Policies and Guidelines

Please note that users of survey data collection tools should be aware of the following policies and guidelines:

• WSU Cloud Acceptable Use Matrix: http://security.wsu.edu/documents/2017/11/wsu-cloud-acceptable-use-matrix-2017.pdf.
• WSU Cloud Computing Guidelines: https://security.wsu.edu/documents/2017/11/wsu-cloud-computing-guideline-2.pdf/.
• WSU EP 8 Data Policies: http://policies.wsu.edu/prf/executive-policy-manual-contents/ep8-university-data-policies/.
• Personal information collected through surveys must be privacy protected and kept secure according to University guidelines. Faculty and staff are expected to abide by University guidelines on data collection and stewardship, including WSU’s policies on retention of University data (EP#8). https://policies.wsu.edu/prf/documents/2017/06/ep8-university-data-policies.pdf/.
• WSU Leadership strongly discourages the use of free online survey tools for research and/or scholarly activities.  Researchers using these free online tools place themselves and the university at high risk and these tools should be avoided for such purposes.
• Tools such as Doodle are acceptable for polls that do not collect personal information, such as to determine where and when to hold a meeting or what food to serve at that meeting.
• Use of WSU Survey Tools is permissible for university business only; it is not appropriate to use WSU Survey Tools for any personal, commercial or outside nonprofit projects.
• WSU studies requiring Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval will be eligible to use the system-level Qualtrics license. Leaders of HIPAA-compliant research studies should consult with the IRB for appropriate data collection procedures, at http://www.irb.wsu.edu/.
• Studies requiring a higher level of privacy and security than the system-level Qualtrics license will provide can contract with an appropriate survey provider, such as the Social and Economic Sciences Research Center, https://sesrc.wsu.edu/.