Research Survey Guidelines

Policy

UW-Eau Claire faculty/staff working on a research project may send a research survey approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) to UW-Eau Claire students, faculty, and staff by following the procedure outlined below.

Procedure

1. Complete an Institutional Review Board (IRB) application for your study. Plan for the IRB application and review process to take about 4-6 weeks.
   1. The IRB is responsible for implementing policies and procedures that protect the rights and welfare of human subjects in any university affiliated research project.
   2. More information about the IRB and a link to the IRB eform application can be found on the IRB website.
   3. You may not recruit subjects or send surveys until your project is approved by the IRB.
   4. Once your IRB application has been approved, you will receive an email with an IRB approval number.
2. Survey distribution option 1—Distribution to fewer than 1000 students
   1. Go the Student Data Systems site and select the “New Data Request” process. What follows are instructions for completing the form to request your email distribution list:
      1. Request Title—Use “Distribution Email” and a short descriptor for the project, e.g., “Distribution Email-Friendship Categories”
      2. Dept—Select the department name of faculty mentor
      3. Contact Person—List the names of the researchers who can answer questions about the data request and who will use the distribution list. Separate names with a semicolon
      4. Contact Information—Enter the email address of the contacts listed above; separate each email address with a semicolon
      5. Date Needed—Enter the date by which you need the distribution list. Please give a date at least a week away.
      6. Priority of Request—Select “Other”
      7. Purpose of Request— (1) Enter “Email Distribution List”; (2) Provide IRB protocol approval number; (3) give the UWEC email address of the account from which the survey will be sent; (4) give the email addresses of student and faculty researchers with access to the email distribution list.
      8. Have you requested this data previously—Select “No” if this is your first request. Select “Yes” if you have requested a similar list for another research project.
      9. Will you need this data again—Select “No” if you will not be making another request. Select “Yes” if you intend to request a distribution list for the same population for another project.
      10. Identify the population— (1) Give the number of students who wish to send the survey to; this number must be under 1,000. (2) Add any characteristics describing the students you would like to survey, e.g., undergraduates, graduate students, students enrolled during a specific semester, etc.
      11. The remaining fields can be left blank.
      12. Click “Save” to complete your request.
   2. If you have questions about the form, contact Levi Liljedahl, liljedahl@uwec.edu
3. Survey distribution option 2—Distribution to 1000 or more students
   1. Email Academic Affairs the following information:
      1. An abstract describing the study’s importance, purpose/objectives, and methodology including subject population and recruitment process.
      2. The approved study protocol submitted to the UWEC IRB, including supporting documentation (e.g., surveys, informed consent forms).
      3. Indication that the study has been approved by the IRB.
      4. A statement indicating that the study could have some benefit to our campus.
   2. Once Academic Affairs has approved the request, follow the instructions in step 2 above to request the distribution list.
4. Survey distribution option 3—Distribution to faculty and/or staff
   1. Faculty and staff emails can be found in the UWEC directory, department websites, distribution lists, and listserves.
   2. To obtain faculty/staff emails, contact Mike Knuth, Public Information Officer and Director of University Communications, and include your IRB approval number in the email.

For questions about this policy, contact orsp@uwec.edu.

Updated: 10/2/2025

Policy

UW-Eau Claire students working on a research project may send a research survey approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) to no more than 1,000 UW-Eau Claire students by following the procedure outlined below.

Procedure

Complete an Institutional Review Board (IRB) application for your research project and survey. Plan for the IRB review process to take about 4-6 weeks.

1. The IRB is responsible for implementing policies and procedures that protect the rights and welfare of human subjects in any university affiliated research project.
2. More information about the IRB and a link to the IRB eform application can be found on the IRB website.
3. You may not recruit subjects or send surveys until your project is approved by the IRB.
4. Once your IRB application has been approved, you will receive an email with an IRB approval number.
5. If your research survey is part of a class project, check with the instructor to see if the course has an IRB Course Certification. If so, the course instructor is responsible for ensuring that the project is conducted in compliance with IRB policies. The IRB Course Certification number will be used as the IRB approval number.
6. If you have questions about the IRB process, contact orsp@uwec.edu.

Survey distribution

1. Students may send surveys that have been approved by the IRB to no more than 1,000 UWEC students.
2. The faculty/staff mentor will need to request a distribution list of UWEC student emails.
3. Go the Student Data Systems site and select the “New Data Request” process. What follows are instructions for completing the form to request your email distribution list:
   1. Request Title—Use “Distribution Email” and a short descriptor for the project, e.g., “Distribution Email-Friendship Categories”
   2. Dept—Select the department name of faculty mentor
   3. Contact Person—List the names of the researchers who can answer questions about the data request and who will use the distribution list. Separate names with a semicolon
   4. Contact Information—Enter the email address of the contacts listed above; separate each email address with a semicolon
   5. Date Needed—Enter the date by which you need the distribution list. Please give a date at least a week away.
   6. Priority of Request—Select “Other”
   7. Purpose of Request— (1) Enter “Email Distribution List”; (2) Provide IRB protocol approval number; (3) give the UWEC email address of the account from which the survey will be sent; (4) give the email addresses of student and faculty researchers with access to the email distribution list.
   8. Have you requested this data previously—Select “No” if this is your first request. Select “Yes” if you have requested a similar list for another research project.
   9. Will you need this data again—Select “No” if you will not be making another request. Select “Yes” if you intend to request a distribution list for the same population for another project.
   10. Identify the population—(1) Give the number of students who wish to send the survey to; this number must be under 1,000. (2) Add any characteristics describing the students you would like to survey, e.g., undergraduates, graduate students, students enrolled during a specific semester, etc.
   11. The remaining fields can be left blank.
   12. Click “Save” to complete your request.

If you have questions about the form, contact Levi Liljedahl, liljedahl@uwec.edu.

For questions about this policy, contact orsp@uwec.edu.

Updated: 9/22/2025

Policy

The Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs approves study requests by outside researchers (i.e., researchers who are not faculty, staff, or students at UW-Eau Claire or UW-Eau Claire faculty, staff, students who are conducting research related to their status at another institution) for studies to be conducted with faculty, staff, and/or students at UW-Eau Claire. The process involves the UW-Eau Claire’s Institutional Review Board (IRB) reviewing study materials and making a recommendation to the Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, indicating the study meets UW-Eau Claire’s standards for research with human subjects. The Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs decides whether outside researchers may conduct research at UW-Eau Claire.

Procedure

Step 1: Submit an Institutional Review Board (IRB) application at your home institution for the study.

Step 2: Once the study is approved by your home IRB, send the following documents to orsp@uwec.edu with the subject line—Outside Request to Access Email Lists.

1. An abstract describing the study’s importance, purpose/objectives, and methodology including subject population and recruitment process.
2. The approved study protocol submitted to the researcher’s campus IRB, including supporting documentation (e.g., surveys, informed consent forms).
3. Indication from the researcher’s campus IRB that the study has been approved.
4. A statement indicating that the study could have some benefit to our campus.
5. A UW-Eau Claire faculty/staff member who can help recruit subjects and/or help disseminate study materials (e.g., emails, surveys). When contacting them, please be sure to indicate that the UW-Eau Claire IRB is reviewing the study materials and will be making a recommendation to the Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs about approving the study for UW-Eau Claire.

Note: These reviews can take as little as a few days or as long as a few months. The timeframe is dependent on the IRB’s current workload and the Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs’ availability to review materials.

Step 3: After you have the approval letter from UW-Eau Claire’s Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, you may request a set of email addresses, if needed.

• For faculty/staff emails, contact Mike Knuth, Public Information Officer and Director of University Communication, and share a copy of your approval letter.
• For student directory information, follow the process for an external data request on the Student Data Systems website.

For questions about this policy, contact orsp@uwec.edu.

Updated: 9/22/2025