Student Affairs Research Approval (SARA)

If your project meets one of the following conditions, you will need to submit a SARA request:

• A researcher does not have an appointment at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
• A researcher/campus unit is requesting a sample of students through the university’s Division for Management of Information (DMI).  If approved, DMI will work with the researcher/unit to develop a sample aligned with approved inclusion/exclusion criteria.
• A researcher is looking to recruit students from any Student Affairs units at Illinois. This includes requests for distribution to via unit newsletters, social media, flyers, and requests for additional collaboration regarding student studies.

SARA approvals for each semester can be submitted up until November 1 for the fall semester and April 1 for the spring semester, and July 1 for summer. Requests are processed in 7 business days.

Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval may be required for any of the above conditions, please consult with the Office of the Protection of Research Subjects for guidance.

As of 7/1/2022, SARA approval is no longer needed for campus researchers looking to recruit students through academic colleges/departments. Per the Policy Governing Electronic Surveys and Questionnaires (pdf), academic college may create their own policies and procedures. In addition, SARA approval is not needed for requests to student organizations or individual course instructors.

• Students cannot be solicited to participate in a research project/survey the week before or the week of finals unless it is a course requirement per Illinois Faculty Senate Policy.

  No survey periods include:

  • Fall 2025: December 5 – 18

  • Spring 2026: April 30 - May 14

• Students cannot be recruited during the first three days of any institutional survey (e.g. Chancellor Senior Survey, Illini Success) and the day of any campus-wide reminder. Oversight of institutional surveys is delegated to the Institutional Student Survey Committee. Institutional Student Surveys are being sent during the following timeframes (dates subject to change)

  • Fall 2025
    • Chancellor Senior Survey: October 1 - October 29th
    • Illini Success - November 13 - January 8
  • Spring 2026
    • Multi-Institutional Study of Leadership: February 17 – March 25
    • Chancellor Senior Survey: March 1 – April 1
    • Illini Success: April 16 - May 22
• Recruitment is limited to 1 direct email invite and no more than 2 follow up reminders.  Approved SARA projects will be assigned distribution dates for each of these distributions.
• Student samples (processed via DMI) have the following limitations
  • Samples are limited to 5,000 students or 60% of a desired population per fiscal year
  • Complete populations of any subgroup(s) are not approved. For example, if you are looking to recruit international graduate students, we will not approval a full sample of international graduate students. Please consult DMI’s Student Enrollment for current enrollment numbers of your proposed population.
  • Samples will be generated after the 10th class day of each semester.
  • Campus units seeking to do surveys/recruitment for non-research purposes must have approval from their unit head.
• Requests from non-University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign researchers will be limited to 3 per semester and considered on a first-come first-served basis. Documentation of IRB approval or exemption from their home campus is required. Non-UIUC requests will be evaluated to determine if they duplicate, conflict, or are in competition with other research/survey projects being conducted by university administration or Illinois faculty.
• Researchers will not have access to students’ identifiable information (e.g. name, email address). Samples through DMI will be provided to the researcher via the Webtools Email platform. DMI charges an hourly cost.

SARA approvals for each semester can be submitted up until November 1 for the fall semester and April 1 for the spring semester, and July 1 for summer. SARA approval will not be granted until final IRB approval is obtained, however a researcher can submit a SARA request while an IRB is in process. All applications will be reviewed within 7 business days. The Director of Assessment & Planning may reach out with additional follow up questions, to discuss alternative administration timelines, or review the available sample for the population you requested. SARA requests may also be reviewed by the Institutional Student Survey Committee. Once SARA approval is granted, DMI will be notified, and the researcher will be provided information to work with DMI on finalizing the sample.

SARA is a separate process from IRB. IRB serves an important role in protecting the rights and welfare of human research subjects and ensuring studies meet federal guidelines. The SARA process is focused on protecting Illinois students from excessive unsolicited emails in research studies, and in turn helping to address survey fatigue among our student body.  SARA also reviews projects for university policies and student data privacy. IRB approval does not guarantee SARA approval. SARA approval is not granted until after IRB approval however you are welcome to contact Dr. Beth Hoag at bhoag2@illinois.edu prior to submitting an IRB to discuss your project and intended sample.

We are committed to working with researchers to negotiate research study administration times, and the number of participants solicited. If an accommodation cannot be reached a SARA application will be denied. SARA approval will not be granted if one of the following conditions exist.

• If the intended student population in your proposed sample are already slated to receive 3 research solicitations in one semester.
• A project is similar to previously approved studies in the previous or current semester, and it targets the same subpopulation of students.
• University administration plans a substantial study that is similar or has overlapping student populations to a study seeking Student Affairs Research Approval.
• The timing of the administration is the week of or before finals. (In this case we will work with you to find an alternative date).
• Any research with the primary purpose of marketing to students for a profit.
• Priorities set by campus administration take precedent over any research studies and all Student Affairs Research Approval policies.

Student Affairs Assessment and Planning maintains a list of current resources available on campus, locally in the community, and nationally. This is not an exhaustive list. Consider adding additional, vetted resources that may be of particular interest to your study's participants. 

All of the following should be included in your solicitation invite and/or informed consent:

1. What is the survey about?
2. How long will it take to complete?
3. What will the results be used for? How the results will be shared?
4. State that the survey is voluntary.
5. A statement on privacy.  This includes if the survey is confidential or anonymous.  If any personally identifiable information is being collected discuss data privacy and de-identification and who has access to raw data.
6. If there is an incentive, how to claim or enter the drawing.  It is good practice to separate the incentive form from survey responses.
7. When should the survey be completed by?
8. Who to contact for questions.

Additional statements regarding student data privacy may be required based on your project.