Objective

Along with course evaluations, university-wide student surveys provide information on the potentials and necessities for optimisation in the areas of study and teaching at the University.

Contents

Central topics of the student surveys are

• Study situation in general
• Organisational aspects of teaching
• Didactic aspects of teaching
• Support and advisory services
• Improvement of the study conditions – areas that require action
• Utilisation and evaluation of service offers at the University
• Problems during studying and questions around potential withdrawal
• Student workload

Responsibilities

The organisation of student surveys at Ulm University is the responsibility of the executive support unit Quality Development, Reporting and Revision.

Status

From 2012 till 2014, the student surveys were conducted as part of the project 'Individual study concepts' in collaboration with the German Centre for Higher Education Research and Science Studies (DZHW). Since 2016, the surveys are carried out in-house in an annual cycle and with stronger involvement of the departments as well as the student representatives.

Use of the results

The survey results are analysed as part of the annual report on teaching. The Academic Affairs Committees review the reports on a subject level. The Senate Committee for Teaching discusses conclusions and potential needs for action. University members can download the reports on teaching from the website of the executive support unit Quality Development, Reporting and Revision.

Data protection

• The surveys are conducted in strict adherence to the data protection regulations.

• No student data are passed on to third parties.
• The answers in the questionnaires are used exclusively for the purpose of quality assurance in teaching and study.
• The data of the surveyed persons are anonymous upon entry and cannot be connected to student data.
• Personal data are not part of any statistical evaluations.
• The results are published in the form of reports which do not allow any conclusions regarding individual persons. For instance, no analyses are done if the sample size for a question is n<6.

How does the University get my email address?

The Studiensekretariat (student administration and examinations office) provides the students' email addresses for the distribution of the invitations. These addresses are used exclusively for the execution of the survey. Prior to the survey, a unique code is assigned to each email address with which the students can login to the online survey. This code is not included in the survey data so that anonymity is ensured.

After the survey is finished, the codes are used to draw the winners of prizes. This way only those who participated in the survey have a chance to win.

What is the access code for?

Every surveyed person is assigned a randomly generated access code. This code is required to access the online survey (which ensures that only eligible persons can participate). An analysis of which accessed codes have been used gives insights into who already completed the survey. These participants will therefore not receive further emails (up to four contacts may occur throughout the entire survey phase). An identification through the access code and the responses in the questionaire is not possible at any time.

Who will answer my further questions?

For further questions please contact the executive support unit Quality Development, Reporting and Revision:

Rüdiger Fiebig, Director of the Evaluation Service
Phone: +49 (0)731/50-25104 email: ruediger.fiebig(at)uni-ulm.de

or Lydia Jeske
Phone: +49(0)731/50-25103 email: lydia.jeske(at)uni-ulm.de