FAQs for 2021 UW-IT Customer Experience Survey

Last updated: August 8, 2022

Now closed, this survey was open from April 13 – May 7 to UW students, faculty, researchers and staff at all campuses. The survey results are allowing UW-IT to refine and improve the services and support we provide to the UW community. UW-IT is committed to transparency, and in the winter, will share a report on the survey results and action plans with the UW community.

Note: The survey was not sent to people whose primary affiliation is UW Medicine; see the UW Medicine Q&A below.

Frequently Asked Questions

The 2021 UW-IT Customer Experience Survey is a 10-minute, confidential survey on UW-IT services, communications, customer support/operations, and UW-IT overall. Feedback from students, faculty, researchers and staff via the survey allows UW-IT to comprehensively assess the effectiveness of our services and whether we are meeting the needs of our customers. The link to the survey is https://uw-customer.satsurvey.org.

The survey opens Tuesday, April 13, 2021. The last day to participate is Friday, May 7, 2021 (the survey closes at 11:59 p.m. that day). Reminder emails will be sent periodically only to those who have not yet taken it.

We want students, faculty, researchers and staff to provide honest and candid feedback so we can work together to make improvements to our services and support. We are committed to maintaining confidentiality for the survey. Because UCSD is a third party, their administration of the survey will ensure confidentiality. No identifying information about participants will be shared with UW-IT by UCSD. 

The UW and UW-IT have partnered in the past with UCSD. They have experience administering surveys to other higher education institutions, and offer superior data analytics.

Yes. Because UW-IT is partnering with UCSD to administer the survey, the survey web link is provided by UCSD’s system. UCSD is a reputable partner that UW-IT has worked with in the past. The survey system has proper IT security protocols in place for the link to the survey.

To further secure the website and ensure that that only UW-affiliated individuals take the survey, UCSD coordinated with UW-IT to configure single sign-on (SSO) using UW NetID credentials for the survey. Individuals at the UW who have opted in to two-factor authentication (2FA) on the web will be prompted to use their 2FA device to prove their identity. The use of 2FA adds a second layer of security for sign-in. (More information is available on IT Connect at Opt in to use 2FA on the web.)

Yes, the 2021 UW-IT Customer Experience Survey is confidential. Taking the survey requires signing in with your UW NetID and password, but the survey results will be confidential. UCSD will not provide any identifying information about participants with UW-IT.

“Confidential” does not equate to “anonymous.” Anonymous means there is no way we can know who responded to which survey questions. Confidential means that UW-IT department leaders will have access to survey data but not to information that would identify individual respondents. That information remains private. If you have any further questions regarding confidentiality, please contact help@uw.edu with “Customer Experience Survey” in the subject line.

“Customer” refers to students, faculty, researchers and staff who use the technology and services that UW-IT provides and supports, and who contact the UW-IT Service Center for help. Feedback through the 2021 UW-IT Customer Experience Survey enables us to know if we are providing a consistently positive customer experience through our interactions, tools and services, and where we might be falling short as we work to achieve UW-IT’s strategy.

The structured survey questions should take about 10 minutes to complete.

The survey tool will save your progress. If you cannot finish the survey after you start, just return to it before Friday, May 7, 2021, by 11:59 p.m. Just make sure you have the survey link handy, such as in the survey invitation email. Once you choose Submit Survey, you won’t be able to return to make changes.

The questions will focus on a person’s experiences with UW-IT over the last 12 months. The questions will be in the areas of the use of UW-IT services; communications; customer support/operations; and UW-IT overall.

The survey will ask participants to identify their primary role — student, faculty, researcher or staff member. Then, the questions it asks will reflect the participant’s role. Based on a participant’s responses, the survey also will skip questions that do not apply.

UW-IT is committed to continuous improvement. Information from the 2021 UW-IT Customer Experience Survey will help us identify areas that are performing well and areas requiring additional attention. It will enable us to improve our services and support.

Though UW-IT supports UW Medicine, and we welcome their feedback on our services, they manage their own additional and specialized IT services and support.

Yes. UW-IT is committed to this transparency. UCSD will provide the survey results to UW-IT during summer 2021 so that we can evaluate the information and develop action plans based on the results. UW-IT will share a survey results report and action plans with the UW community in fall of 2021.

For questions about the survey, please contact the UW-IT Service Center at help@uw.edu with “Customer Experience Survey” in the subject line.