Survey Administration
IAP regularly coordinates and administers campus-wide surveys including:
Results are typically available by Faculty and Program. If you are interested in survey results, please send a request to IAP through the Survey data request form.
Survey instruments, descriptive, and summary reports for current or past IAP-specific surveys can be accessed via the survey links above or through IAP's Borealis Survey Repository.
In addition, as a result of COVID-19, the university has undertaken several surveys to help with operational planning. A repository of surveys is available for internal users through the Institutional Analysis and Planning COVID-19 Surveys Repository. To gain access to this repository, please send a request to IAP through the Survey data request form.
Survey Schedule
IAP surveys are regularly administered according to the the schedule below. For scheduled surveys administered by other campus units, please see the IAP survey calendar (Outlook).
| Surveys | Frequency | Last administration date | Upcoming administration date |
|---|---|---|---|
|
NSSE Target: First-year and final year undergraduates |
Every 3 years | Winter/spring 2023 | 2026 |
|
CGPSS Target: Master's and doctoral students |
Every 3 years | Winter/spring 2022 | 2025 |
|
CUSC First-Year Survey Target: First-year undergraduates (sample of ~2,000) |
Every 3 years | Winter/spring 2022 | 2025 |
|
CUSC Graduating Student Survey Target: Final -year undergraduates (Sample of ~ 3,000) |
Every 3 years | Winter/spring 2024 |
2027 |
|
OUGS Target: Undergraduate alumni |
Every year | 2023/24 (2021 alumni) |
2024/25 (2021 alumni) |
|
SES Target: Undergraduate and graduate (course-based masters/PhD) students (sample of ~10,000) |
Every fall and winter | Spring 2024 |
Fall 2024 (October 21 - November 8, 2024) |
|
Equity Census Target: All students and employees |
Ongoing | 2020/21 |
Ongoing |
|
Canadian Postsecondary Education Alcohol and Drug Use Survey (CPADS) Target: Students (sample of ~10,000) |
Varies | 2021/22 |
2024 survey (November 11 - 25, 2024) |
Survey Management and Review
IAP helps coordinate non-academic research surveys administered to any Waterloo subpopulation per Policy 55. The policy requires that all non-academic surveys, as defined in the Tri-Council Policy Statement (TCPS2) as quality assurance or assessment, administrative, program review, evaluation surveys, etc., targeting a sample of 500 persons or posing higher than minimal risk be reviewed by IAP on behalf of the Survey Advisory Committee (SAC). Surveys conducted for academic research require ethics clearance through the Office of Research Ethics (ORE).
University stakeholders interested in conducting a survey at Waterloo should review Waterloo's survey process outlined on the Survey Administration Process webpage or Flow-chart.
To begin the survey review process, complete the Survey Review Form.
Partnership with the Statitical Consulting and Survey Research Unit (SCSRU)
IAP has partnered with the Statistics Consulting and Survey Research Unit (SCSRU), formerly the Survey Research Center, to develop and administer several campus-wide surveys to students, alumni, faculty, and staff.
The Student Experience Survey (SES), the first survey administered through this partnership, aims to understand students' perceptions of their academic and non-academic learning environments and their experience at the University of Waterloo. These topics are explored through questions about student general well-being, perceived efficacy of various instructional modalities and learning supports, and opinions on various strategic initiatives. Find out more about the survey on the SES survey main webpage.
If you would like help planning and/or administering your survey, please contact SCSRU by email or complete the Survey research services checklist form.