About Qualtrics at Cedarville
This article is for Cedarville faculty, staff, and students who need to access Qualtrics, create and distribute a survey, or select an appropriate response-collection method.
Open Qualtrics at Cedarville. Cedarville faculty, staff, and students can sign in with their Cedarville username in the form username@cedarville.edu and their Cedarville password; a separate Qualtrics account is not needed.
For product-specific instructions that change with the Qualtrics interface, use the linked Qualtrics support pages below. If you cannot sign in or do not have a feature described here, contact the IT Service Desk.
Before you collect responses
- Decide whether you need a reusable public link, individually tracked invitations, Cedarville sign-in, or anonymized response data.
- Build and preview the survey before distributing it. Use Qualtrics’ testing guidance to test safely.
- Set an availability end date or pause response collection when the survey closes. The Distributions overview explains survey activation, response collection, and closing a survey.
- Send a test invitation and complete a test response before sending to a large group. Confirm the link, wording, recipient experience, and any follow-up email or workflow.
Create and preview a survey
- From the Qualtrics Projects page, select Create project.
- Choose a survey project, name it clearly, and add questions in the survey editor.
- Use Preview to review the respondent experience on desktop and mobile before distribution.
- Review survey options, including availability, response handling, and security, before activating the survey.
For question types, survey logic, survey flow, and other general authoring guidance, see the Qualtrics Survey tab overview.
Choose how to distribute the survey
Open the Distributions tab to activate the survey and choose a channel. Qualtrics supports email invitations, reusable web links, QR codes, and other methods. You can use more than one distribution method for a survey.
- Email invitations with individual links: Use a contact list and the Qualtrics mailer when you need one invitation per recipient, delivery tracking, reminders, or response association with the contact list.
- Reusable anonymous link: Use one link that can be posted in an email, website, or other communication when recipients do not need individual invitations or tracking.
- Personal links: Use these when a third-party mail system will send the invitations but you still need individual links.
See Qualtrics distribution options for current channel-specific instructions.
Send email invitations to a contact list
Use a contact list when you are sending individualized invitations through Qualtrics or need to manage recipients. Prepare a CSV or TSV file with an Email column and one recipient per row, then import it into your Qualtrics directory or contact list.
- Create or open the contact list in Qualtrics.
- Import the CSV or TSV file and review the field mapping before completing the import.
- In the survey’s Distributions tab, select the email distribution method and choose the contact list.
- Send a test invitation to yourself or a small test group. Verify the survey link and the recipient experience before sending the full distribution.
Qualtrics requires an Email column for mailing-list imports. See its Distributions overview for current contact-list and email-distribution guidance.
Require Cedarville sign-in
Use an SSO authenticator when a survey must require respondents to sign in with Cedarville credentials. In the survey editor, add an Authenticator element near the top of the Survey Flow, then select the Cedarville SSO connection available in the account.
Authentication changes the response and privacy model. Do not combine it with a claim that responses are anonymous unless you have also configured and tested Anonymize responses as described below. If the Cedarville SSO connection is not available, contact the IT Service Desk rather than selecting an unfamiliar connection.
See the Qualtrics Authenticator overview for current setup options.
Anonymity: link type and response data are separate choices
An anonymous link and Anonymize responses solve different problems. Choose and test both settings before collecting responses.
- Anonymous link: A single reusable link that anyone with the link can use. It does not collect names or email addresses unless the survey asks for them or another feature adds them. By default, it can still collect IP-address-based location data.
- Anonymize responses: A Survey Options setting that permanently removes identifying information from responses recorded after the setting is enabled. With anonymous-link responses, it removes the IP address, location data, and other default Qualtrics fields. With individual-link responses, it removes IP and location data and disconnects the response from the contact.
To share a reusable link, open Distributions, choose the web or anonymous-link distribution option, and copy the generated link. Anyone who receives it may be able to take the survey. If you need to limit repeated submissions or restrict access, review the applicable security options before distributing.
Important: An anonymous link does not by itself guarantee anonymous response data. Do not ask identifying questions, append identifying embedded data, or require authentication if your intent is anonymous responses. Enabling Anonymize responses affects only responses collected after it is enabled and permanently removes the associated information.
For the current settings and limitations, see Security Survey Options and Anonymous Link in Qualtrics Support.
Send a notification after a response
If someone needs an email notification when a response is completed, use a Workflow email task where it is available. Qualtrics recommends workflows over legacy email triggers. Configure the condition, recipients, message, and any response details carefully, then test with a non-production response before collecting live data.
Legacy email triggers may still be available in some projects, but their location has changed in the newer survey editor and Qualtrics no longer recommends them for new work. See Qualtrics post-survey options for the current workflow and trigger guidance.
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