Coordination of University-Level Surveys

In fall 2008, University Council and the Board of Governors approved A Framework for Assessment: Beyond Systematic Program Review. This document outlined a number of priority areas for assessment at the University of Saskatchewan. It also identified several roles for the office of Institutional Planning and Assessment (IPA) including coordination of surveys, dissemination of findings to the general university community, collaboration with colleges and units to develop a survey policy, and maintenance of an inventory of surveys. These guidelines are intended for university-level surveys and do not include polls taken in a class, class assignments involving surveys, evaluations by participants of an event, evaluation of a service by a client at a point of service, or a faculty or student research project.

The Need for Coordination

At the University of Saskatchewan, we use surveys to assess quality, plan for program/service enhancements, and determine the needs of our community and the best way to meet those needs among other reasons. Coordination is necessary to prevent redundancy and participant fatigue, to maximize response rates, and to achieve representative samples. Several documents have been developed by the IPA to support implementation of the Framework.

To access the survey guidelines package and survey schedules, please click here.

Role of the IPA

The IPA has been assigned responsibility for coordinating all university-level surveys. In doing so, the IPA will take on a dual role: to coordinate surveys and to be a key resource for data sharing and exemplary practices in this area. Specifically, the IPA is committed to:

1. Developing and publicizing a yearly schedule of major surveys to be conducted at the University of Saskatchewan.
2. Working in partnership with colleges and administrative units on campus on any or all aspects of the survey if the survey fits within the mandate of IPA and resources are available.

The Need for Cooperation

To help the University of Saskatchewan make the most of the survey information it collects, we need your help. If your college or administrative unit is planning to conduct a survey or you would like assistance with your survey project, please complete either the Survey Project Coordination Form or the Survey Project Service Agreement .

Contact us

Please feel free to contact us with any questions you may have regarding survey projects. ipa_assessment@usask.ca