Student Affairs Research Unit Practices to Inform and Protect the Confidentiality of Survey Participants

All participating students will be informed:

1. of the purpose of the assessment or research project
2. of the expected duration of participation
3. by whose authority the assessment or research project is being performed
4. of any benefits to UCD students which may reasonably be expected
5. who to contact for answers to pertinent questions about the project and the rights of participating students
6. how they were selected
7. that the results will be used internally and may be shared externally in aggregate form
8. where they can obtain a copy of the results of the project
9. that their responses will be confidential

What is meant by confidential?

Survey responses to questionnaires are a special type of communication protected in the following ways.

• First, at the design stage of each assessment or research project the potential benefits of the results are weighed against both the intrusion required to collect responses and the possible harm resulting from a breach of confidentiality, no matter how unlikely.
• Second, once collected, responses are stored in a restricted environment accessible only to office staff knowledgeable about the importance of confidentiality. Typically, this is a password-restricted computer environment.
• Third, responses are not reported whereby a survey respondent could be identified or the data furnished by or related to any particular person could be identified.
• Fourth, individually identifiable responses are shared outside the office very rarely and then only with University professionals with student-record access clearance or reseach analysts who agree to adhere to these standards.

General Statement
Disregard for these standards by office staff will be cause for disciplinary review and may result in dismissal.

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3/19/01