Web Administration

Instructions for BCSSE Web Administration

Thank you for registering for the Beginning College Survey of Student Engagement (BCSSE, pronounced “Bessie”). The purpose of this document is to help guide you through the BCSSE web administration process. Feel free to contact your Project Services Team if you have any other questions we can help with.

What is your role as the Campus Project Manager (CPM) or Campus Administrative Contact (CAC)?

The CPM and CAC have two major responsibilities:

Serve as the link between your institution and BCSSE staff.

As the designated BCSSE contact between your institution and BCSSE staff, you will serve as the campus coordinator for your institution. In this role, you will oversee and support all BCSSE project activities on your campus. This includes acting as the link between BCSSE staff and the institution, as well as between BCSSE staff and your students being surveyed.

Coordinate the survey administration process.

The campus coordinator is also responsible for coordinating the administration of the web survey.

Administering the Survey

The URL for the BCSSE survey is included in the registration approval email and on the BCSSE dashboard. That URL is specific to your school. The survey WILL NOT be open until the first day of administration that you indicated at the time of registration. Contact us if you would like to change your administration dates.

New in 2022. The BCSSE survey utilizes "cookies" to reduce duplicate submissions from the same student using the same device. This cookie will allow the student to return to the survey using the same device/browser within two weeks and complete the survey from where they left off if. The student will see a message that they already completed if they try to return after completing. See the Qualtrics support page for more details.

Web surveys can be distributed in one of two ways: individual or group setting.

In an individual web administration, the student is provided information that includes how to access the online questionnaire. An example of an individual web administration would be the institution sending an email to the student using the email invitation template which also contains the institution-specific survey URL.
A group setting would include a mass administration to more than one student (e.g., classroom setting) where the students are asked to complete the online questionnaire during that sitting. In this situation the student is provided the institution-specific survey URL.

Email Invitation Message Template

The email invitation template is located in the BCSSE Portal (see dashboard, "Administration Information and Survey URL"). Keep in mind that the email invitation template is not the informed consent. The informed consent is the first screen the student will see when they click on the survey URL.

You can customize this invitation. For instance, you may merge in the student name rather than use the default, “Dear new <institution name> student:”. You may also change who the email is sent from or the subject line. You may also modify the first paragraph to make it more inviting and relevant to your student body, or to describe an incentive for participation. However, modifications may not convey a message that the survey is required or mandatory, or in any way implicitly or explicitly contradict the informed consent statement that is located on the first screen of the survey. The BCSSE contact information must remain intact and unaltered.

Additional Survey Distribution Procedures

Please follow all directions below as part of the procedure for distributing the BCSSE surveys:

Individuals distributing surveys in a classroom or other established setting must have no evaluative relationship with those asked to participate (e.g., a faculty member may not administer surveys to students currently enrolled in their own course.)
Students should be told that the Informed Consent Statement that precedes the web survey (the first screen the student sees when they go to the survey URL) describes the voluntary nature of the survey and who they can contact for additional information. Campus staff administering the survey must not convey any message, implicitly or explicitly, to the student that they are required to complete the survey or that there is any penalty for non-completion. Instructions to the student cannot contradict the informed consent.