Qualtrics

Qualtrics is a web-based tool for creating and distributing online surveys. It's used by faculty, staff, and students for various purposes, including survey research courses, graduate theses, and faculty research projects. The tool also supports the college in gathering data to enhance its educational and organizational goals.

Getting Started

Accessing Qualtrics

1. Go to https://ithaca.qualtrics.com/ to access Qualtrics.
2. If prompted, sign in with your Ithaca College credentials.

Resources

Qualtrics offers many learning resources, including the Customer Success Hub, Qualtrics Support, or XM Community.

1. If you are prompted to log into these resources, in the username box, enter your Ithaca College username.
2. Select the Sign in with SSO link.
3. In the Organization ID box, enter ithaca.
4. Click the Continue button.

Relevant resources include:

• Learn the XM Platform (introduction to Qualtrics)
• Launch a Survey Project (guidance users need to help kick off their first project)
• Creating a Project (create a survey)
• Collaborating on Projects
• Survey Options (change general survey settings: expiration date, message when survey completed, partial completions)
• Creating a Contact List (create and import a contact list into Qualtrics from a file)
• Collecting Responses (deactivate, edit active survey, change survey expiration date)
• Emails Overview (send emails to the survey population)
• Email Distribution Management (view history of scheduled mailings, send reminder emails)
• Reports Overview (create or copy a report)

Analytics and Institutional Research staff are available for general assistance with survey research and can be contacted at IRoffice@ithaca.edu. Further information can be found on the Understanding Survey Research page of the IC Survey Research Center website.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you set up a Qualtrics account for a departmental email address?

Yes!  Please apply for an account and provide the departmental email address you would like associated with the account.

I want someone else to work with me on this survey.  How do I do that?

Qualtrics Support provides some information on how to collaborate on a survey. In order to do so, each person must have an account.

Who can access my surveys and view responses?

Typically, only you will be able to access your surveys and view the data obtained from them. However, in order to facilitate customer service, the Business Productivity team may at times access your account to look at the content and structure of your surveys. We will never share or distribute your surveys without your permission. Business Productivity will not access data obtained from a survey (i.e., respondents and responses) without the survey owner’s explicit permission.

What is the difference between an anonymous survey link and a unique link?

There are two types of hyperlinks you can use to distribute your survey: anonymous links and unique links.

• An anonymous survey link is generated when you click the "Distributions" tab within a survey and select “Anonymous Link” from the left-hand menu. This link is designed to be copied and pasted into an email or onto a website. Anyone who has internet access can click on this link to take the survey. If you use an anonymous link, you won’t be able to track who has completed your survey.
• A unique survey link is generated when you distribute email invitations to your contacts using Qualtrics (click the "Distributions" tab within a survey and select “Emails” from the left-hand menu). With a unique survey link, each email recipient receives their own individualized link, which can only be used once and cannot be shared. Using a unique survey link will allow you to keep track of exactly who is responding because the respondent's email address will be displayed along with their response.

I've created a survey, but there is no "Back" button that will help respondents navigate. How do I add a "Back" button and/or a progress bar to my survey?

You can add and customize survey buttons with the Look & Feel button at the top of the screen.

I don't want my survey emails to be caught in spam filters.  Is there a way to prevent them from being sent to clutter or junk folders?

Information Technology & Analytics has made every effort to ensure that emails sent via Qualtrics land in recipients’ inboxes instead of clutter or junk folders. Qualtrics servers are whitelisted on Ithaca College’s email system (Outlook).

However, ITA does not have control over all aspects of Outlook or other email applications. For example, in Outlook, emails are sent to the clutter folder based on an algorithm that examines which emails the user typically opens and reads. If several similar email messages are ignored (e.g., survey invitations), Outlook may take that as a cue to send similar messages to clutter. Unfortunately, we aren’t able to control this behavior.  It's good practice to thoroughly review emails that wind up in clutter or junk before you delete them.