Survey Research at Queens College
As part of our evaluation research activities, the Office of Institutional Effectiveness (OIE) routinely designs and fields surveys to assess progress on college-wide goals. We also assist with all aspects of program, departmental, and grant-funded survey projects, including instrument design, construct validity, sample creation, administration, analysis of responses and summaries of results (subject to availability and the existing survey schedule).
See the OIE survey schedule here.
OIE Support
Program Assessment and Student Success Initiatives
The OIE uses a platform called SurveyMonkey to field surveys for program evaluation, needs assessments, and large or complex student success projects. Here’s how we can help:
- OIE can review existing survey instruments or help you create new ones.
- OIE can create the list of the population to be surveyed (census or random sampling).
- OIE can field a survey on your behalf, which can be beneficial for several reasons, such as assuring students that their instructors cannot see their responses.
- OIE can keep you informed of your survey’s progress (e.g. response rates).
- OIE can provide a summary of the survey results following the close date of the survey. Special analyses, such as results by demographic or academic characteristics, require more time to complete (~2-3 weeks).
- De-identified survey data can be provided upon request.
- If incentives are offered, OIE can randomly select the appropriate number of winners for you. You will be responsible for purchasing the incentives, contacting the winners, distributing the incentives, and completing any administrative work regarding the incentives.
To request OIE survey assistance, send an email to qc.oie@qc.cuny.edu with answers to the following:
- Which department/program is making the request?
- What research question(s) will the survey address?
- Who is the target population?
- How will the survey results be used and disseminated?
- What is the time frame of your project?
- What type of survey assistance do you need?
IMPORTANT NOTES
(1) From planning to reporting, the amount of time a survey project takes will vary depending on the scope of the project and its target population. Generally, OIE holds a series of planning meetings with the PI to gather information on the project’s purpose, audience, and timeline. After survey implementation, the results will be analyzed and presented within a report for informed decision making. Survey projects that support student success, program development, learning assessment, or strategic plan implementation take precedent.
(2) Please contact the OIE before attempting to create a survey so that the methodology can be discussed ahead of time. Department chairs and program directors may see our Program Assessment Survey Template or our Alumni Outcomes Survey Template for examples of appropriate question items and answer options.
(3) We request that programs and departments please keep us informed of surveys fielded to the QC community. The OIE regularly fields its own surveys to students, faculty, and staff, and this information will help us avoid survey fatigue and low response rates, which can negatively affect important projects at the College.
(4) No one outside the OIE may access/use the OIE SurveyMonkey account because sensitive student data is incorporated into the software. However, all QC members have access to Microsoft Forms, which is similar to SurveyMonkey in almost every regard.
Other Projects
Smaller assessment projects may be fielded without OIE assistance and oversight. Microsoft Forms is part of the Microsoft Office 365 family of products available to the QC community, and can be used to create custom surveys and polls. The platform offers automatic Excel integration, Microsoft Teams sharing, multi-language forms, FERPA and ADA compliance, conditional branching, anonymous submissions, automatic summary charting, reporting dashboards, and more.
For surveys not related to a program assessment project (e.g., a course poll, a workshop interest form, etc.), the OIE can help you learn how to use Microsoft Forms, help you create a questionnaire or template, and/or review your questionnaire to improve its validity and reliability. To request this type of assistance, please send an email to qc.oie@qc.cuny.edu with answers to the following:
- What are the main questions the survey or form will address?
- Who is your target population?
- When will you start using the form?
- What type of assistance do you need? (e.g., questionnaire creation or review, help with Microsoft Forms)
Note: The OIE receives a high volume of requests. Please give us at least a 3-week lead when requesting our assistance.
If designing your own survey:
- Be sure to review our Best Practices in Survey Research, as good data only comes from good methodology.
- Be reminded that all researchers seeking assistance in recruiting college members for an IRB approved study must submit a request to the Study Recruitment Review Committee.
Here are some helpful resources on Microsoft Forms:
Study Recruitment of Queens College
To assist faculty with their research, connect students to faculty scholarship, and to ensure that the QC community is not over-surveyed (i.e., to avoid survey fatigue and dropout), the Study Recruitment Review Committee (SRRC) reviews all requests to recruit QC participants for IRB approved studies.
Researchers interested in recruiting from the QC community must submit their requests to the SRRC here:
Please note that requests for recruitment can only be made after a study has received IRB approval. If SRRC approval is granted, the study will be posted to the QC Opportunities to Participate in Research website, which is promoted regularly to QC students via newsletters and other announcements. Queens College does not allow researchers to survey our students directly because the college regularly fields it owns student surveys. In cases where the study population very specific, researchers will be directed to the chairs of the relevant departments to coordinate study recruitment in partnership with them.
Survey Projects
QC Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Survey
Implemented in 2022 and fielded bi-annually to all active students, faculty, and staff, the QC DEI Survey is a trend study designed to track over time, and overall, whether or not progress is taking place. Survey items are informed by (a) the 2021-2026 Strategic Plan and its goals for DEI, (b) an analysis of QC’s results from the 2019 COACHE survey by gender and racial background, and (c) the literature on measurement of DEI-related variables, including sense of belonging, microaggressions, and barriers to college completion.
Queens College members may access the OIE reports below in their QC M365 account.
The First Term Student Survey is a long-standing OIE project that helps us gauge how well the College is meeting its goals in supporting students’ transition to college, connecting new students to QC resources, and helping new students connect with one another. Research shows that the quality of students’ experiences and their level of engagement in their first semester of college can have a substantial impact on students’ persistence and sense of belonging. The OIE surveys new students every fall and the findings are shared with multiple academic and administrative departments to inform early college programming and support.
End-of-Program Assessment Surveys
These surveys help department chairs and program directors understand their students’ experiences in relation to program learning goals and advisement, professional development opportunities, DEI and community building, and obstacles to program completion. Faculty may see our Program Assessment Survey Template for examples of appropriate question items and answer options.
CUNY Cap and Gown Survey
This CUNY survey asks graduating students about their educational and employment plans, career preparation, satisfaction with their college experience, and their QC values-aligned curricular and co-curricular experiences. All students that apply for graduation gain access to the survey in CUNYfirst. The OIE promotes the survey via targeted student mailers, and incorporates the data into our reports on students’ career outcomes and assessments of the Queens College mission.
QC Course Evaluations
Every fall and spring semester, the OIE administers online course evaluations to all students via CoursEval (an Anthology platform). Learn more about Course Evaluations here.
Needs Assessment and Satisfaction Surveys
The OIE routinely administers needs-assessment and student satisfaction surveys in collaboration with the college’s student support units. These surveys provide data to support the continual improvement of QC services.
Non-Returning Student Survey
Every summer, the OIE fields this survey to all students who were enrolled in the previous fall semester but did not re-enroll in spring or the following fall. The survey asks former students about their experience at QC and their reasons for leaving.
CUNY Student Experience Survey (SES)
The CUNY SES is a university-wide sample survey of undergraduates administered every two years. It provides data on student demographics, socio-economic status, work experiences, course availability, experiential learning opportunities and reasons for transfer. The OIE incorporates findings from the CUNY SES into various reports. Learn more about the CUNY SES here.
First-Destinations Survey
Every fall, the OIE administers the First-Destination Survey to the previous graduating cohort (e.g., the Class of 2023). This survey asks graduates about their career activity six months out from graduation, including types of employment, starting salary, and further education. The OIE merges the survey data with other alumni outcomes data (National Student Clearinghouse, LinkedIn, HireQC, and CUNY Cap and Gown data) and reports the findings to the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE). By combining multiple sources, we were able to obtain outcomes information on 64% of the undergraduates and 70% of the master’s graduates from the Class of 2023.
Program Alumni Surveys
When more targeted information is needed, the OIE assists academic programs in surveying their alumni. These surveys provide information on how well alumni are succeeding in their chosen field, which can inform improvements to programmatic advisement and career preparation. Faculty may see our Alumni Outcomes Survey Template for examples of appropriate question items and response options.
QC Employee Experience Survey
The QC Employee Experience Survey asks staff about their experiences working at QC, their career goals and professional development opportunities, and departmental climate and support. The survey is fielded to all employees not included in COACHE surveys.
COACHE Survey
The Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education (COACHE) survey asks tenured and tenure-track faculty about satisfaction across various areas of faculty life including teaching, scholarship, service, academic leadership, governance, and work-life balance. While the survey itself is not fielded by the OIE, the OIE assists in interpreting the findings and in fielding follow-up surveys to faculty.
Learn more about the 2023 COACHE Follow-up Project here.
