Surveys

Smith College participates in a variety of research consortia, conducting surveys of students, faculty, alumnae and parents on a wide range of subjects. The data collected through these surveys is used to inform policy, support decision making and track progress. In addition, we regularly collect data on student learning outcomes.

Populations that are regularly surveyed include admitted applicants, incoming first-year students, currently enrolled students, graduating seniors, alumnae, faculty and parents.

Admitted Student Questionnaire (ASQ)

  • Administered each spring to all admitted students, whether or not they enroll at Smith.
  • Topics covered include demographics of admitted students, importance of college characteristics, college selection process, sources of information about college and financial aid.

CIRP First-Year Survey

  • Administered every other year to all entering first-year students.
  • Topics covered include demographics, self-reported abilities, activities and goals/plans of first-year Smith students.

Survey of New Students (SNS)

  • Administered every other year to all entering first-year students (alternates with CIRP)
  • Topics covered include high-school experiences (learning style, engagement, and preparation), self-assessment, college application behavior, expectations for college, and long-term education and life goals.

Cycles Survey

  • Administered in spring (opposite ESS) to a random sample of 1/3 the student population.
  • Topics covered include satisfaction with student life and campus resources, harassment and discrimination and self-reported progress.

COFHE Enrolled Student Survey (ESS)

  • Administered in spring (opposite Cycles) to a random sample of 1/3 the student population.
  • Topics covered include student demographics, student debt, parental educational attainment, sources for advice, student activities, academic challenges and skills acquired at Smith.

Global Perspectives Inventory (GPI)

  • Administered to first-year students during the summer and to seniors upon graduation as part of the senior survey.
  • Topics include intercultural competence, perspective taking and cultural sensitivity.

CORE Alcohol and Drug Survey

  • Administered every other year in the spring (opposite NCHA) to a random sample of 1/3 the student population.
  • Topics covered include availability, use, and consequences of drugs and alcohol on campus.

National College Health Assessment (NCHA)

  • Administered every other year (opposite CORE) in the spring to a random sample of 1/3 the student population
  • Topics covered (similar to the CORE surveyI include drug and alcohol use, sexual activity, wellness and other health behavior issues.

Retention Study Web Survey

  • Administered to all students who withdrew from Smith in the past 10 years and to a control group of all currently enrolled sophomores and juniors.
  • Topics covered include reasons for leaving, likelihood of returning, education after Smith and overall satisfaction with Smith.

Senior Survey

  • Administered each spring to all graduating seniors.
  • Topics covered include satisfaction with campus life, capacity building, global perspectives and plans for life after Smith.

Alumnae Survey

  • Administered annually (beginning in 2009) to alumnae who are 2, 5, and 10 years post-graduation.
  • Topics covered include: graduate education, jobs and careers, and satisfaction with Smith education.

HERI Faculty Survey

  • Administered to faculty during fall-winter.
  • Topics covered include demographics, activities (how time is spent), course load, faculty goals for Smith students and satisfaction with job (including salary and benefits).

Parent Survey

  • Administered to parents of all enrolled students.
  • Topics covered include parent worries, sources of information about the college, satisfaction with Smith and financial aid awards/loans.

Accessing Survey Results

If you are a Smith community member using Google Chrome, you can see the reports of results online available through your Google drive, located in a shared folder called Smith College Survey Results. If you are interested in learning more about any of the surveys we conduct, please contact our office by email or call 413-585-3021.

Conduct a Survey

Qualtrics is a national company that hosts Web-based survey software to help organizations create and distribute surveys, collect and store data, and create and access reports.

Who Can Use Qualtrics?

This campus wide survey service is available to all students, staff, and faculty with an active Smith portal login. To access your account go to smithcollege.qualtrics.com. Enter your Smith portal information (same username and password as Smith mail, Moodle, etc.). If you are using the survey service for the first time, an account is automatically created for you upon login.

Students

Students must inform the Office of Institutional Research prior to launching a survey so that we may adjust your account settings to meet your research needs. To do so, follow these steps:

Please sign-in to smithcollege.qualtrics.com

Fill out the following form to streamline getting your account set up: Qualtrics Survey Permission Settings Form For Students. This form will ask you to provide your class and professor names, research topic and number of people you intend to survey and method of distribution.

If you have questions, contact Institutional Research, by email or by calling 413-585-3021.

Faculty & Staff

Please email institutionalresearch@smith.edu to unlock your full access to Qualtrics features.

Want to learn more about building and distributing surveys? See articles, manuals and troubleshooting tips in the Qualtrics resource library.

As of August 19th, 2020,  Qualtrics users seeking Support are required to login to the Support Center in order to Contact Support. This change is a required security update that ensures the utmost privacy of user accounts, including preventing anyone from posing as another user.

For the Smith community please use the following steps to access the Support Center:

  1. Go to https://www.qualtrics.com/support-center/

  2. Select Sign in with SSO

  3. Enter smithcollege in the Organization ID field.

  4. Sign in using your Shibboleth username and password

For more information about Qualtrics support please visit Contacting Support

  • Go to smithcollege.qualtrics.com.
  • Enter your Smith portal information (same username and password as Smith mail, Moodle, etc.).
  • If you are using the survey service for the first time, an account is automatically created for you upon login.