Procedure for Collecting, Reporting, and Publishing Institutional Data

UC has a specific policy to protect students from survey fatigue and ensure strategic alignment of institutional research. This is related to but separate from the procedure here. 

See the webpage for full requirements and process. 

Requirements for surveying staff:

1. Complete an application

The application will ask for: 

• Your survey topic and purpose
• Where you intend to publish findings (if applicable)
• Timeline for data collection, analysis, and reporting
• Plans for data storage and destruction
• Collaborators and their affiliations
• Details if using a third-party provider to collect data on your behalf

2. Complete required training on DevelopMe

• Privacy Act 101
• Records Management

3. Use approved survey tools

• UC Qualtrics
• Microsoft Forms

4. Senior Leadership Team (SLT) approval

AIR will assist with obtaining approval from the relevant Senior Leadership Team member.

5. Survey Calendar

AIR will register your survey on the UC Survey Calendar after application, consultation, and approval

6. Follow data security and confidentiality requirements

• Follow all UC privacy, consent, data protection, and security requirements
• Use the data only for the purpose stated in your approved application. If your purpose changes (e.g., using survey data collected for an operational process for research instead), you must submit a new application to AIR and may also need Human Ethics Committee approval
• Ensure reporting cohorts are 10+ respondents to protect anonymity
• Store response data appropriately on secure University servers
• Ensure data storage and destruction follows your approved plan: destroy or securely dispose of data once your stated purpose is fulfilled (note: AIR retains a copy for future access if needed)

7. Make anonymised data available to the AIR team where appropriate

Depending on the survey and its scope, anonymised data may need to be provided to AIR. 

Additional Considerations

Surveying specific staff groups

If your survey targets specific populations, additional approvals may be required:

• Māori staff: Contact the Office of Treaty Partnerships
• Pacific staff: Contact the Pacific Development Team

Ethics Approval

If you're using staff survey data for research publication, you likely need Human Research Ethics Committee approval. Seek Ethics approval before collecting survey data.

Planning to publish your findings?

If you intend to publish research or reports using staff survey data, see Publishing UC Data.

Need help?

• The AIR team can support you with survey design, Qualtrics setup, distribution, and analysis.
• The Information and Records Management team can answer any questions about corporate records.

As all institutional data is owned by the University, this procedure applies whether you're requesting data for research publication, internal reporting, or operational needs.

If you need existing UC institutional data (e.g., student enrolment data, performance metrics, staff data) for research or reporting, you must work with the AIR team.

Requirements for data requests:

1. Complete an application

The application will ask for: 

• Your research topic and purpose
• Specific data required and in what format
• Why the data is needed
• Where you intend to publish findings (if applicable)
• Timeline for data provision, research, writing and review, and submission
• Plans for data storage and destruction
• Collaborators and their affiliations (if applicable)

2. Complete required training on DevelopMe

• Privacy Act 101
• Records Management

3. Senior Leadership Team (SLT) approval

If applicable, AIR will facilitate approval from the relevant Senior Leadership Team member:

• Student, teaching, and learning data: Approval via AIR from the DVC-A
• Staff data: Approval via AIR from the Executive Director – People, Culture, and Campus Life

4. Follow data security requirements

• Follow all UC privacy, consent, data protection, and security requirements
• Store data appropriately on secure University servers
• Use the data only for the purpose stated in your approved application 
• Destroy or securely dispose of data once your stated purpose is fulfilled, in line with your approved plan (note: AIR retains a copy for future access if needed)

Additional Considerations

Requesting data about specific groups

If your data request relates to specific populations, additional approvals may be required:

• Māori students or staff: Contact the Office of Treaty Partnerships
• Pacific students or staff: Contact the Pacific Development Team
• Other specific groups (e.g., students with disability, various equity identifiers, etc.): Consult with AIR for the appropriate contact

Ethics Approval

If you're using institutional data for research publication, you may need Human Research Ethics Committee approval:

• Confirm with the Human Research Ethics Committee Chair if a de-identified secondary dataset is exempt from review
• Seek extra approvals or ethics review when using sensitive or identifiable data 
• See more at Human Research Ethics Committee

Planning to publish your findings?

If you intend to publish research or reports using UC institutional data, see Publishing UC Data.

How AIR can help

The AIR team can support your data request by:

• Consulting with you to clarify your data needs
• Undertaking analysis, reporting, and research on your behalf
• Providing guidance on appropriate analytical approaches
• Identifying where similar research has already been completed and modifying it to suit your needs if appropriate

The Information and Records Management team can answer any questions about corporate records.

Institutional data may be collected by individuals, departments, or by commissioned third parties via focus groups and workshops. This data is owned by the University and must be gathered responsibly and ethically.

If you're collecting institutional data about UC students or staff through focus groups, workshops, or other qualitative methods, you must follow the same procedure as surveys. 

Requirements for focus groups, workshops or other qualitative methods:

1. Complete an application

The application will ask for: 

• Your topic and purpose
• Where you intend to publish findings (if applicable)
• Timeline for data collection, analysis, and reporting
• Plans for data storage and destruction
• Collaborators and their affiliations (if applicable)
• Details if using a third-party facilitator on your behalf

2. Complete required training on DevelopMe

• Privacy Act 101
• Records Management

3. Senior Leadership Team (SLT) approval

If applicable, AIR will facilitate approval from the relevant SLT member:

• Student, teaching, and learning data: Approval via AIR from the DVC-A
• Staff data: Approval via AIR from the Executive Director – People, Culture, and Campus Life

4. Follow data security requirements

• Follow all UC privacy, consent, data protection, and security requirements
• Store data appropriately on secure University servers
• Use the data only for the purpose stated in your approved application
• Destroy or securely dispose of data once your stated purpose is fulfilled, in line with your approved plan (note: AIR retains a copy for future access if needed)

5. Make anonymised data available to the AIR team where appropriate

Additional Considerations

Requesting data about specific groups

If your focus group or workshop relates to specific populations, additional approvals may be required:

• Māori students or staff: Contact the Office of Treaty Partnerships
• Pacific students or staff: Contact the Pacific Development Team
• Other specific groups (e.g., students with disability, various equity identifiers, etc.): Consult with AIR for the appropriate contact

Ethics Approval

If you're using qualitative staff data for research publication, you likely need Human Research Ethics Committee approval. Seek Ethics advice before collecting data.

Planning to publish your findings?

If you intend to publish research or reports using UC institutional data, see Publishing UC Data.

How AIR can help

The AIR team can support your data request by:

• Undertake focus groups on your behalf (given advanced planning)
• Provide guidance on appropriate qualitative research approaches
• Support with analysis and reporting

The Information and Records Management team can answer any questions about corporate records.

If you're publishing research, reports, or findings that use UC institutional data, you must communicate outputs responsibly and accurately, upholding UC's reputation.

Requirements before publication:

1. Present findings responsibly

Present findings accurately and with sufficient context to support informed interpretation and avoid misrepresentation.

2. Share research insights with the UC community

Where possible, share research insights with UC so findings can inform planning and improvement.

3. Notify Marketing, Communications, and Events (MCE) of any public release

Notify MCE of any public release of your findings, including media or external communication involving UC data.

How AIR can help

AIR can support responsible communication of your findings and provide contextual information where helpful. Note: AIR does not approve or control research findings.

Your Responsibilities 

• Follow all UC privacy, data protection, and security policies and requirements
• Present findings ethically and with appropriate context

Certain data collection and reporting activities are excluded from this procedure.

External Reporting and Benchmarking

The University routinely provides institutional data to external organisations and agencies. Examples include benchmarking organisations (TEFMA, Tribal, QS rankings, THE) and statutory requirements or contractual obligations (SDR). These are excluded from this procedure. 

AIR maintains a register of these exclusions. All data providers must register exclusions with AIR. See the UC Intranet page (staff only).

PowerBI Dashboards

Power BI dashboards are exempt from this procedure when used for internal reporting purposes only. These are indicated with an exclusion statement within the dashboard.

Survey exemptions

• For student survey exemptions, see Surveying UC Students.
• For staff survey exemptions, see "Do I need approval?"