1. Regulation Statement

Any person (hereafter referred to as Applicant) proposing to administer a survey to ECU students, faculty, staff or alumni on University property and/or using University resources must obtain prior approval from the Survey Review and Oversight Committee (SROC). A request for approval should be submitted to the SROC through the ECU Office of Institutional Planning, Assessment and Research (IPAR) and must identify the individual Applicant who will be responsible for the survey administration and complying with this regulation. Surveys administered where the survey population is at or below the departmental level or a sample size not to exceed 200 are exempt from this approval process. Other exceptions and information about the approval process are outlined in the Standard Operating Procedure (linked to above in Additional References).

2. Rationale for Regulation/Purpose

The purpose of this regulation is to minimize survey fatigue due to such factors as survey volume and redundancy, to maximize response rates and survey quality and to ensure privacy and protection of humans in research by providing a central clearinghouse for internal survey administration.

3. Who Needs to Know this Regulation?

Any Applicant, whether or not affiliated with the University, who is proposing to administer a survey to ECU students, faculty, staff or alumni on University property and/or using University resources is subject to this regulation.
Deliberate failure to adhere to the policy regulations may result in the suspension of survey privileges and other penalties that may be appropriate. Violators of the survey policy must receive written approval from the Associate Provost of IPAR prior to the reinstatement of survey privileges.

4. Survey Review and Oversight Committee (SROC)

To implement this regulation, the SROC was formed under the authority of the Associate Provost of IPAR to review and approve surveys administered to faculty, students, staff or alumni on University property and/or using University resources.

4.1 Survey Review and Oversight Committee membership will include at least one representative from each of the following:

1 Student Affairs
2 Library Services
3 University Advising
4 Academic Affairs (two representatives, must include one from health sciences discipline)
5 Institutional Planning, Assessment and Research
6 Faculty Senate
7 Administration and Finance
8 Research, Economic Development, and Engagement
9 Student Government Association
10 Staff Senate
11 Institutional Review Board

4.2 Responsibilities of the Committee

4.2.1 Work with researchers to improve response rates and reduce survey fatigue among the target population by providing non-duplicating samples, where applicable.

4.2.2 Develop a university-wide schedule of surveys to increase participant's completion and to minimize where possible duplication and saturation.

4.2.3 Require, as appropriate, the following practices:

4.2.3.1 Considering complementary methods for obtaining data including the use of focus groups and interviews.

4.2.3.2 Combining surveys when possible.

4.2.3.3 Exploring the feasibility of adding ECU specific survey questions to those surveys required by the University of North Carolina System Office (UNC-SO).

4.2.3.4 Using existing data to satisfy or complement Applicant data needs.

4.2.3.5 Complying with any and all privacy laws.

4.2.3.6 Making results of completed surveys available to the academic community.