Research, Data Collection, and Survey Policy

Purpose: 

Willamette University is deeply committed to the production and dissemination of knowledge consistent with legal requirements, ethical standards, and established best-practices. Willamette also recognizes the cost in time and attention that surveys impose on students and employees, and that overuse of surveys may lead to reduced completion rates and effectiveness of survey instruments. This policy outlines requirements and guidelines for collecting data, conducting research, or circulating surveys that target Willamette University employees or students as research subjects. 

Definitions Related to this Policy:

Research means any process by which a question is posited and a method of data collection defined by which the question can be answered.

Research Subject means any person formally affiliated with Willamette University as students or employees, including faculty and staff, who might be invited to be a source of data in a research project.

Response Contributors means any person formally affiliated with Willamette University as students or employees, including faculty and staff, who might be invited to complete a survey, questionnaire, interview, or other form of individual data collection.

Survey refers to any method of collecting data that solicits responses from a population of people.

Willamette Community Members means Willamette employees, including faculty and staff, students, volunteers, alumni, or others who are a research subject or survey participant by virtue of their relationship with Willamette.

Policy: 

1. General Policies:
   1. All Research conducted by persons affiliated with the University or involving University community members as Response Contributors or as Research Subjects is required to occur in compliance with Willamette University Institutional Review Board standards and guidelines.
   2. Any and all data collection or Research that would involve the participation of University students or employees, including faculty or staff as Response Contributors or as Research Subjects must have formal, written permission from the Office of the Provost before being carried out.  Exceptions to this policy exist only as clearly indicated below in Section 3.
2. Use of Formal Willamette University Communication Systems - Use of institutional communication structures or systems (e.g., contact information; email lists; Willamette Today) to solicit responses or participation in Research is not permitted without formal, written approval from the Provost, except where explicitly exempted in Section 3.
3. Data Collection and Research Using Willamette University Subjects
   1. Research involving Willamette Community Members as Research Subjects and carried out by faculty of the university in furtherance of their professional Research program, or when the Research occurs as a formal component of a course or other research-and-learning opportunity (e.g.,summer REUs) is allowed without need of Provost approval when:
      • The Research solicits participation in a non-intrusive manner and allows for voluntary, “opt-in” self-selection;
      • The Research targets a reasonably small sub-population of the Willamette community (or, conversely, the Research does not involve collecting data from significant sub-populations, like “all students”); and
      • The solicitation of Research Subjects does not come into conflict with other institutional procedures or imperatives (e.g., institutional surveys).
   2. Research involving Willamette Community Members as Research Subjects that is carried out in partnership or affiliation with any external faculty or professionals requires formal approval from the Provost. Permission will be determined using considerations outlined in Section 3.a and Section 3.c.
   3. Research conducted independently by students that involves Willamette Community Members as subjects must be approved by the Provost and meet the following criteria: 
      • The Research must be conducted via an organizational mechanism that is associated with and endorsed by the University as part of its educational mission (e.g., Presidential Scholarship, Senior Capstone Project, Independent Study);
      • The Research must be formally supervised by a faculty member;
      • The Research solicits participation in a non-intrusive manner and allows for voluntary, “opt-in” self-selection;
      • The use of Willamette Community Members as Research Subjects does not come into conflict with other institutional procedures or imperatives.
   4. Research by Unaffiliated or External Professionals - Research involving Willamette Community Members as Research Subjects and carried out by persons who are not faculty or students of  Willamette University is not permitted, except where formal permission is granted by the Provost. Exceptions will be uncommon, and will be based on consideration of:
      • The professional qualifications of the person(s) proposing the Research;
      • The extent to which the proposed work contributes to or advances the educational mission of the institution;
      • The merit and perceived value of the Research to the Willamette community;
      • The degree to which solicitation of community members is not intrusive;
      • The degree to which community member participation is self-selective and voluntary;
      • The extent to which the proposed Research risks obstructing any other data-collection necessities of Willamette University;
      • Any additional factors or considerations deemed relevant by the Office of the Provost.
   5. The university may retain external vendors to conduct Research on behalf of the university to further university operations.  Provost approval is not  required in this circumstance. However, all such Research should be planned and conducted in consultation with the Office of Institutional Research to ensure that ethical standards and other institutional requirements are met by the researchers and the Research plan.
   6. Research or assessment obligations formalized in grant proposals but not otherwise clearly covered in Section 3 should be conducted in consultation with the Office of the Provost. 
4. Survey Distribution to the Willamette Community - Survey solicitations on campus are prohibited except when formally approved by the Provost or in cases delineated below. This applies to use of both formal systems (such as an email distribution list) or open-call means (such as social media surveys; posters with QR codes). 
   1. Exceptions include:
      • Units within the campus do not need permission to carry out targeted, voluntary-participation surveying of their participant audience(s);
      • Post-program evaluation Surveys delivered to program participants do not require approval (e.g., workshops or seminars);
      • Informal methods of Survey evaluation used by course instructors that target course participants in order to evaluate instruction do not require approval;
      • Class-based Research projects that rely on narrow, targeted solicitations and that use voluntary self-selection do not require permission, as long as they do not utilize University communication systems (like email).
   2. Additional exceptions may be approved by the Provost and will be uncommon.  The Provost will consider, among other factors:
      • The degree of intrusion of the proposed solicitation;
      • The breadth of distribution;
      • The consistency of the Survey with Willamette’s educational mission;
      • The urgency of the Research question to be answered with Survey data.
5. Unanticipated Cases or Circumstances - Any data-collection or Research scenario not clearly covered in this policy must receive formal approval from the Office of the Provost prior to being carried out.
6. Student Publications> - This policy does not prohibit student publications, like The Collegian, from soliciting reader responses using their own channels of communication, such as asking for opt-in responses via their website, their print publications, or their social media sites

Effective Date: June 13, 2024
Responsible Person/Primary Contact: Associate Provost of Institutional Research
Responsible University Office: Office of Institutional Research