The
SUNY Student Opinion Survey (SOS) 2015
This Spring,
the University at Albany is inviting all our undergraduate
students to participate in the SUNY Student Opinion Survey
(SOS). The SOS has been given to undergraduate students at
all of SUNY's colleges and universities every third year since
1985. This survey helps UAlbany assess various areas of the
student experience at UAlbany, both academic and non-academic,
highlighting the areas where we are doing well, but more importantly,
identifying the areas where we need to improve. We take the
results of the survey very seriously, so participation is
important but voluntary.
For more
information on assessment surveys at UAlbany, you can
go here. For more information about surveys going on in
Spring, 2015, you can
go here. For a complete facsimile of the 2015 Student
Opinion Survey, you can go here.
SOS
FAQs: Frequently Asked Questions about the SUNY Student Opinion
Survey
How
long does the survey take?
The last
time we administered this survey in 2012, most students took
between ten and twenty minutes to complete it, but you may
find that it takes either a bit less or a bit more time than
that.
Will
my responses be kept confidential?
Yes! Your
responses will be kept in strict confidence and never released
in a way that identifies you. We always aggregate (group together)
responses when presenting survey results, and only present
results in terms of percentages or averages.
How
are the data used?
We use
the information to improve our university and the quality
of our programs and services to our undergraduate students.
We need to know where we are succeeding and where we need
to improve. The SOS is one of the most comprehensive instruments
we have, and the only one administered on every SUNY campus.
This year we are also hoping to obtain a large enough number
of responses to enable sharing of program-level data with
leaders in our academic departments. Again, you can be assured
that your responses will be kept in strict confidence and
never released in a way that identifies you.
Are
the other SUNY campuses doing this survey?
Yes. The
SOS is being given to undergraduate students at 25 other SUNY
4-year colleges and universities, so we are also able to use it to compare our progress to that of the other campuses.
What
if I don't have an opinion about something?
You may
not have an opinion about a particular program or service
or facility. If so, there is a "Did Not Use" or
"Not Applicable" option, or you may just leave the
question blank.
How
do you get my Student ID number and why do you need it?
Your e-mail
invitation includes a link to the survey. This link is unique
to you, so clicking on it automatically logs you in to the
survey and inserts your ID number into the survey data set.
This ensures the validity of the survey data -- only real
UAlbany students can take the survey and no one can take it
more than once.
The reason
we need your ID number in the survey data set is so that we
can compare survey responses by a variety of student characteristics
without having to add a great many additional questions to
the survey. These may include factors such as admit type (freshman
or transfer), class year, full-time or part-time, gender,
major, or others. In order to be able to run these analyses,
we simply use your UAlbany ID number to match your responses
to your student data after you take the survey. Your survey
responses will not be added to your official student
record. We assure you again, in the strongest terms, that
your survey responses will never be personally identified
at any time, and your survey responses will be treated with
the highest degree of confidentiality. Thus, while the
survey is not technically anonymous, it is completely confidential.
Who
is administering the survey?
This survey
is administered by ACT (the same
company that runs the ACT exam) under the supervision of UAlbany's
own Office of Institutional
Research, Planning and Effectiveness. ACT uses survey
host "Qualtrix,"
which uses a secure server encrypted to prevent viewing by
third-parties. The survey invitations and reminders really
are authored by Dr. Jeanette Altarriba, UAlbany's Vice Provost
for Undergraduate Education, even though they are sent by
Qualtrix and ACT on her behalf.
SOS
Administration and Timing
The SOS
will take place in the months of March and April, 2015, with
the first survey invitation coming on Wednesday, March 25th.
After this, up to three additional reminders will be sent
to students who have not yet taken it. SOS invitations will
be sent to all undergraduate students at UAlbany who are enrolled
in a degree program, regardless of how many credits they are
taking this term.
SOS
at UAlbany
Here at
UAlbany, our participation in SOS is supervised by our Office
of Institutional Research, Planning & Effectiveness (IRPE).
SOS is part of UAlbany's broader survey assessment plan, which
also includes the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE)
the Student Experience Survey, and a variety of other surveys
on more specialized topics, such as the Campus Center, Residential
Life, Student Activities, Campus Safety, and others.
We realize
that we ask you to participate in a lot of surveys; we know
you are busy and we appreciate tremendously all of your time
and thoughtful responses! In return, we promise that whenever
we ask you to take a survey, the results of that survey will
be shared with all appropriate levels of the campus leadership
so that both your praise and your concerns will be heard and
acted upon. You can find summary reports for some of our most
important campus surveys, including the 2006, 2009 and 2012
Student Opinion Surveys, on our Assessment
Reports page.
If you
have any questions or concerns about your participation in
SOS, please contact Joel
Bloom, IRPE's UAlbany's Director of Assessment and Survey Research.
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