Learn more about data management and results

Institutional Analysis and Planning (IAP) is the Information Steward for university Equity Survey data, as per Policy 46. The “Information Steward” is responsible for keeping and protecting information that is collected, and for ensuring that it is destroyed when it is no longer needed. IAP will manage survey data in consultation with the Secretariat, the Equity Office, with the Equity Data Advisory Group. 

The survey data will not include any information that could personally identify anyone who completed the survey. Data will not be transferred to any other format, except through summary reports that describe overall results and trends.

Survey data will be initially collected and securely stored on a Canadian server operated by Qualtrics.com. After each planned phase of data collection, responses will be downloaded to a UW secure server with multi-factor authentication and firewall protection (and permanently deleted from the Qualtrics server).

Survey data will be coded and stored in a secure data environment requiring multi-factor authorization to access. A limited number of individuals will be authorized to access the data, subject to Data Confidentiality and Data Sharing Agreements, plus Office of Research Ethics approval, if relevant (i.e., for research purposes). Individual records collected will be maintained until outdated, or required to be deleted by law, whichever is earlier.

As other survey versions are planned, survey results will be stored on the internal UWaterloo server until outdated (i.e., superseded or obsolete).

Survey responses received in paper or PDF format will be transcribed to an electronic format on the secure server. Then the paper or PDF will be destroyed.

Survey results will be reported in summary form. The data tables and reports resulting from the analysis, where cell sizes are too small (with fewer than five respondents per demographic group), will suppress such data through random rounding or regrouping at a higher level of aggregation to eliminate the possibility of identification.

Protecting your identity is our first priority. Even though you will receive a personalized email link, multiple measures are in place to ensure that no one links your responses to your name as you complete this survey. Only authorized staff will have the ability to link your responses to other administrative data for analysis (please see section “Results” for examples of the types of analysis that might be performed). Your responses will never be connected to you as an individual. Below are the procedures that are in place to protect your identity:

1. When registering at the University of Waterloo as either a student or an employee, individuals provide personal information that is regulated by the notice of data collection and is used by the institution in a protected way (see Policy 46) to inform administration, programming, support, planning, and evaluation activities. These administrative data systems (QUEST, Workday) are the starting point for generating any list of contacts for surveys that Waterloo conducts, including this equity survey. 
2. Most members of the Waterloo community (students and employees), will receive a unique, personalized link to complete the survey using the Qualtrics survey software (for alternatives see step 5 below). These links are automatically generated from existing student and employee email lists (see notice of data collection). Only the individual receiving the link will be able to use it to access the equity data survey and they will be able to continue  to access the survey until they have completed their responses and are ready to submit it in October. 
3. No authentication will be required of survey respondents, when they enter their responses in Qualtrics
4. The survey does not use internet protocol (IP) addresses or other information which could link your participation to your computer or electronic device. The respondent’s computer or device will not be associated with their responses to the survey. Masking the IP address through the use of a virtual private network (VPN) will not impact the respondent’s ability to initiate and complete the survey. 
5. Paper and PDF surveys will also be available. The randomly-generated unique “Activation codes” will be printed on each paper/PDF survey will be used to enter responses into the survey database. 
6. If you would like to participate in an alternate format, such as paper or PDF, please email this request to equitysurvey@uwaterloo.ca. You will be provided with a return envelope to send the survey to Institutional Analysis & Planning (IAP). 
7. A designated person in IAP will generate pseudo-IDs for everyone listed in the existing administrative data systems. These pseudo-IDs are random identifiers that replace personal identifiers such as your name and email address to protect your privacy during analysis. This pseudo-ID will be exclusively used by different data analyst(s) for the purpose of creating a “matched data file” by adding a subset of other variables from administrative data systems to the equity data to facilitate conducting specific analyses. No individual will ever have access to both the pseudo-ID and the matched data file. 
8. In the case of the Indigenous identity data, designated staff from the Office of Indigenous Initiatives will be the primary owners of this data and will delegate responsibility for data management to IAP.

If you experience discrimination, prejudice, or systemic barriers, you may choose not to disclose some aspects of your identity to others, to avoid additional negative experiences. While equity data is needed to help tackle discrimination, prejudice and systemic barriers in our University community, individual experiences with inequity can lead to some mistrust of who will be able to access the data and how it will be used. The University has made every effort to involve all relevant groups in developing the survey, and it is committed to ensuring that the data is collected, stored and analyzed with peoples’ privacy as a top priority.

Ultimately, it is your decision what personal information you choose to share.

The Equity Survey is completely voluntary and members of the University community will be invited to participate/update their information regularly. Individuals have complete control over how much information they choose to share and are free to add or remove information when invited to complete survey updates.

The Equity Survey was developed by the Equity Office and Institutional Analysis & Planning (IAP), in collaboration with the University of Waterloo Data Equity Advisory group (Advisory group) which is made up of students and employees with lived experience and/or expertise in equity issues and related data collection. This development process included acknowledgement of the need to build trust and confidence in the collection and use of the Equity Survey data, and guided the development of the survey and data usage processes.

Only authorized staff in Institutional Analysis & Planning (IAP) will have access to non-identifiable survey data. These staff members will analyze and report the results, and have signed a data sharing and confidentiality agreement meant to ensure secure and appropriate handling of data. All analysis related to the collected equity data will be strictly managed using pseudo-IDs and without unnecessary use of any potentially identifiable information.

We expect that our first status report will be available by late Fall 2021, allowing the University to begin to address identified issues and meet our equity goals.

After the initial report, synthesized summary reports and relevant dashboards will be available to the campus community regularly, and requests for data and analysis will be managed through written Ethics and Data Sharing approvals according to the request.

To understand how different groups may be affected, this equity data will be linked to administrative and academic records. For example, to determine the relationship between a particular group at the University and participation in a program or service, we need to compare the community that is participating with the wider community as a whole. Your non-identifying survey responses may be linked to other administrative data using a pseudo-ID, and will be used only for evaluation and research purposes to help improve our services, programs and activities. Only summarized (i.e., aggregate) results will be reported to ensure that no individual student or employee is identifiable. Your individual choice to participate will not affect your standing at or relationship with the institution in any way.

Only the data that is relevant to any particular analysis will be matched and kept in the database to prepare reports.

The only exception in terms of identification, is analysis related to adjusting for salary anomalies. In order to proactively address equity gaps, the University is committed to engaging in cyclical reviews to investigate where salary inequities may exist, including but not limited to gender-based, racialized, and Indigenous inequities. In this case, once the salary anomaly analysis is completed using an anonymized matched data set, a file containing only a list of IDs and salary adjustments will be provided to Human Resources to process without disclosing the specific reasons/rationale for individual increases.

Any and all requests for data will be subject to applicable federal and provincial laws, and University policies and guidelines.

The initial data gathering will take place in June 2021 and paused October 31, 2021. Status reports will be provided to campus as data is available (late fall 2021 and Spring 2022). 

The survey results will be used to help the University, Faculties, and Academic Support Units understand the current makeup of the campus community. Results will help us understand how to improve access and representation of equity deserving groups, and to increase participation and benefits from the programs and services that are on offered. The goal is to create a more equitable campus which includes spaces, programs, and supports for equity-deserving groups. Summarized results will be reviewed by the Equity Data Advisory group to provide guidance on how to report and share the results, as well as provide a framework on practices to support meaningful change.

The initial overall summary results will be made available online. The initial report(s) and dashboards will include summary information on the overall institution. It will, for example, help provide understanding how the University of Waterloo reflects the broader community and the equity deserving populations in the programs and services offered on campus.

Survey results will be reported in summary form. The data tables and reports resulting from the analysis, where cell sizes are too small (with fewer than five respondents per demographic group), will suppress such data through random rounding or regrouping at a higher level of aggregation to eliminate the possibility of identification.

An initial report is anticipated to be available by late Fall 2021, with anticipated annual reporting after that. Requests for additional data or analysis can be directed to equitysurvey@uwaterloo.ca