Comet Survey Collaborative

Purpose

The Comet Survey Collaborative is an interdepartmental group entrusted with enhancing the University's ability to collect, analyze, and use survey data for decision making, program planning (academic, co-curricular, extra-curricular), and continuous improvement efforts. Its work is supported and authorized by the University's Vice Presidents for Information Technology, and Student Affairs; the Dean of Undergraduate Education; the Vice Provost for Global Engagement and Dean of Graduate Education, and the Vice President and Chief of Staff. The collaborative is led by OISDS' Director of Administrative Assessment, Melissa Ray.

UT Dallas affiliated employees and/or groups (e.g., departments, divisions, units) who plan to survey UT Dallas students about their learning and/or university related experiences, are strongly encouraged to submit their survey to the Collaborative for review prior to collecting data.

Survey Review

Although the Comet Survey Collaborative does not approve surveys, we can provide an endorsement that indicates that the proposed survey aligns with best practices in survey construction, uses data collection and dissemination methods that consider the privacy and confidentiality of students, and is likely to generate data that can provide insights into student learning, development, and/or experiences at UT Dallas. Survey reviews are conducted by at least one OISDS staff member and 1-2 members of the CSC.

To submit your survey for review, please complete the Survey Review form and attach a copy of your survey as a word document or pdf. Please submit surveys at least 4 weeks prior to the expected start date. Once your survey has been submitted, reviewers may reach out to you with clarification questions. You will receive an email from OISDS if revisions are needed for an endorsement. After revisions have been made, please resubmit a copy of your survey using the form. You will receive notification of your endorsement via email. Please contact Melissa.Ray@utdallas.edu with questions about the survey review process. Survey research studies must also be submitted to the UT Dallas Institutional Review Board (IRB). Please contact HSP@utdallas.edu to determine if your project does or does not meet the criteria of research.

Benefits of the CSC Survey Review

• Identify the best possible timing for survey administration to increase response rates.
• Receive support from CSC members. This includes insights about advanced techniques to maximize platforms like Qualtrics, advice on question development, and suggestions for survey administration.
• Prevent duplication of effort and survey fatigue. Specific topics and areas of interest may be collected in existing instruments administered by other offices.

Student Survey Calendar

The Student Survey Calendar contains the estimated survey start and end dates of university-wide surveys, surveys of larger groups of students (e.g., all graduate students, all students in their first year), and surveys endorsed by the Comet Survey Collaborative.

To add a survey to the calendar, please complete the Calendar form. New surveys (surveys that have not been previously distributed to UT Dallas students) must be submitted for survey review before being added to the calendar. Updates to existing surveys are excluded from this requirement. To make changes to the dates of a survey, please resubmit the calendar form with the new dates. When submitting new requests and updates, please allow 3-5 business days for processing.

Comet Survey Collaborative Members

Members meet monthly to discuss topics related to surveying students, share about upcoming surveys, and coordinate survey disseminations.