will schedule the survey and provide access to email addresses. IRB approval is generally not required for surveys conducted to evaluate or compare programs, practices, curricula, methods, or outcomes for use solely by the university.
7. Office Of IERP Policy Support
   1. The Office of IERP will make available a university-wide schedule of surveys to minimize oversampling and help improve response rates. It is the responsibility of the Survey Administrator to review the survey calendar prior to submitting the SSRF. The Office of IERP conducts important surveys throughout the year to provide analytical support to departments, colleges and the university at large. As such the Office of IERP may require Survey Administrators to reschedule efforts to ensure adequate response rates to priority institutional surveys.
      ALL applicable surveys must appear on the survey calendar.
   2. IRT approved Qualtrics as the online survey software to be used for surveys covered under this policy. Rowan faculty, staff, and students as well as researchers from other institutions are prohibited from using any other online survey software tool when surveying the Rowan community. The Office of IERP will provide access to Qualtrics through its website. Survey Administrators are responsible for activating and distributing surveys using Qualtrics only after receiving confirmation of launch date from the Office of IERP. Qualtrics software is for academic teaching or research (including institutional) purposes only, and licensing explicitly excludes any use of the software for commercial use, including commercial and government-sponsored research. Due to the vetting and approval of Qualtrics through IRT, researchers conducting government-sponsored survey research on constituents of the Rowan community should include the purchase of a separate Qualtrics license when preparing their budgets. 
      Consultants or other third-parties hired by Rowan University to survey the Rowan community must contact Rowan University's Director of Information Security to ensure compliance with all relevant security and data policies.
8. The Office of IERP will maintain a survey repository documenting institutional survey questionnaires and reports. Survey Administrators should review questions currently being asked of the Rowan community, as well as published reports, prior to planning any new survey initiatives to eliminate duplicative data collection activities. A request for the addition of new questions to institutional surveys should be directed to the appropriate Survey Administrator.

V. ATTACHMENTS

1. Attachment 1, Related Policies

1. Institutional Electronic Surveys

1. The University provides Rowan-licensed survey software for research-related and administrative self-service electronic surveys. It is important to use only Qualtrics, IRT’s approved software package, as other survey products may generate email that will be identified by Rowan systems as spam or other malicious email. The Office of Student Life has licensed Baseline for its own use and only its use.

2. Compliance with all other Laws and Policies

1. Surveys must comply with all other applicable University policies and state and federal laws, including the General User Password Policy and Acceptable Use Policy

2. The survey service may not be used for personal or commercial gain.

3. Users will not spam or use other forms of unsolicited mass communication.

3. Eligibility and Access

1. The University provides Rowan-licensed Qualtrics software for research-related and administrative self-service electronic surveys.For information about accessing that software, go to rowan.edu/download. The use of other tools, which may not work as expected, is not authorized. For example, large numbers of emails from unapproved vendors like SurveyMonkey may be blocked by University resources as spam.

2. Eligibility and access to Rowan-licensed Qualtrics is limited to the Rowan Community.

3. Student surveys are limited to two active surveys. Faculty may request additional active surveys on behalf of students for academic purposes. Employees have unlimited active surveys. The number of emails are limited by university policies for email usage.

4. Responsibility for Content/Content Ownership

1. Each survey has a primary survey owner.  

2. The owner of a survey is responsible for content posted or distributed through the software.

3. The survey owner is subject to the normative rights and obligations in the Rowan community as expressed in the University policies, rules and regulations.

4. Use of this service excludes pornography, commercial use and confidential information as outlined in the Acceptable Use Policy.

5. If sensitive data is to be collected, or if you are unsure if your data is sensitive, please contact the Information Security Office. Rowan community members of the School of Osteopathic Medicine should review the policy Protection of Sensitive Electronic Information which applies to that school.

6. Contact the Institutional Review Board for approval regarding research.

5. Support and Service Availability of Applicable Services

1. In order to provide service improvements and maintenance, Survey Application Administrators have access to all accounts and content in Qualtrics.

2. Support will be provided by normal IRT processes at https://support.rowan.edu

3. Request for a survey sample should be requested at https://support.rowan.edu.

4. Training will be available on request at https://irt.rowan.edu/services/training/index.html

6. Data Archiving

1. Survey owners are responsible for archiving their data to other media prior to the expiration of their Rowan accounts (either expiration of access of the individual to Rowan resources or the expiration of a particular survey in the appropriate software). Rowan University is not responsible for archiving data.

2. Administering an institutional survey establishes an obligation on the part of the survey owner to use, store, protect and archive the data responsibly, including not distributing the data to others in, or outside the university, unless the survey owner is an authoritative source for and an authorized distributor of the data and the recipient is authorized to receive the data.

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By Direction of the CIO:

Mira Lalovic-Hand,
SVP and Chief Information Officer

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