• Section 1 - Purpose
• Scope
• Section 2 - Policy
• Section 3 - Procedures
• Part A - Institutional Learning and Teaching Surveys
• Part B - Other Institutional surveys
• Part C - National Surveys
• Part D - Non-Core Surveys
• Section 4 - Guidelines
• Section 5 - Definitions

Section 1 - Purpose

(1) This Procedure specifies the administration, management, implementation and reporting of student surveys ensuring a coordinated, evidence-based approach is used to maximise reliability, validity, and student engagement.

Scope

(2) This Procedure applies to all staff and students at all campuses and lcoations of the University unless excluded in clause (5).

(3) This Procedure applies to all Macquarie University surveys that collect feedback from students for the purpose of quality assurance, enhancement, and improvement regarding their experience of learning and teaching, curriculum, research supervision, facilities and infrastructure, administration and support services, co-curricular activities, and events. 

(4) These surveys are categorised as Core and Non-core Surveys as specified in the Definitions. Core Surveys are:

1. Institutional Learning and Teaching Surveys conducted by the University; 
2. Other Institutional Surveys conducted by the University; and 
3. National Surveys which are endorsed or required by Government departments and/or other external organisations. 

(5) This Procedure does not apply to surveys that are conducted for the purpose of immediate quality improvement or feedback e.g., class-based polls/surveys, or surveys undertaken on ELICOS programs.  

Section 2 - Policy

(6) Refer to the Student Survey Policy.

Section 3 - Procedures

(7) It is an expectation that all University staff and students will comply with this Procedure and act in accordance with their role as described in the Student Survey Policy.

(8) Student surveys will be promoted via University communication channels, which may include email, social media, the University website, the Learning Management and other University systems, in-class promotion, academic staff, and other Offices of the University.

(9) This Procedure is separated into four main parts covering the following:

1. Institutional Learning and Teaching Surveys;
2. Other Institutional Surveys;
3. National Surveys; and
4. Non-core Surveys.

Part A - Institutional Learning and Teaching Surveys

(10) Institutional Learning and Teaching Surveys are required by the University to obtain feedback from students related to their learning and teaching experience to help inform quality assurance, enhancement, and improvement practices at the institutional level.

(11) These surveys are administered by the Office of the Pro Vice-Chancellor (Education).

(12) Staff should refer to the Institutional Learning and Teaching Surveys Standard Operating Procedures for detailed procedures involved with administering these surveys.

(13) The Office of the Pro Vice-Chancellor (Education) works with Business Intelligence and Reporting  regarding the storage and management of survey data.

(14) Student participation in Institutional Learning and Teaching Surveys will be maximised by ensuring that students are given the opportunity to complete surveys during scheduled class time (on campus or online) where applicable.

(15) Where the unit does not have scheduled classes, students will be encouraged to complete surveys via other channels including the University’s Learning Management System.

(16) Students who participate in Institutional Learning and Teaching Surveys will have the option of retaining a copy of their responses.

(17) Student responses in Institutional Learning and Teaching Surveys cannot be removed once submitted.

(18) A Learner Experience of Unit survey will be administered in every offering of all units in each study period. There are two versions of this survey:

1. Learner Experience of Unit Extended (LEUX); and
2. Learner Experience of Unit Standard (LEUS).

(19) The Learner Experience of Unit survey questionnaire to be used will be determined by the relevant Faculty Unit  monitoring processes.

(20) Themed groups of survey items will be available to obtain feedback on specific teaching contexts and strategic priorities in learning and teaching.

(21) Learner Experience of Unit surveys will be delivered in accordance with the Survey Calendar for each Study Period. Exceptions to the schedule may be requested as set out in the Institutional Learning and Teaching Standard Operating Procedures.

(22) Individual staff will be responsible for ordering Learner Experience of Teacher surveys.

(23) All Academic Staff are required to formally evaluate their teaching once per year, as per Section 43 of the Macquarie University Academic Staff Enterprise Agreement 2018 and the Learner Experience of Teacher survey is a tool that  can be  used to fulfil this requirement.

(24) In Study Periods of more than eight (8) weeks duration, the Learner Experience of Teacher survey and other Institutional Learning and Teaching Surveys will not be scheduled during the Learner Experience of Unit Survey period as set out in the Survey Calendar.

(25) Information regarding timing of surveys in study periods other than Session 1 and 2 can be found in the Survey Calendar.

Institutional Learning and Teaching Survey Reporting Standards

(26) There are three levels of reporting for Institutional Learning and Teaching Surveys. These are:

1. Level 1: Individual reports of survey results provided to the staff member whose teaching or unit was surveyed. Level 1 reports provide numerical summaries of scale and nominal survey items and a list of student comments;
2. Level 2a: Compilations of Level 1 results provided to Discipline, Department, School, Faculty, Offices, and  Course authorities. Level 2a reports provide numerical summaries of scale and nominal survey items for each unit within the Discipline, Department, School, Faculty, Office, or Course; and
3. Level 2b: Summary reports of aggregated (pooled) survey responses (scale and nominal items only) for groups of units sharing specific characteristics, provided to Discipline, Department, School, Faculty, Offices and Course authorities on request. As responses are pooled across units, unit convenors and teachers are de-identified in these reports. Level 2b reports may summarise pooled survey responses for units:
   1. in a specific Discipline, Department, School, or Faculty;
   2. in a Course, Major or Specialisation; or 
   3. at specified levels (1000-8000, Undergraduate, Postgraduate).

Level 1 reports

(27) Level 1 reports will:

1. only be issued if there are five (5) or more responses to ensure the identity of students is protected; and
2. include notification as to whether the response sample is large enough to ensure reasonable reliability of the   scale item scores.

Level 2a and 2b reports

(28) Level 2a reports will:

1. only be provided for Learner Experience of Unit surveys; and
2. only include summaries for units in which the number of responses meets the relevant reliability threshold.

(29) Where a specific unit offering does not meet the relevant reliability threshold, the responses from two or more  simultaneous offerings of that unit may be combined in the Level 2a report.

(30) Filters applied to Level 2b reports will not extract unreliable data.

(31) Reporting and reliability thresholds are specified below:

(32) The implementation of Institutional Learning and Teaching Surveys is coordinated and managed by Office of the Pro Vice-Chancellor (Education) in accordance with the following schedule:

Schedule of Institutional Learning and Teaching Surveys

(33) Further information can be found in the Survey Schedule.

Part B - Other Institutional surveys

(34) Other Institutional Surveys are required by the University to obtain feedback from students related to the overall  student experience and help inform quality assurance, enhancement, and improvement practices at the institutional level.

(35) These surveys are administered by Business Intelligence and Reporting and/or other administering Offices across the University as approved by the Office of the Pro Vice-Chancellor (Education).

(36) Business Intelligence and Reporting and other administering Offices are responsible for the storage, security, management, reporting, and delivery of data. Reports on Other Institutional Surveys are available and published on the Business Intelligence and Reporting website and secured portals of the University.

(37) The implementation of the Other Institutional Surveys is coordinated and managed by Business Intelligence and Reporting and/or other administering Offices across the University in accordance with the following schedule:

Schedule of Other Institutional Surveys

(38) Further information can be found in Survey Schedule.

Part C - National Surveys

(39) National Surveys are endorsed or required by Government departments and/or other external organisations. These surveys are administered by Business Intelligence and Reporting.

(40) The purpose of National Surveys is to collect feedback from students to provide robust, nationally consistent performance data on the student life cycle, from commencement to employment, for the Australian higher education sector to help drive quality assurance, enhancement, and improvement practices nationally and at the institutional level.

(41) Business Intelligence and Reporting is responsible for the storage, management and reporting of national survey data and delivery of data. Reports on National Surveys are available and published on the Business Intelligence and Reporting website and secured portals of the University.

(42) Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching survey data is collected by the Social Research Centre on behalf of the Commonwealth Department of Education. Researchers and staff wishing to use Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching survey data must make a request via the Quality Indicators of Learning and Teaching website and follow relevant QILT data protocols.

(43) The implementation of National Surveys is coordinated and managed by Business Intelligence and Reporting in accordance with the following schedule:

Schedule of National Surveys

(44) Further information can be found in the Survey Schedule. 

Part D - Non-Core Surveys

(45) The scheduling of Non-Core Surveys is coordinated through the Office of the Pro Vice-Chancellor (Education).

(46) Non-core Surveys may be approved where data is not already available (refer to the Survey Schedule) and does not impact the timing of existing student surveys (refer to the Survey Calendar).

(47) Staff who wish to run a Non-core Survey must submit the Non-core Survey request form.

(48) If the request is approved, the Office of Pro Vice-Chancellor (Education) will liaise with key stakeholders regarding the best approach for the implementation of the survey.

(49) Non-core Surveys must not be conducted without the approval of the Office of Pro Vice-Chancellor (Education).

Section 4 - Guidelines

(50) Nil.

Section 5 - Definitions

(51) The following definitions apply for the purpose of this Procedure:

1. Core Surveys refers to surveys that are implemented institution-wide and are scheduled on a regular basis in a study period and/or calendar year and are included in the Survey Schedule;
2. Non-core Surveys refers to those surveys that are not implemented institution-wide and that would not ordinarily take place every study period or year but are delivered for the same purposes as specified in Clause 3 and may include student-led surveys;
3. Institutional Learning and Teaching Surveys refers to student surveys conducted by the University which are related to the learning and teaching experience of students. These include but are not limited to Learner Experience of Unit Extended (LEUX), Learner Experience of Unit Standard (LEUS) and the Learner Experience of Teachers (LET);
4. Other Institutional Surveys refers to student surveys that are related to the overall experience of students. These include but are not limited to surveys related to Commencement experience, Libray services and the experience of HDR candidates;
5. National Surveys refers to student surveys that are endorsed or required by Government departments and or other authorised external organisations. These include but are not limited to the Student Experience Survey (SES), Graduate Outcomes Survey (GOS) and the International Student Barometer (ISB); and
6. Student Experience refers to the following activities: learning and teaching experience, curriculum research supervision, facilities and infrastructure, administration and support services, co-curricular activities, and events.