VCOM Institutional Policy and Procedure Manual

VCOM Policy and Procedure

Policy #U023

large employer or educational institution, VCOM protects the privacy, as well as the valuable time of employees and students by prohibiting the unbridled use of surveys on campus. All surveys must adhere to guidelines set forth by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), the VCOM Institutional Review Board (IRB), and any other relevant College, state or federal guidelines/regulations. If a survey contains any portion that has been copyrighted or is the intellectual property of another party, the survey may be subject to approval by said party. In such instances, documentation showing copyright approval must be obtained and submitted with the Survey Request Form. Process for Survey Approval Those internal or external entities or individuals wishing to survey members or prospective members of the VCOM community must first seek approval. Approval must be granted by the President, Provost, and the Campus Dean. If the survey will solicit information from more than one VCOM campus, approval must be obtained from each Campus Dean. In the case of surveys developed for the purposes of research, if the President, Provost, and Campus Dean(s) approve, the survey must then be approved by the Institutional Review Board. Employees or students wishing to conduct a survey that is covered by this policy must complete and submit the Survey Request Form and appropriate documentation for approval. The form must be submitted at least one month prior to the desired implementation date. Certain annual surveys have been pre-approved by the President, Provost, and Campus Deans and do not require repeated approval unless the surveys are modified in any manner from the version that was originally approved. Such surveys include solicitation of information from faculty and staff for the standing committees of the institution for the purpose of achieving the work of the committee. Examples of such surveys include those conducted by information technology, the library, facilities, and faculty/staff development to assess the needs of the faculty, staff, and students. Surveys from state licensing bodies, national accrediting bodies, AACOM, the Department of Education, or other external organizations may be required to be completed and submitted, the data offered for submission must be completed and submitted with approval by the Provost and President. Approval is not required for (a) the current course evaluation process used for continuous quality improvement or teaching evaluation forms (end-of-course or end-of-rotation surveys), (b) evaluation of a pre-approved event by administration, or (c) polls to coordinate meeting times. Often the data one is seeking may already exist in the College Outcomes Report or Annual Report, which can be found on the VCOM website. Before submitting a survey request, please verify that the information has not already been posted. If the data needed is not already posted, proceed with submitting the Survey Request Form. Privacy Acceptance of authorization to administer a survey establishes an obligation on the part of the survey administrator to use these data responsibly, including not distributing the data to others in or outside the College. 2.2.1 2.2.2

VCOM Policy on Solicitations, Surveys, and the Use of College Outcomes

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