Terms of Participation

College & University Teaching Environment (CUTE) Terms of Participation

1. Purpose of the CUTE Survey.
   1. To facilitate completion of the survey, Participating Institution will provide CUTE with names and e-mail addresses of instructional staff (faculty, instructors, graduate students who teach, etc.), and CUTE will seek their voluntary participation in the CUTE Survey.
   2. The CUTE Survey is designed to collect data about instructional staff perceptions of institutional support for instruction and meeting instructor needs. More specifically, CUTE collects data about faculty practice, support, needs, and motivations in order to help institutions looking to improve the ways in which they support their faculty as well as promote discussion between higher education scholars working to improve inequities within the professoriate.
2. CUTE Procedures and Safeguards.
   1. CUTE may use aggregated survey data for national and sector reporting purposes and other faculty development and support initiatives. CUTE may also make de-identified data available to researchers.
   2. CUTE may disclose the name of Participating Institution, but institutionally identifiable results shall not be made public except by mutual agreement between CUTE and Participating Institution, or in accordance with any applicable law, such as the Indiana Access to Public Records Act.
   3. CUTE uses public key encryption with an SSL connection to support the secure transmission of data across the Internet. Access by CUTE staff to servers storing institutional data is controlled by user IDs and passwords.
   4. CUTE will send instructional staff responses to Participating Institution in a de-identified format, but participant-provided answers to certain demographic questions may make participants identifiable by Participating Institution.
   5. CUTE Survey administration protocol is approved by the Indiana University Institutional Review Board (IRB): study #2007598809.
3. Participating Institution Procedures.
   1. Participating Institution shall comply with CUTE Survey preparation deadlines and maintain a minimum of one campus contact. Participating Institution shall promptly inform CUTE when staffing changes necessitate updates to campus contact(s).
   2. Participating Institution must present the CUTE Survey as a voluntary activity; no coercion can be used to increase participation.
   3. Participating Institution shall not mislead participants about the extent to which participation is anonymous or confidential.
   4. Participating Institution shall not release personally identifiable survey response data to any third party, unless required to do so by law. Further, Participating Institution shall not intentionally analyze survey response data for the purpose of re-identifying survey participants and linking them to survey responses. Notwithstanding the above, in the event Participating Institution becomes aware that one or more survey responses are linked to a certain survey participant, Participating Institution shall comply with all applicable laws, including but not limited to, employment and data privacy laws; and Participating Institution shall not use such knowledge contrary to those laws or to take any sort of specific action against or toward a survey participant in violation of applicable laws. Participating Institution may only use survey response data on an aggregate or anonymous basis. Participating Institution acknowledges and agrees that it will be solely responsible as between IU and Participating Institution for any claims, liabilities, damages, costs, or expenses arising out of Participating Institution’s access to or use of the survey response data.
4. Indiana Access to Public Records Act. Participating Institution understands and acknowledges that CUTE, an auxiliary unit of the Center for Postsecondary Research (CPR) at Indiana University, is subject to Indiana' s open records law, the Indiana Access to Public Records Act ("APRA"), Ind. Code §§ 5-14-3-1 to -10, and that compliance with APRA shall not constitute a breach of this Agreement.
5. Assignment. This Agreement shall not be assignable by either party without the prior written consent of the other party.
6. Force Majeure. Neither party shall be responsible or liable to the other party for nonperformance or delay in performance of any terms or conditions of this Agreement due to acts of God, acts of governments, wars, riots, fire, flood, or other causes beyond the reasonable control of the nonperforming or delayed party.
7. Limitation on Liability. Participating Institution agrees that CUTE, IU, and its trustees, affiliates, employees, agents, and contractors, shall not be liable to Participating Institution for any claims, liabilities, consequential or incidental damages, costs, or expenses relating to this Agreement, and that IU specifically disclaims such special damages to the maximum extent allowed by law.
8. Pricing. Participating Institution agrees to pay IU/CPR in accordance with the rates and fees currently posted on the CUTE Pricing page.
9. Entire Agreement. This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between the parties regarding the subject matter described herein and supersedes any prior negotiations and agreements. This Agreement may not be modified or amended in any respect except by a written agreement executed by both parties. The terms and conditions of this Agreement shall extend to, be binding upon, and inure to the benefit of the heirs, administrators, representatives, executors, successors, and assigns of the parties.