Alumni FAQ

WHY SHOULD I COMPLETE THE SURVEY?

Your institution needs to know what you think of your educational experience in the arts, the kinds of activities you do, and how you are benefiting from your studies. Without this information, it may not be easy for faculty and staff at your institution to identify areas that can and should be improved. The more your institution knows about the experiences of their alumni, the more likely it is that faculty, academic and student life administrators and others can take appropriate action to improve undergraduate and graduate arts education. Additionally, SNAAP will conduct a national analysis of alumni responses to provide a clearer picture of the systemic forces that impact the lives and careers of artists. Your responses, along with responses from alumni across hundreds of institutions, will be included in this national analysis to inform key insights about the impact of arts education that can be used to move the field forward. Please note that your individual identity will never be linked to your survey responses. 

I GET SURVEYED ALL THE TIME. HOW IS THIS SURVEY DIFFERENT?

This survey differs from most others you complete because your responses will become part of a continuing national study in the U.S. and Canada. Approximately 100,000 alumni representing about 150 universities or colleges from the U.S. and Canada are surveyed by SNAAP once every five years, and many different groups of people are interested in learning about your experience directly from you, and through comparisons with alumni from other universities and colleges. This will give faculty and administrators an answer to the question: ​“How well are we doing?” People at your former institution of study, as well as hundreds of other universities and colleges, will continue to use this collective feedback for the foreseeable future. Your answers will not only help your institution, but many others as well.

What IF I NEED HELP COMPLETING THE SURVEY?

SNAAP attempts to make the survey accessible to all alumni, including those with visual disabilities. If you encounter any issues while completing, please contact our survey partners, the Indiana University Center for Survey Research, toll-free for assistance at (800)-258‑7691.

WHAT IS THE STRATEGIC NATIONAL ARTS ALUMNI PROJECT?

The Strategic National Arts Alumni Project, or SNAAP, is a survey designed for alumni like you to provide information about your undergraduate or graduate experiences in an arts and design program, including your views about the quality of your education and your career after graduation. Your institution is one of many universities and colleges from around the United States and Canada using the survey this fall, but the main reason your institution is participating is that your school wants to learn more about what alumni think.

WHO IS IN CHARGE OF THE PROJECT?

SNAAP is managed as a three-way partnership between the University of Texas College of Fine Arts, the College of Fine and Applied Arts at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Arts + Design Alumni Research, the non-profit organization that oversees the work of SNAAP. 

Executive Director: Lee Ann Scotto Adams 

Assistant Director, Research Services: Deanna Ibrahim 

Research Director & Vice President of the Board of Directors: Jennifer Novak-Leonard Board of Directors, President: Douglas J. Dempster 

The Center for Survey Research (CSR) at Indiana University administers the survey on behalf of SNAAP. 

WHY DO WE ASK ABOUT YOUR PERSONAL BACKGROUND?

College and university leaders, policy makers and researchers want to know whether different groups of people have fundamentally similar or different educational experiences, career trajectories, and experiences engaging with the arts after attending an arts program. By providing information about your experiences as a student at your institution and your experiences after graduation, you will help us answer these and other important questions.

HOW DID YOU GET MY NAME?

When your university or college became involved in this project, it gave us a file with the names, mailing, and/or email addresses of all alumni who had graduated from programs in the arts.

WHY DID YOU ASK ME?

Your opinions and experiences are very important, and we rely on input from alumni like you to help improve arts education experiences across the nation. Hearing directly from you and your peers will help your university or college make better decisions about undergraduate and graduate arts education.

WHAT WILL YOU DO WITH THE DATA?

We will present de-identified survey data to your institution in an institutional report that summarizes responses from all alumni who completed the survey from your institution. Your institution may use this report to understand which aspects of their programs are most effective, and which aspects they may wish to strengthen further. We will also provide a de-identified data file so your institution can further examine the information in different ways to enhance the educational experience at your school; your responses will not be linked to your identity in any way. This may include comparing arts educational experiences between alumni who were from different academic major groups. 

In addition, your institution’s data will be combined with data from alumni in the U.S. to generate an overall profile, or national report, of arts alumni to enhance research in this field. Key insights from this research can contribute to broader knowledge about the experiences that alumni have in arts programs, their career trajectories, current arts participation, and the systemic forces that might impact the lives and careers of artists. National results will always be presented in aggregate, which protects the identification of individual participants. 

Additionally, SNAAP may grant qualified researchers access to its extensive, one-of-a-kind database upon request, and on a limited basis. SNAAP will strip all respondent and institutional identifiers from any database before sharing with external researchers; no open-ended responses will be shared externally. External researchers may leverage SNAAP data to conduct additional analyses to further our understanding of the educational, career, and life experiences of arts alumni. Please contact info@snaaparts.org for information about accessing the SNAAP database. 

Will my answers be shared with the institution?

Absolutely. One of the most important reasons to do this survey is so that your alma mater gains insight on the educational experiences of its alumni. Campus officials want to create positive change based on the reported experiences of alumni. Better understanding alumni experiences in arts programs and beyond allows for better understanding of how the educational needs of students are met and identifies where more resources need to be allocated.

WILL MY ANSWERS BE SHARED nationally?

Yes. SNAAP will create a national report based on alumni responses from all institutions included in the 2022 survey. This national report will help college and university leaders, policy makers, and researchers to understand key insights about alumni experiences in arts programs and the systemic forces that impact the lives and careers of artists. National survey results are always presented in aggregate, meaning that your individual responses will not be identifiable and will remain confidential.

are you only surveying my university or college?

No, your university or college is not the only school being surveyed. In fact, about 150 universities and colleges across the U.S. and Canada are administering the SNAAP 2022 survey. The survey is administered every five years, so the information you provide now will become part of the national database used for years to come as people compare this year’s responses with alumni in the future.

ARE my survey responses anonymous?

Yes. When we send the final survey data file to your institution, your responses will be de-identified (anonymous). There is a chance that your institution will be able to connect your responses to your identity if you include identifying information in the open-ended comments in the survey. If you wish to remain anonymous, please do not put identifiable information in the open-ended survey comments. SNAAP never uses Social Security numbers for identification.

ARE MY SURVEY RESPONSES confidential?

Yes. Confidentiality of student and alumni data is a high priority at SNAAP. SNAAP is committed to maintaining appropriate administrative, technical, and physical security measures to keep your information confidential. SNAAP contracts with Indiana University’s Center for Survey Research (CSR) to provide security for SNAAP software, data, and survey administration. Some of the many protocols taken to maintain data security include ensuring that each CSR workstation is updated daily with virus protection software, tightly controlling remote access to servers with user IDs, passwords, and two-factor authentication through DUO, and securing data-storing servers using private IP addresses, a network firewall, and consistent security scans for possible issues.

In addition to these security procedures, SNAAP will never release identifiable survey responses. Before providing alumni responses to institutions, SNAAP will strip all responses of identifying information so that alumni responses are anonymous to institutions. Please note that the SNAAP survey may provide you with the opportunity to voluntarily provide an open-ended response, which will be shared with the institution; if you decide to voluntarily include personal information in an open-ended comment, you affirmatively consent to its disclosure to your affiliated institution. National survey results are always presented in aggregate to ensure that participants’ identities remain confidential. 

Personally identifiable student education records provided to SNAAP in the course of providing services under the Agreement are subject to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (“FERPA”), 20 U.S.C. 1232g, et seq. and the regulations promulgated thereunder. Such information is considered confidential and is therefore protected (“educational records”). To the extent that SNAAP has access to ​“education records” under this Agreement, SNAAP is deemed a ​“school official,” as each of these terms are defined under FERPA. SNAAP agrees that it shall not use education records for any purpose other than in the performance of this agreement. Except as required by law, SNAAP shall not disclose or share education records with any third party unless permitted by the terms of the contract or to subcontractors who have agreed to maintain the confidentiality of the education records to the same extent required of SNAAP under this agreement. 

In Canada, use of student information is regulated by federal and provincial guidelines. Alumni should contact their own institution for information about institutional policies for protecting student records.