Spartan Community Survey
Spartan Community Survey
Share your experiences! Complete Michigan State University's first-ever Spartan Community Survey between March 9 and April 9, 2026. Help support a university where all Spartans thrive. It’s confidential and voluntary, takes 15 minutes, and is open to all students, staff and faculty. Look for an email from SoundRocket.
The Spartan Community Survey assesses the experiences of students, staff and faculty by exploring topics such as culture, inclusion and satisfaction. Launching in spring 2026, the survey will help identify strengths and areas for improvement to support the success of all Spartans.
MSU will use these findings to affirm our land-grant values and advance the MSU 2030 vision for access, opportunity and excellence for all. The results will help the university focus on developing recommendations and actions to support our community's success.
How to participate
March 9 - April 9, 2026:
- Check your MSU email: Look for an email from "surveys@srsrv.com." Check your spam folder.
- Follow the link: Click the survey link provided in the email for directions.
- Complete the survey: The survey takes about 15 minutes to complete.
Participation is voluntary, confidential and essential for strengthening our university.
Frequently Asked Questions
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How do I take the survey? Who do I contact if I have problems assessing or completing the survey?
The survey runs from March 9 to April 9. Participants will receive an invitation from SoundRocket (surveys@srsrv.com) to take the survey. Emails will be sent to remind students, staff and faculty to start or complete the survey. The survey takes about 15 minutes to complete.
If you have difficulty accessing or completing the survey, email support@srsrv.com and the SoundRocket team will be available to assist you.
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Why is MSU launching a university climate survey?
Surveys are a common tool for learning about organizational culture and individual experiences. The purpose of MSU's Spartan Community Survey is to measure the culture of safety, satisfaction and trust on campus for students, staff and faculty.
The survey is designed to help MSU gauge progress toward its access, opportunity and excellence priorities and identify where continued effort is needed.
It is important to note that the Spartan Community Survey runs in parallel with the Know More Survey, providing a broader view of the climate. The data from both surveys will be used together to provide a more comprehensive understanding of our university community and guide the path forward. This approach ensures that MSU's policies, resources and programs are informed by multiple perspectives and grounded in the lived experiences of our students, staff and faculty.
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Why should I participate?
MSU is conducting its first university survey to better understand the climate, using industry-standard data-collection methodologies. By participating, you will help improve programs and policies that support a welcoming and inclusive environment.
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Who will be surveyed?
All MSU undergraduate students, graduate/professional students, support staff, and faculty and academic staff will be invited to complete the survey. Participation in the survey is voluntary.
Eligible participants must be 18 years of age or older, currently enrolled or employed by MSU and within the U.S. Any student, staff or faculty member qualifies, including remote employees and online students. By choosing to participate, individuals provide voluntary consent when they begin the survey.
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Who developed the survey?
The questionnaire was developed by SoundRocket, a research organization located in Ann Arbor, MI. SoundRocket has developed standardized surveys for university campuses and specializes in climate assessment in higher education.
The format allows for institutional comparisons while also tailoring it to help MSU understand our university climate. The survey planning committee reviewed the original instrument and adapted several questions to suit MSU’s needs. The study is designed to minimize biases related to the questionnaire, sampling and reporting.
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What will be surveyed?
Your feedback is valuable. By sharing your experiences, MSU will gain insight into areas such as satisfaction, belonging, commitment to inclusion, and whether an individual feels valued, has potential for growth, finds a sense of community, experiences discrimination, or engages with inclusion-related efforts.
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How will I know my responses are confidential and not tied to me?
All information collected through the Spartan Community Survey will be kept confidential in accordance with legal and ethical guidelines. Additionally, because SoundRocket has been contracted to administer the survey and analyze the results, no MSU administrator will have access to individual responses.
Due to the voluntary, confidential nature of the survey, respondents are not required to answer any sensitive questions. The final report will present results by category (e.g., population and demographics), and only de-identified, aggregated data will be included in the report submitted to the university after the analysis is completed. To preserve confidentiality, responses from groups of fifteen (15) or fewer individuals will be suppressed and not depicted.
Will results be shared with my instructor, supervisor, chair or other university leaders?
No. Results will not be tied to individual participants. Responses from groups of fifteen (15) or fewer will not be shared.
Will results be reported to officials?
No. Submissions in this survey will not result in a report to the Office for Civil Rights and Title IX Compliance and Education (OCR). If you would like to file a report or learn about MSU’s reporting processes, visit civilrights.msu.edu.
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How will the survey data be used?
The data is vital for continuing to strengthen an inclusive culture at MSU. It will take four to six months to fully process and analyze the data and generate a final report.
Once the Spartan Community Survey report is complete, MSU will share the results so that individuals, units and leaders can use them, combined with their local knowledge of these experiences, to develop meaningful interpretations and actions.
The results will inform and shape program and policy development, as well as resource allocation decisions.