Thank you for your interest in the Ithaka S+R COVID-19 Student Survey. Below you will find more information on the survey instrument, implementation steps, and process for signing up to participate.
What topics are included in the Ithaka S+R COVID-19 Student Survey?
The survey consists of questions on the following topics: course formats, resources utilized, institutional communications, general wellness, and retention. There is also a set of demographic questions. It can be downloaded here.
When can my institution field the survey?
We are currently signing up institutions to implement end-of-term fieldwork. We recommend signing up to field the survey no later than the first week of December and fielding the survey in the last few weeks of your term or the weeks immediately following the end of your term. A separate instrument for mid-term fieldwork, that you can field in the spring semester, is also available; please email Christine Wolff-Eisenberg at christine.wolff-eisenberg@ithaka.org for a copy.
How can my institution sign up to field the survey?
While this may vary from institution to institution, the individual who most likely will be appropriate for signing up on behalf of the institution will be a provost, dean, or chief officer of student affairs, enrollment management, or institutional research. An individual who is authorized to accept the terms on behalf of the institution can proceed with the agreement. You may want to confer with your institution’s legal counsel to determine if you have the authority to accept terms on behalf of the institution.
If you have the authority to agree to participation terms on behalf of your institution, please click here to review and agree to the terms for this initiative. A member of the Ithaka S+R project team will be in touch within 1-2 business days of when this form is submitted to move forward on next steps.
Can my college or university system or consortium participate?
Yes. We have developed a model to scale up to an entire system or multiple institutions in a consortium at a low cost. Please contact us directly for information and to participate.
What is the cost of implementing the survey?
There is a tiered fee structure based on Carnegie Classification:
- Doctoral/research universities: $6,000
- Master’s and baccalaureate institutions: $4,000
- Associate’s colleges: $2,000
What information does my institution need to provide in order to implement the survey?
There are a few key pieces of information that we will need from the implementation contact at your institution in order to implement the survey, including:
- An approximate timeline for fielding the survey
- The participation incentives, if any, you will choose to offer
- Names of individuals who will sign the invitation/reminder emails
- List of student contact information
- Confirmation that your IT department will be able to whitelist our IP addresses (to ensure that invitation messages are not sent to a spam folder)
- Sub-groups you wish to analyze separately in stratified dashboards (for example, by student demographics, course formats, or course types)
How will I receive results from the survey?
We will provide in-real-time results as they are submitted in both aggregate and stratified format. Each institution that participates will receive three live dashboards of results: one of aggregate findings and two of stratified findings based on selected demographic groups. Once the survey closes, we will provide the final reports as well as the underlying dataset.
How can I maximize the impact of the survey?
Participating institutions may want to enlist Ithaka S+R to analyze their survey findings, present results to campus leadership, and facilitate workshops to help translate analysis into action. We can:
Stratify results. Beyond the two reports of stratified results outlined above, we can provide additional cross-tabs that present findings by student year, major, Pell-grant status, and other demographic characteristics, allowing you to dig into sub-group responses to target service provision and outreach. Additional breakout reports are prepared for a fee of $500 for one stratification item (for example, student year) or $1,000 for a full set of cross-tabs.
Facilitate discussion. We can provide an analysis of the survey results in a presentation and facilitated discussion of findings with campus leadership. Ithaka S+R will provide strategic intelligence on areas of relative strength and weakness and provide institutionally-specific recommendations for improvement. The fee for this engagement is $2,500 for one 60 minute meeting (or two shorter meetings).
Advise on strategy. For many institutions, our survey is just one tool for examining student needs in planning for services and strategy. We can conduct interviews or focus groups, examine additional student activity and outcome data, and hold participatory design sessions. If you are interested in these customized offerings, we will work with you to design the right approach for your institution.
Are you also offering a faculty survey?
Yes. For more information, please see our COVID-19 Faculty Survey FAQs.
Who should I contact if I have additional questions?
If you have any questions, please be in touch with Christine Wolff-Eisenberg, manager of surveys and research at Ithaka S+R, via email (christine.wolff-eisenberg@ithaka.org) or phone (212-500-2369).