Looking to set up a Standard Survey in Course Evaluations? If so, this article will show you the needed steps for this process. The Standard survey is the main type of survey in the Course Evaluations system. Most institutions will use this to create course evaluation surveys. 


  • Go to the  Survey Menu - Survey Administrations.
  • Click New Standard Survey.
  • Name the survey.
  • Pick the Assessment Focus - typically it will be Students will assess Faculty.
  • Choose the period of the courses from the Period drop down.
  • Pick one Copy Settings option.
    • Create a survey from a Template.
    • Create a survey from one that has already been sent out before, check the radio button for Copy Settings from Survey and choose the survey to copy settings from. 
      • If the selection to copy all courses is chosen and the survey is for a new assessment period the courses in the old period are looked up by course number and section in the new period. If they are found, they are added to the survey.
      • NOTE: When copying from a different period any Question Category comments that are entered for specific faculty are not included in the copy.
    • Create a survey from scratch, do nothing and click Add.
  • If a template was not selected or the survey was not copied do the following steps:
    • Click on Select Q’s (It is the only icon that appears at this point.).
    • Choose the Question Category(s) where the questions exist.
    • Select questions from the Question Category that are to appear on the survey.
    • Change the order of the questions as necessary under Set Order
    • In Display Options add in a survey introduction, a survey close, and check those questions where an answer will be required or questions that should appear on the Survey Intelligence Report.
    • In Results Access select who will have access to the results and when. Most campuses give faculty and department administrators access to Numeric and Text comments when the survey is closed.

NOTE: These setting can always be changed, so if the template or copy functions were used, these settings can be updated by clicking the appropriate icons.

  • Click on the button for Select Courses. 
    • On this screen you will be able to filter courses based on a variety of items (department, course type, course designation,..) if needed OR you can simply pull all courses that were imported in for the period/term.
      • Use the Data Filters and Search Strings on this screen to help narrow down the course selection, if applicable. 
      • To pull in all courses that were imported for the term/period you can simply click 'Apply Data Filters'.
      • When the list is complete, press Save.

NOTE: A course must have at least one student and one Responsible Faculty in order to be added to a survey. If courses are missing in the survey list, check the enrollment.

NOTE: If no courses (or the wrong courses) show up when selecting courses, ensure the survey period and course periods are the same.


Click here for more information on Selecting Courses

  • Click on Detailed settings and verify that all of the courses are correctly listed. Also check that the students and faculty are correctly assigned. Make sure to preview the survey to look for any layout or editing issues.
  • Return to list and click on the survey name to set the automatic open and close date/time. Set the Published Deadline to be the same date as the Survey Close. Auto-release of results access can also be scheduled. Click Save when finished.
  • Surveys can be activated at any time manually by changing the Survey Status from No Status to Active. This means anyone who is assigned to take it will have access from the moment it is activated, regardless of whether it has been announced as available.


Video - Setting up a Standard Survey



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