The Institutional Research and Analytics team is committed to providing reliable data and insights to support informed decision-making throughout the Pitt community. As part of this commitment, our office oversees the administration of a range of surveys to assess and improve the student experience.
The purpose of this guidebook is to help Pitt staff understand how and when to effectively conduct and share student survey results with the larger Pitt community.
Survey Data and Governance
Effective collection and analysis of student data is imperative to ensure the success of our University and the people within it. Institutional surveys are one of the most common and efficient ways to collect and understand student needs at scale.
Collecting student data effectively, however, also requires close collaboration with University partners to mitigate potential negative experiences that students may encounter when being asked to complete institutional surveys. Potential negative experiences students face range from survey fatigue to confusion around what surveys are credible or concern about how their responses will be used.
This guidebook is supported by the University of Pittsburgh Survey Governance Committee with the primary aim of supporting student survey development and data collection via the following goals:
- Increase survey participation and reduce survey fatigue.
- Prevent duplication of data collection, and decrease administrative effort, through improved collaboration.
- Promote survey best practices to ensure high-quality data collection.
- Ensure ethical collection, storage, and distribution of student survey data.
- Ensure various perspectives and needs are represented within institutional-level surveys via committee review.
Survey Governance Committee
Consisting of representatives from throughout the Pitt community, the content of this guidebook is reviewed and updated by the Pitt Survey Governance Committee (SGC).
The purpose of the SGC is to provide perspectives on survey administration from representatives across campuses while improving collaboration and eliminating duplication of efforts.
Current members of the survey governance committee can be found in Appendix A: Survey Governance Committee Members and Selection Process.
Student Survey Definitions
For the purpose of this guidebook, student surveys can be thought of as falling within two broad categories: institutional-level student surveys and programmatic student surveys.
Institutional-level Student Surveys
An institutional-level student survey is an assessment tool used by the University to help inform decision-making at an institutional level.
These surveys consist of a variety of questions, and question types (e.g., Likert scale, open-ended, etc.) that seek to better understand the broad experiences of a Pitt student.
Institutional-level surveys are not inherently tied to specific programs, initiatives, or services. These surveys also involve outreach to many, if not all, Pitt students.
These surveys likely require the collection of potentially sensitive student information and must be administered carefully by specific Pitt faculty and staff.
Programmatic Student Surveys
A programmatic student survey is used to assess a specific program or initiative in which Pitt students participate.
These surveys are likely distributed to a smaller sample of students and primarily focus on evaluation of the program itself.
Please note that Office of Measurement and Evaluation of Teaching (OMET) surveys are administered by the University Center for Teaching and Learning (UCTL) and are considered a separate student survey data collection strategy.
Continue to Office of the Provost Student Survey Data Sharing and Governance Policies