Ethics in College Recruitment
February 4, 2021 7:08 AM Subscribe
My public two-year college admissions office - of which I am a staff member - wants to take up marketing's suggestion that they contact previous applicants who did not matriculate for a "study" asking them their reasons, with an offer of entry into a drawing for a $100 gift card as an incentive to participate.
This makes me extremely nervous.
In the ethics guide published by the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC), of which we are a member, I find:
This makes me extremely nervous.
In the ethics guide published by the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC), of which we are a member, I find:
To avoid conflict of interest and the appearance of unethical behavior, members should:What should I do?
+ Not be compensated by commissions, bonuses, or other incentive payments, based on the number of students referred, recruited, admitted, or enrolled.
+ Not offer or accept any reward or remuneration to influence an admission, housing, scholarship, financial aid, or enrollment decision.
This seems fine to me, personally, as long as other details are ethically sound. For example, the person inviting students to participate should not be a person who is overtly in a position of power in relation to students' academic success. It should be clear on invitation materials that non/participation will have no effect on students' current or future enrollment or academic status. Students should be invited via email or letter (nothing that puts them on the spot to say yes or no). Data should be stored confidentially and securely according to college protocols. Many folks also ask such types of questions via online survey so the data are anonymous, with a separate page for them to provide their information to be entered in a draw for compensation.
Source: I'm a member of our university's ethical review board for behavioral research.
posted by DTMFA at 7:24 AM on February 4, 2021 [20 favorites]
Source: I'm a member of our university's ethical review board for behavioral research.
posted by DTMFA at 7:24 AM on February 4, 2021 [20 favorites]
I don't understand the problem? It is common practice to offer prize draws for people to fill out surveys and this doesn't seem to relate in any way to the guidelines you've posted which are about compensation to the staff members for their work or bribes to the staff members.
Or is the prize going to the admissions staff to get *them* to make the calls?
posted by jacquilynne at 7:26 AM on February 4, 2021 [24 favorites]
Or is the prize going to the admissions staff to get *them* to make the calls?
posted by jacquilynne at 7:26 AM on February 4, 2021 [24 favorites]
Seems unambiguously okay to me. The remuneration is to for participation in the study not for admissions decisions. That the participants have already decided not to attend makes it even clearer because it would be hard to use the compensation to influence those who have no current connection to the school.
I assume this will go through IRB review? They’re the experts, let them deal with it. If anything, your role might be to follow-up on the IRB process.
Side note: my guess is that they are doing this to try and figure out if there is something about the process that is making it hard for historically disadvantaged applicants to move on to study. That’s a good purpose and a good thing to study. IRB can ensure it is done right.
posted by scantee at 7:28 AM on February 4, 2021 [23 favorites]
I assume this will go through IRB review? They’re the experts, let them deal with it. If anything, your role might be to follow-up on the IRB process.
Side note: my guess is that they are doing this to try and figure out if there is something about the process that is making it hard for historically disadvantaged applicants to move on to study. That’s a good purpose and a good thing to study. IRB can ensure it is done right.
posted by scantee at 7:28 AM on February 4, 2021 [23 favorites]
I'm confused. You're asking people who did not matriculate to fill out a survey, and offering an incentive to them for doing so, right?
That seems entirely ethical. They can fill out the survey explaining why they didn't choose your school and potentially get paid for their time. Helpful info for you, fair to them.
The language you cite says that you shouldn't be getting a commission based on student enrollment nor take a fee to help someone get admitted, nor should you offer a reward to influence someone's enrollment decision (or similar).
Offering an incentive to provide information to you -- assuming it is not conditioned on someone changing their decision -- sounds okay to me.
posted by slidell at 7:29 AM on February 4, 2021 [20 favorites]
That seems entirely ethical. They can fill out the survey explaining why they didn't choose your school and potentially get paid for their time. Helpful info for you, fair to them.
The language you cite says that you shouldn't be getting a commission based on student enrollment nor take a fee to help someone get admitted, nor should you offer a reward to influence someone's enrollment decision (or similar).
Offering an incentive to provide information to you -- assuming it is not conditioned on someone changing their decision -- sounds okay to me.
posted by slidell at 7:29 AM on February 4, 2021 [20 favorites]
Also, I'm not familiar with the ethics code you posted above, but in my reading of it, it is STAFF who should not accept additional compensation for anything related to enrollment. I think the code is really referring
to potential bribes, and unethical structural practices to "fill seats" etc.
posted by DTMFA at 7:30 AM on February 4, 2021 [1 favorite]
to potential bribes, and unethical structural practices to "fill seats" etc.
posted by DTMFA at 7:30 AM on February 4, 2021 [1 favorite]
Or is the prize going to the admissions staff to get *them* to make the calls?
Yeah that's what I can't determine by your post. It seems you're interpreting it as this money cannot be offered for a survey that is given to people who never enrolled in the college, but it seems it's actually that members/employees of that department cannot be offered money in addition to their salary to recruit people. Offering a incentive to participate in a voluntary survey is completely kosher.
posted by Young Kullervo at 7:31 AM on February 4, 2021 [3 favorites]
Yeah that's what I can't determine by your post. It seems you're interpreting it as this money cannot be offered for a survey that is given to people who never enrolled in the college, but it seems it's actually that members/employees of that department cannot be offered money in addition to their salary to recruit people. Offering a incentive to participate in a voluntary survey is completely kosher.
posted by Young Kullervo at 7:31 AM on February 4, 2021 [3 favorites]
The first point is not relevant because the money isn’t going to the staff members but to people with no affiliation with your institution. The second point doesn’t seem relevant because these people have already decided not to attend, but I agree that the first page of the study should clarify that participating has no effect on future applications, scholarships, etc. You may want to contact a prof in a relevant department for assistance in study design.
posted by tchemgrrl at 7:34 AM on February 4, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by tchemgrrl at 7:34 AM on February 4, 2021 [3 favorites]
Another vote for "this seems perfectly fine". I'm a guy who is finely tuned to ethical dilemmas like this (they're rife in my field) but this doesn't seem like an ethical dilemma. Applicants who didn't attend are being a *chance* to win a $100 gift card to finish a survey. That's it. I fail to see any ethical dilemma here.
posted by jdroth at 7:36 AM on February 4, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by jdroth at 7:36 AM on February 4, 2021 [1 favorite]
Whoah whoah whoah.
IANYL
I'm inclined to agree that you may be on the right side of the NACAC guidelines on this... but I would 100% recommend calling and asking someone there, I am sure if they have ethics guidelines they have someone you can call.
BUT ALSO, and more importantly:
You are running a contest if you enter people into a draw to win something. There are particular laws in your jurisdiction that apply to contests/games of chance. You cannot necessarily just "run a contest" like that, and marketing might not be aware of the laws you have to follow to make your draw legal.
posted by dazedandconfused at 7:39 AM on February 4, 2021 [1 favorite]
IANYL
I'm inclined to agree that you may be on the right side of the NACAC guidelines on this... but I would 100% recommend calling and asking someone there, I am sure if they have ethics guidelines they have someone you can call.
BUT ALSO, and more importantly:
You are running a contest if you enter people into a draw to win something. There are particular laws in your jurisdiction that apply to contests/games of chance. You cannot necessarily just "run a contest" like that, and marketing might not be aware of the laws you have to follow to make your draw legal.
posted by dazedandconfused at 7:39 AM on February 4, 2021 [1 favorite]
Doesn't seem "unethical" to participants, but it does seem legally dicey to run a contest with people outside of your organization like this. Marketing people (I am sort of one) really don't know shit about this kind of stuff, so maybe check with your compliance office.
posted by RajahKing at 7:44 AM on February 4, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by RajahKing at 7:44 AM on February 4, 2021 [1 favorite]
You put "study" in quotes in your question. Is it not a real study/survey, but instead intended to influence the students to change their mind? Or are they trying to dress up a marketing study as academic research?
I agree with the consensus here -- as long as it's accurately represented to the applicants, and not an underhanded attempt to get the specific participants to change their mind, this seems fine. Your institution has already made their decisions regarding admission, housing, scholarship, financial aid, and the student has already made their enrollment decision. You can't influence the decision anymore, it's already made. Now you're just trying to figure out why they made the decision they did.
posted by yuwtze at 7:50 AM on February 4, 2021 [4 favorites]
I agree with the consensus here -- as long as it's accurately represented to the applicants, and not an underhanded attempt to get the specific participants to change their mind, this seems fine. Your institution has already made their decisions regarding admission, housing, scholarship, financial aid, and the student has already made their enrollment decision. You can't influence the decision anymore, it's already made. Now you're just trying to figure out why they made the decision they did.
posted by yuwtze at 7:50 AM on February 4, 2021 [4 favorites]
Ok, I think the important question is: was this study submitted and approved to the university's IRB for review?
Because offering a chance to win a gift card is standard in behavioral academic research, as long as it is approved by the IRB. In this case it was most probably approved as exempt, but yes, administrative departments in universities conduct this sort of research all the time to improve their operations. It's not at all abnormal. But it most definitely has to go through the IRB first.
Otherwise, the only people who can determine if this is truly unethical in this context is your university's IRB board. If you're super concerned, I'd ask whoever is leading the study for that info.
Source: Someone who did similar surveys for a university for years.
posted by Young Kullervo at 8:19 AM on February 4, 2021 [10 favorites]
Because offering a chance to win a gift card is standard in behavioral academic research, as long as it is approved by the IRB. In this case it was most probably approved as exempt, but yes, administrative departments in universities conduct this sort of research all the time to improve their operations. It's not at all abnormal. But it most definitely has to go through the IRB first.
Otherwise, the only people who can determine if this is truly unethical in this context is your university's IRB board. If you're super concerned, I'd ask whoever is leading the study for that info.
Source: Someone who did similar surveys for a university for years.
posted by Young Kullervo at 8:19 AM on February 4, 2021 [10 favorites]
I work in student services at a university, and this seems unremarkable to me as long as the real intent here is to get information about why students didn't enroll. We do surveys all the time, and we always offer some sort of incentive to answer, because otherwise we don't get very many responses, and the ones we do get are skewed. (You want relatively indifferent students to respond, not just the ones who have very strong positive or negative feelings about their experiences.) I could see some ethical issues if it's the survey equivalent of a push-poll, where the real intention was to get students to reconsider their decision not to enroll. Although even that wouldn't bother me that much.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 8:27 AM on February 4, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 8:27 AM on February 4, 2021 [1 favorite]
Yeah, you need to figure out if this is a research study or a quality assurance project. It sounds like it's *probably* QA but that really depends what you intend to do with the results; is it just for internal use or is someone going to try to get a publication out of it? If the latter, you've got a research study on your hands and you need IRB review. The IRB will look at your proposed reward scheme and tell you if it's ethical. (I can tell you that in general, "you'll be entered in a drawing for a prize" is a pretty normal way to pay for survey research and will raise few eyebrows unless the amount is out of the ordinary for your institution.)
If this is a QA project then human subjects research issues typically don't apply, but you still might touch base with your IRB - some instutitions have processes to review QA projects and verify they really are QA, some trust you to make your own judgment about that. Assuming it's really QA then you've got other questions to handle - are you *allowed* to contact this group of people for this kind of thing? Just because marketing thinks you can doesn't mean you can; I'd check with general counsel. General counsel will also know if there are local rules around contests that you have to pay attention to or other processes you have to pay attention to At my university, for example, this kind of survey couldn't come from you - there's a group on campus that handles surveys like this and judges who can be contacted and how often and ensures data handling and privacy are dealt with; you'd work with them to get the survey sent out.
Either way it doesn't sound to me like payment is likely to be the main issue this gets hung up on. But by all means, contact NACAC - this ought to be the sort of question you can get a pretty quick answer to.
posted by Stacey at 8:31 AM on February 4, 2021 [2 favorites]
If this is a QA project then human subjects research issues typically don't apply, but you still might touch base with your IRB - some instutitions have processes to review QA projects and verify they really are QA, some trust you to make your own judgment about that. Assuming it's really QA then you've got other questions to handle - are you *allowed* to contact this group of people for this kind of thing? Just because marketing thinks you can doesn't mean you can; I'd check with general counsel. General counsel will also know if there are local rules around contests that you have to pay attention to or other processes you have to pay attention to At my university, for example, this kind of survey couldn't come from you - there's a group on campus that handles surveys like this and judges who can be contacted and how often and ensures data handling and privacy are dealt with; you'd work with them to get the survey sent out.
Either way it doesn't sound to me like payment is likely to be the main issue this gets hung up on. But by all means, contact NACAC - this ought to be the sort of question you can get a pretty quick answer to.
posted by Stacey at 8:31 AM on February 4, 2021 [2 favorites]
It seems very unlikely that the marketing department is doing a study that's going to go through IRB and be published.
It's a marketing survey with a mediocre incentive, and it's not being sent to NACAC members (nor is it a recruitment bounty, which is what your association ethics forbid), it's being sent to random people who gave the school their contact info once.
My only procedural concern would be whether your application materials have any kind of legal promise that their contact information won't be used for marketing purposes, or contained and opt-out for same. Nobody does that; everybody wants that sweet sweet data. But you could find out for sure. And your IRB should be able to provide guidance on the official threshold for a "study" if you want to be thorough on what the marketing department's boundaries are supposed to be.
posted by Lyn Never at 8:34 AM on February 4, 2021 [3 favorites]
It's a marketing survey with a mediocre incentive, and it's not being sent to NACAC members (nor is it a recruitment bounty, which is what your association ethics forbid), it's being sent to random people who gave the school their contact info once.
My only procedural concern would be whether your application materials have any kind of legal promise that their contact information won't be used for marketing purposes, or contained and opt-out for same. Nobody does that; everybody wants that sweet sweet data. But you could find out for sure. And your IRB should be able to provide guidance on the official threshold for a "study" if you want to be thorough on what the marketing department's boundaries are supposed to be.
posted by Lyn Never at 8:34 AM on February 4, 2021 [3 favorites]
See that is why I'm like is it a "study" (which is usually intended for publication or conference presentations) or is it a survey intended for operations and program evaluation? I consider a study to be the former and the latter to just be...a survey. And in this case offering a lottery incentive for the participants is pretty standard in both cases. A study would have to go through IRB. A survey for internal program evaluation purposes doesn't.
posted by Young Kullervo at 8:51 AM on February 4, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by Young Kullervo at 8:51 AM on February 4, 2021 [2 favorites]
I'll just chime in and say that the NACAC guidelines you're quoting are largely about admissions recruitment. What your institution is conducting is an ASQ (Admitted Student Questionnaire) for students that have already made a decision - these kind of surveys are super common. I would reach out to your regional NACAC affiliate if you have serious questions about the incentive portion for filling out a survey.
posted by WedgedPiano at 8:57 AM on February 4, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by WedgedPiano at 8:57 AM on February 4, 2021 [1 favorite]
A study would have to go through IRB. A survey for internal program evaluation purposes doesn't.
Not necessarily. The Uni I work for has a "Human Subjects Research Determination" form for QA/QI projects. It's much shorter than a full IRB protocol, but we still file them and get them approved before launching any surveys, even if it's just an internal survey of staff or students/residents. (Caveat: I work in Medical Research, not Marketing or Admissions).
posted by Ufez Jones at 9:12 AM on February 4, 2021 [1 favorite]
Not necessarily. The Uni I work for has a "Human Subjects Research Determination" form for QA/QI projects. It's much shorter than a full IRB protocol, but we still file them and get them approved before launching any surveys, even if it's just an internal survey of staff or students/residents. (Caveat: I work in Medical Research, not Marketing or Admissions).
posted by Ufez Jones at 9:12 AM on February 4, 2021 [1 favorite]
Assuming the gift cards are going to the students I don't see any ethical problem here. There are always problems with bias when you include incentives in a survey but thats not what you are asking in this question.
posted by Lanark at 12:34 PM on February 4, 2021
posted by Lanark at 12:34 PM on February 4, 2021
I've seen results of similar studies. I think this is pretty common and not at all problematic or in violation of the ethics. Basically, your college is trying to figure out why students didn't matriculate by asking students who didn't matriculate. There could be really valuable information there. The ethics rules seem to focus on what staff should and shouldn't do. It's irrelevant to the question at hand.
posted by bluedaisy at 2:53 PM on February 4, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by bluedaisy at 2:53 PM on February 4, 2021 [1 favorite]
I'd just echo dazedandconfused - people often don't even think to consider that what constitutes "gambling," "lottery," etc. in their jurisdictions might be an issue.
posted by Pax at 6:48 AM on February 5, 2021
posted by Pax at 6:48 AM on February 5, 2021
Mod note: This a followup from the asker.
Thank you all for your replies.posted by cortex (staff) at 7:42 AM on February 5, 2021
This is a small two-year college in the Upper Midwest. If an IRB exists, it is unknown to me, and at best entirely ad hoc. I have worked here 17 years.
This project began in Marketing; its data will be directed to recruiters, and there will be no "study" as such. It's an effort to harvest likely prospects, and that is the end all, be all of it.
What I am asking is -- and I should have been more clear -- should I pass my concerns up the chain of command? Note that I am an associate director in this admissions office, and the director is rather new here.
Thanks for the additional update OP. To clarify, are you saying that the "survey" is really about finding out why these specific people didn't matriculate, so that recruiters can try and convince them to do so? Or is it to understand why, in general, applicants are not matriculating, to inform future recruitment practices?
If the second, the practice of offering compensation to survey participants is fine, and does not warrant concern/effort on your part. I would not take this up the chain of command.
If the first, I still don't think this violates the code of ethics you posted above although it is definitely ethically murky and participation in a survey (paid or not) should not be used as a foot in the door technique to try and pressure individuals to enroll in a college.
If I were you, I might do whatever I could to make sure the information is used for good purposes (I.e., with a focus on understanding and helping to mitigate barriers to matriculation that are faced by applicants, or understanding ways in which the college may not meet the needs/desires of some prospective students). But I would not focus on the draw for a gift card as an ethical issue.
posted by DTMFA at 1:24 PM on February 5, 2021
If the second, the practice of offering compensation to survey participants is fine, and does not warrant concern/effort on your part. I would not take this up the chain of command.
If the first, I still don't think this violates the code of ethics you posted above although it is definitely ethically murky and participation in a survey (paid or not) should not be used as a foot in the door technique to try and pressure individuals to enroll in a college.
If I were you, I might do whatever I could to make sure the information is used for good purposes (I.e., with a focus on understanding and helping to mitigate barriers to matriculation that are faced by applicants, or understanding ways in which the college may not meet the needs/desires of some prospective students). But I would not focus on the draw for a gift card as an ethical issue.
posted by DTMFA at 1:24 PM on February 5, 2021
Enrollment in higher ed is crashing in so many places right now. I'm sure the marketing folks are under tremendous pressure. I think you need to tread carefully here because I don't think there's even anything close to ethically murky. Run it by your director if you are confused, but I think you might missing the big picture here.
This project began in Marketing; its data will be directed to recruiters, and there will be no "study" as such. It's an effort to harvest likely prospects, and that is the end all, be all of it.
This is a very typical marketing function. You're using words like harvest. Try this framing: "My college wants to find out why students we accepted did not attend. Therefore, we are going to survey people who were admitted but declined to attend. We want to find out what we could have done better or differently. We know these people might not want to complete the survey, so we'll give them an incentive. We'll use the results of the survey to inform our future efforts in recruitment and admissions."
Marketing is not inherently evil (unless capitalism is evil, which, maybe!). Even without the pandemic, higher ed is facing a major decline in enrollment because Gen Z is smaller than the millennial generation. Many schools are about to face huge budget cuts, and the pressure is on marketing to get more students on campus. These kinds of efforts are the only way many colleges can even begin to imagine surviving the next few years.
This isn't a research study where the IRB needs to get involved. It's a customer survey. This study is also happening at many colleges across the US right now. Do you have peers in admissions at other schools? Check in with those folks, and I think you'll find out this kind of survey is very common.
posted by bluedaisy at 6:26 PM on February 5, 2021 [1 favorite]
This project began in Marketing; its data will be directed to recruiters, and there will be no "study" as such. It's an effort to harvest likely prospects, and that is the end all, be all of it.
This is a very typical marketing function. You're using words like harvest. Try this framing: "My college wants to find out why students we accepted did not attend. Therefore, we are going to survey people who were admitted but declined to attend. We want to find out what we could have done better or differently. We know these people might not want to complete the survey, so we'll give them an incentive. We'll use the results of the survey to inform our future efforts in recruitment and admissions."
Marketing is not inherently evil (unless capitalism is evil, which, maybe!). Even without the pandemic, higher ed is facing a major decline in enrollment because Gen Z is smaller than the millennial generation. Many schools are about to face huge budget cuts, and the pressure is on marketing to get more students on campus. These kinds of efforts are the only way many colleges can even begin to imagine surviving the next few years.
This isn't a research study where the IRB needs to get involved. It's a customer survey. This study is also happening at many colleges across the US right now. Do you have peers in admissions at other schools? Check in with those folks, and I think you'll find out this kind of survey is very common.
posted by bluedaisy at 6:26 PM on February 5, 2021 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by EllaEm at 7:22 AM on February 4, 2021 [3 favorites]