• What is the purpose of the survey?
• Why should I participate?
• How is privacy/anonymity ensured?
• How is the integrity of the survey ensured?
• Who will have access to the survey data statistics (faculty/administration/press)?
• Who will have access to the open-ended responses (faculty/administration/press)?
• Will the open-ended responses potentially be edited/censored/summarized before distribution to the faculty/administration/press?
• Can the source of the evaluations can be traced back to the individual computers from which they were sent? (This may be of particular concern to untenured and junior faculty.)

Additional questions may be E-mailed to pturnipseed@usouthal.edu

What is the purpose of the survey?

The purpose of the survey is to obtain faculty input for setting direction and priorities for the Faculty Senate and to address concerns, where identified, to the University Administration.

Why should I participate?

The greater the participation in the survey, the more confident the Faculty Senate is that we are obtaining a reliable view of faculty opinions and concerns.

How is privacy/anonymity ensured?

All responses are anonymous, and individual information gathered in this survey will be kept in strictest confidence. Responses will be coded and summarized, and the data analysis will be done using the codified data.

How is the integrity of the survey ensured?

The survey is sent to all faculty. During the stated duration of the survey, respondents may go back and revise their answers as many times as they like--possibly during multiple sessions--to be confident of their responses. The mechanisms provided by Survey Monkey (the survey service being used) ensure that no respondent can submit multiple submissions--only the responses of a particular respondent at the survey close are actually used. The statistical significance of the survey is improved with greater participation.

Who will have access to the survey data statistics (faculty/administration/press)?

Once the survey data is tabulated, summary statistics are provided to the Faculty Senate, USA administration, and posted on the USA Faculty Senate: Evaluation Committee website.

Who will have access to the open-ended responses (faculty/administration/press)?

Comments are grouped by topic and provided to the Faculty Senate and USA administration.

Will the open-ended responses potentially be edited/censored/summarized before distribution to the faculty/administration/press?

In the past, the comments provided in the Annual Faculty Survey have been summarized for the purposes of anonymity, clarity and brevity. We will continue to summarize these comments in this way for posting on the Faculty Senate website. An executive summary will be provided to the USA administration along with comments only edited to protect the anonymity of the respondent. These largely unedited comments will be provided to upper USA administrators because it was felt that over-editing might reduce the fervor of some comments and not adequately communicate the writer's message.

Can the source of the evaluations can be traced back to the individual computers from which they were sent? (This may be of particular concern to untenured and junior faculty.)

The combination of using the services of SurveyMonkey, and the excising of any possible linkage (or tracing method) to an individual survey's author (or computer) in the published reports should obviate this concern; mechanical privacy is maintained absolutely.