2019 Survey Technical & Consent Information
All participants are encouraged to review the survey project technical and consent information below.
The myGVSU Climate Survey 2019 is administered for GVSU by Qualtrics, LLC., based on the consulting work of Rankin & Associates, Inc., in 2011.
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Alternative & Accessible Formats Contacts for those Experiencing Discomfort |
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For more information please contact: Shontaye Witcher, Director |
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GVSU community members are invited to participate in a survey of students, faculty, staff and administrators regarding institutional climate. The results of the survey will provide important information about our climate and will enable the University to improve the environment for learning, living, and working. |
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Participants will be asked to complete an online survey via a personal link provided in your GVSU email. Participation is confidential. Email addresses will be immediately uncoupled from all data submitted. Participants are asked to answer questions as openly and honestly as possible. The survey will take between 10 and 15 minutes to complete; most will complete in less than 10 minutes. If not completed entirely, participants may save and return to the survey before NOW EXTENDED TO DECEMBER 1, 2019, at 12:00 a.m. (EST) by using the original link to the survey provided in your GVSU email. If participants misplace the initial email invitation, you may email [email protected]. Otherwise, two (2) rounds of email reminders will be sent to non-responders and will include the personalized link. Please note that participants can choose to withdraw responses at any time before submitting answers by contacting Abigail Higham of Qualtrics, LLC., via email at [email protected]. The survey results will be submitted directly to a secure server where any computer identification that might identify participants is deleted from the submissions. |
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If necessary, you will be able to save an incomplete survey and return to it. To save, click the "SAVE" button and then close your browser. To return to your survey, click on the link in your email. The link will direct you to the last complete page. Once you have submitted the survey, you will not be allowed to return. |
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All those who complete the survey will have the chance to enter a prize drawing for:
*If the combined faculty and staff response rates reaches 60% or more, two (2) additional $2,000 tuition grants will be awarded to students. Winners will be notified and announced in December. |
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Given the intent for local application of findings for assessment and improvement efforts, this project has been determined not to be covered research as defined by the federal regulations through administrative review of the Institutional Review Board (IRB) [807614-1] at Grand Valley State University on September 15, 2015. This designation still applies to the 2019 myGVSU survey. While requesting non-research designation, the project has attempted to uphold many human subject research standards including: outlining a project protocol, uses for data and plans for reporting results, and recruitment and selection procedures, requiring informed consent, identifying physical and psychological risks, ensuring for confidentiality and anonymity, and implementing data security and protection procedures. For questions regarding this designation, you may contact the GVSU Office of Research Compliance and Integrity at [email protected] or (616) 331-3197. A copy of the determination letter can be obtained by email at [email protected]. |
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There are no anticipated risks in participating in this assessment beyond those experienced in everyday life. Some of the questions are personal and might cause discomfort. In the event that any questions asked are disturbing, participants may stop responding to the survey at any time. |
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Employees who experience discomfort are encouraged to contact:
Students who experience discomfort are encouraged to contact:
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The results of the survey will provide important information about our climate and will help GVSU in our efforts to ensure that the environment is conducive to learning, living, and working. Previous survey results have been used to inform important university activities and initiatives. |
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Participation in this questionnaire is voluntary. Individuals who decide to participate may skip questions or select “Not sure” to bypass required questions (except for the first positioning question). Individuals will not be identified and only group data will be reported (e.g., the analysis will include only aggregate data). No data will be reported if responses are less than 10. Participants can choose to withdraw responses at any time before submitting answers by contacting Qualtrics, LLC., at 800.340.9194. Refusal to take part in this assessment will involve no penalty or loss of student or employee benefits. |
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Data collected on this survey is for non-research purposes. In the event of any University publication or presentation resulting from the assessment, no personally identifiable information will be shared. Confidentiality in participating will be kept to the degree permitted by the technology used (e.g., IP addresses will be stripped when the survey is submitted). No guarantees can be made regarding the interception of data sent via the internet by any third parties, however, to avoid interception of data, the survey is run on a secure server which has the highest levels of security reliability and performance provided by a state-of-the-art SSAE-16 (Statement on Standards for Attestation Engagements No. 16) compliant facility. After the survey closes on NOW EXTENDED TO DECEMBER 2, 2019 AT 12:00 A.M., Qualtrics, LLC., will transfer a secure electronic data file, without any identifiable information, using Citrix ShareFile, which employs SSL/TLS protocols with high-grade encryption (no less than 128-bit encryption), a keyed hashed message authentication code, and data storage for transfer in a SSAE 16 Type II (SOCI), SOC2, ISO 27001 accredited data center. This secure electronic data file will be sent to GVSU Project Lead Dr. Jesse Bernal, who will receive and store the data file in a secure server for analysis. Qualtrics, LLC., will perform the data analyses and generate the preliminary report of the findings. At GVSU, the data will be maintained in a password-protected folder on the L: drive maintained by the Division of Inclusion and Equity at GVSU. Only Dr. Bernal and Philip Batty in GVSU’s Institutional Analysis, or their designees, will have the password to access this file. The data will be kept for one year after the close of the survey on the Qualtrics, LLC., server; and indefinitely on the GVSU server. The initial analysis will not report any group data for groups of fewer than 10 individuals that may be small enough to compromise confidentiality. Instead, the report will combine the groups to eliminate any potential for demographic information to be identifiable. Any additional analysis conducted by the University will maintain these confidentiality protocols. Please also remember that participants may skip most questions or select “Not sure” to any question or questions, except for the first question. |
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Strengths and Limitations & Interpreting Results |
Surveys provide a cost-effective way to collect a broad range of data (e.g., attitudes, opinions, values, beliefs, experiences) from demographic groups consistently across multiple locations. With a large sample, surveys have the potential to generalize and gain a representative picture of the attitudes and characteristics of a population. Surveys can also provide greater confidentiality than other data collection efforts, like focus groups. Standardized questions provide fixed responses which support tabulation and comparisons among groups, while open-ended questions provide an opportunity for respondents to describe experiences in their own words. When interpreting survey results, it is important to understand that a survey's ability to generalize a population can also be a drawback, so researchers should use the response rate and sample size, along with other information, to determine if the results are representative for the studied population. Because participants had the choice of whether or not to respond to the survey, self-selection bias is possible insofar as an individual's decision to participate may be correlated with their traits or experiences, which also affect the study's findings. That is, people with strong opinions or negative experiences may have been more apt to participate in the study. This could make the sample non-representative. |
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General questions concerning this project should be directed to: Dr. Kathleen VanderVeen, Ph.D. Data analysis and reporting questions (data analysis process and confidentiality guarantees in data reporting, etc.) may also be directed to: Dr. Jesse M. Bernal, Ph.D. |
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