You are invited to participate in the Student Satisfaction-Priorities Survey. This study is designed to help Sonoma State University (SSU) assess services and programs offered to students. The survey is open to all SSU students over the age of 18 and is conducted on behalf of Sonoma State by Ruffalo Noel Levitz under the direction of Principal Investigator (PI), Laura Monje-Paulson, Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs at SSU. If you participate, it will require you to complete a survey that will take approximately 15-20 minutes and consists of 100 questions. The survey does not ask for personal information but you will need your official student ID and username to enter the survey. We will use this information to verify your participation and to match in demographic information for additional analyses. The information you provide will never be used in a way that publicly identifies you and there are procedural safeguards in place to protect your privacy. Your participation in this survey is completely voluntary and confidential and results will not be shared in a way that identifies individuals.

The first 100 students to participate in the survey will receive a $5 Wolfbucks Gift Card. ALL participants will be entered into a drawing for one of three, $50 Wolfbucks Gift Cards. If you were a new student in the Fall 2021 Semester and you completed the BCSSE survey, you will also receive an additional $5 Wolfbucks! Please review the information below and provide your consent to participate before continuing on to the survey. 

The Student Satisfaction-Priorities Survey is designed to assess services and programs offered at Sonoma State (e.g., academic advising, housing, health and wellness services, instruction). The survey asks students to identify both the level of importance and the level of satisfaction with particular experiences and services provided by the university. This combination of information allows Sonoma State to understand satisfaction within the context of what truly matters to students. The results of this survey will be used to identify institutional strengths and challenges and to implement future improvements. 

Any information that is obtained in connection with this study and that can be identified with you will remain confidential and will be disclosed only with your permission or as required by law. Any reports or publications based on this research will be produced in aggregate form and will not identify you or any individual as being affiliated with this project. Your decision whether or not to participate will not prejudice your current or future relations with Sonoma State University. If you decide to participate, you are free to skip a question or to discontinue participation at any time without prejudice. The researchers will gladly answer any questions that may arise during the course of the research. There are no foreseeable risks to participating in the survey beyond those in everyday life.  

The deidentified information you provide on this survey may be shared with other researchers for future research studies. If this happens, information which could identify you will be removed before any information is shared. Since identifying information will be removed, we will not ask for your additional consent. 

At the end of the survey you will have the option to submit your name and email address in order to receive any survey incentives for which you are eligible. We will only use that information to notify you of the incentives you may receive and to coordinate their delivery. This contact information will not be tied to your survey responses.

Both Sonoma State University and Ruffalo Noel Levitz take steps to ensure your data is protected and confidential. Ruffalo Noel Levitz uses public key encryption with an SSL connection to support the secure transmission of data across the internet. All workstations issued to RNL full-time employees include hard disk encryption (Bitlocker). Corporate platforms are hosted at trusted data centers and any further risk associated with physical access is mitigated through industry best practices including front-desk check-in with card reader, man trap(s), locked cages, locked server racks, and 24/7 video surveillance.

Survey responses and student information are kept in separate databases within the RNL system and all reports from within their portal are anonymous. IP addresses will not be collected or stored with survey responses. Any survey data files that are downloaded will be stored on the PI’s FERPA-compliant, SSU-assigned Google Drive only accessible by LDAP password G Suite. The platform is protected by Layer Security encryption, which protects by putting secure walls around the server.  No paper documents will be collected.  Survey results will be maintained for seven years in order to be able to merge survey results for longitudinal analyses.

Should you have any questions regarding the survey, please contact the Principal Investigator, Laura Monje-Paulson, Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs at monjepau@sonoma.edu. If you have any questions or concerns about your rights as a participant in this research project, you may contact Sonoma State University IRB office at 707-664-2066 or irb@sonoma.edu. The risk to participate in this survey is no more than everyday life. SSU’s Counseling and Psychological services is available for any students. Please give them a call if you experience discomfort due to the survey 707-664-2153.

YOU ARE MAKING A DECISION WHETHER OR NOT TO PARTICIPATE. BY CLICKING THE "PROCEED TO THE SURVEY'' BUTTON YOU CERTIFY THAT YOU ARE AT LEAST 18 YEARS OLD, HAVE READ, UNDERSTOOD, AND AGREE TO THE SURVEY INFORMATION, TO YOUR RIGHTS AS A PARTICIPANT, THAT YOUR QUESTIONS HAVE BEEN ANSWERED AND THAT YOU FREELY CONSENT TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS STUDY.  You will be asked for your student ID and username as your passcode to enter the survey. Please use your official username and not an alias.

Proceed to the Survey!