BP.00.012 - Business Practice for Qualtrics Use and Survey Activation

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Table of Contents

History [top]

  • Business Practice Number: BP.00.012
  • Version: 1
  • Drafted By: Peter Mosinskis
  • Approved By: Michael Berman
  • Approval Date: 04/06/2017
  • Latest Revision Date:

Purpose [top]

Describe the process for creation, distribution and coordination of electronic surveys and forms using Qualtrics.

Background [top]

Information Technology Services provides Qualtrics (http://csuci.qualtrics.com) as a self-service tool for the University community to create and distribute electronic forms and surveys, and to gather corresponding data. An efficient, unified practice is important to ensure that forms and surveys can be launched quickly; are compliant with University policies and standard business practices; and are coordinated to minimize survey fatigue and conflict.

Business Practice [top]

Accountability [top]

The Vice President of each division is responsible for the forms, surveys and corresponding data created and gathered by employees (and student employees) of their division (including related auxiliaries). The Provost is responsible for the forms, surveys and corresponding data created and gathered by CI students as part of curricular or co-curricular activities. For the Office of the President, the Executive Director of Institutional Research (IR) is responsible for the forms, surveys and corresponding data created and gathered. The Executive Director of IR is also responsible for coordinating and scheduling of major surveys to minimize survey fatigue and conflict. For University auxiliaries, the Vice President of the division most closely associated with the corresponding auxiliary is responsible (e.g., Business & Financial Affairs for University Auxiliary Services, Student Affairs for Associated Students Inc., etc.)

Applicability [top]

All members of the CI community (students, stateside and auxiliary employees, partners and others) who create or distribute electronic surveys or forms using Qualtrics or other online survey tools.

Definition(s) [top]

Qualtrics: a web-based system for creating and distributing electronic forms and surveys which is procured by Information Technology Services as a service to the campus community (http://csuci.qualtrics.com)

Survey: an electronic research instrument consisting of a list of questions aimed at extracting specific data from a particular group of people, and possessing a defined start and finish date. Surveys fall into two categories:

  1. Major Survey: a survey which is sent to one or more of the following audiences:
    More than 10% of CI students; more than 10% of CI employees, more than 10% of alumni.
  2. Minor Survey: a survey which does not meet the Major Survey criteria.

Form: an electronic document containing editable spaces (also known as fields or placeholders) which is used to submit data to the Form Owner and is not used solely as a survey. Forms may or may not have defined start and finish dates. Examples of forms include event RSVPs; post-event or pre-event workshop assessments; and requests for services or changes. 

Form Owner: the person responsible for distributing and collecting data from the form or survey.

Sponsoring Division: the University division most closely associated with the Form Owner. 

Text [top]

General

Prior to activation or distribution of any electronic form or survey in Qualtrics or any other alternate electronic form or survey platforms:

  1. All Form Owners shall validate whether their survey requires CI Institutional Research Board (IRB) approval according to CI’s IRB protocol, as described on the IRB web site (see Appendix).
  2. All Major Surveys (whether created and distributed using Qualtrics or other online form or survey tools) shall be submitted by the Form Owner using the IR Major Survey Request Form (see Exhibits) prior to their activation or distribution.
  3. All Form Owners shall validate whether their forms or surveys are gathering Level 1 (confidential) or Level 2 (sensitive) information (see Appendix for details on the CSU Data Classification standard). Any forms or surveys gathering or storing Level 1 or Level 2 information shall be submitted via email for review and approval by CI’s Information Security Officer.

Survey activation

By default, all Qualtrics users shall be configured and provisioned with the ability to create & activate forms and surveys.

On an annual basis, all Qualtrics users will be notified via email with information regarding this business practice and their responsibilities.

Master calendar of major surveys

The Executive Director of IR shall maintain a master calendar of Major Surveys. The master calendar shall be published on the CI web site. 

Survey Marketing and Communication

The communication and marketing for major and minor surveys shall be the responsibility of the Form Owner and corresponding Sponsoring Division.

Annual Notification regarding this Business Practice

In coordination with IR, ITS shall send an annual notification to all Qualtrics users regarding this business practice and Qualtrics terms of use.

Exhibit(s) [top]

IR Major Survey Request Form: https://csuci.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_898pRVA5cOAGJzD

CSU Data Classification Standard (in ICSUAM 8065.00 and 8065.S02): http://www.calstate.edu/icsuam/documents/Section8000.pdf

Institution Research Board (IRB) information: https://www.csuci.edu/irb/

Assessment History [top]

DescriptionFrequencyRole AssignedDate Completed
General review of this business practiceAnnual - JulyDirector, IT Strategy99/99/9999
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