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Strategic Planning in Higher Education

A National Study of Leadership, Alignment, and Implementation

Research Ethics and Data Protection Statement

Last updated: September 28, 2026​

 

1. Purpose of This Statement

This statement describes how the study is conducted, what information is collected, how that information is stored and protected, and the rights of those who participate. It is written for participants and for institutional offices, including offices of institutional research and research compliance, that may wish to review the study before encouraging participation.

 

2. Institutional Review

No Institutional Review Board review has been sought for this study. The study is not federally funded and is not conducted under the auspices of an institution holding a Federalwide Assurance, and it therefore falls outside the jurisdiction of the Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects (45 CFR 46). The instrument is a minimal-risk survey of professional experience of the kind that would ordinarily qualify for exemption under 45 CFR 46.104(d)(2). The protections that an exempt review would examine are documented below. The investigators will complete institution-specific review documentation on request.

 

3. Voluntary Participation and Consent

Participation is voluntary. Before beginning the survey, each participant is shown a consent screen summarizing the purpose of the study, the time required, and the handling of data, with a link to this statement. Proceeding past that screen indicates consent.

Because responses are collected anonymously and are not linked to any participant’s identity, a response cannot be located or withdrawn once it has been submitted. No compensation is offered for participation.

 

4. Information Collected in the Survey

The survey collects:

  • responses to questions about strategic planning at the participant’s institution;

  • professional role, institutional type, and research classification;

  • institution name, which is optional and is used only to compare responses across roles within the same institution; and

  • the channel through which the participant reached the survey (for example, a newsletter, a professional listserv, or a social media post). This identifies the link used, not the person.

 

The survey does not ask for names or email addresses. The survey platform is configured to collect responses anonymously, and IP addresses and email addresses are not recorded in survey results.

 

5. Findings Report and Webinar Registration

On completing the survey, participants are directed to a page, separate from the survey, where they may register for the public webinar at which findings will be presented, request a copy of the findings report, and indicate willingness to be contacted for a follow-up interview.


Webinar registration is handled through Luma, an event registration service. Requests for the findings report and interview volunteers are collected on a form hosted on the study website (Wix). Both collect name and email address. Neither is linked to survey responses. Information provided is used only to send webinar information and the findings report and, where requested, to arrange an interview. It is not added to any newsletter or marketing list maintained by either investigator's practice, and it is deleted at the conclusion of the study.


Follow-up interviews are optional, are conducted separately from the survey, and begin with their own consent discussion. Interview participants are not asked about their survey responses. Questions about the study, and requests to access or delete registration information, may be directed to the investigators using the contact information provided on this site.

 

6. Storage and Access

Survey responses are held on SurveyMonkey. The registration form is held on the study website platform (Wix). Access to both is limited to the two named investigators and a research assistant bound by the same terms. Accounts are protected by two-factor authentication. Exported data files are stored in a restricted-access shared Google Drive folder and are not transmitted by email. The investigators will not sell, share, or transfer individual response data to any third party.

 

7. Reporting and Protection Against Identification

  • Findings are reported only in aggregate or by role category.

  • No individual or institution is named in any publication, presentation, or professional engagement.

  • Because certain roles are held by only one person at an institution, no result is reported at a level of detail that could identify a respondent.

  • Any subgroup containing fewer than five respondents is suppressed.

  • Open-ended responses are reviewed before quotation, and any detail that could identify a person or institution is removed.

 

8. Use of Data

Data are used for scholarly publication, conference presentation, and a public findings report and webinar. Aggregate findings may be cited by the investigators in their professional work. Individual responses are never used in consulting engagements, sales, or marketing, and no individual or institution will be contacted on the basis of survey responses.

 

9. Retention and Destruction

  • Findings report and interview form data are deleted at the conclusion of the study, no later than September 1, 2027.

  • De-identified survey data are retained for up to three years from the close of the survey to support publication and peer review, and are then destroyed.

 

10. Disclosure of Interests

Both investigators lead advisory practices serving colleges and universities, including work related to strategic planning. The study is self-funded by the investigators, has no external sponsor, and no organization has editorial control over its findings.
 

Three design decisions follow from that disclosure. The instrument contains no question asking participants to evaluate the effectiveness of external consultants. Where the study examines the role of external partners, it asks only factual questions about the stage at which a partner was engaged and the role they played, and any relationship to implementation outcomes is derived from other items rather than solicited directly. The commitment not to use individual responses in consulting engagements is binding on both practices. Findings will be reported whether or not they favor the use of external advisors.

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11. Changes to This Statement

Any material change to this statement will be recorded as a new version with its date. The version in effect when a participant completed the survey governs the handling of that participant’s data.

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