When student affairs professionals assess their work, they often employ some type of survey. The use of surveys stems from a desire to objectively measure outcomes, a demand from someone else (e.g., supervisor, accreditation committee) for data, or the feeling that numbers can provide an aura of competence. Although surveys are effective tools for gathering information, many people don't know how to create a survey that accurately measures what they want to know. Better survey instruments will enable student affairs professionals to use the outcomes to drive decision making. This brief offers five suggestions for avoiding common mistakes in survey design and use, and for facilitating the development of high-quality surveys that can be used to gather data for evidence-based decisions. Senior administrators and their staffs can use the brief as an introductory guide and a checklist of the fundamentals of survey development, implementation, and data interpretation. Rather than merely proving that the work of student affairs matters, a well-done assessment should focus on improving such work. Research and assessment moves the field forward by supplying information about what works for students, what does not work, and the causes of successes and failures. Just as medical doctors study and share the factors that promote health, student affairs practitioners have an obligation to empirically demonstrate effective methods of promoting student learning. If surveys are a primary tool for gaining this kind of knowledge, they must be done correctly. This brief is a starting point for better surveys and more robust analysis of the data resulting from them.