FACULTY EMPLOYMENT
Instruction
Online Student Ratings of Courses
The process of evaluating an instructor’s scholarship of teaching and learning includes students’ ratings of instruction. The Provost’s Office, in coordination with various administrative units, manages students’ ratings of instruction using an online student ratings questionnaire delivered through the UAS course management system. The Provost’s Office administers these student ratings with the objectives of:
1) maximizing student participation;
2) increasing the timeliness and availability of student responses;
3) making the summary numerical data as well as the students’ electronically submitted comments available to the instructor, instructor’s supervisor, and Provost;
4) archiving students’ course evaluation data so that results are retrievable by the instructor, instructor’s supervisor, and Provost for the purposes of i) annual performance reviews, and ii) evaluations for retention, tenure, promotion, and post-tenure reviews;
5) collecting information about students’ perceptions of course-related technology/equipment, and library resources/services.
Online Course Evaluation Format
All courses use a standard four-section student ratings format with questions pertaining to:
Section 1. Instructor Performance;
Section 2. Skill Development - provision of opportunities for students to develop their skills in the six UAS core competencies;
Section 3. Technology and Equipment - the effectiveness of technology and equipment used;
Section 4. Library Resources and Services - adequacy of library resources and services used during the course.
Any modifications to Sections 1-4 must be approved by the Faculty Senate
and Provost, with three exceptions:
i) Before the default start date of the evaluation, an instructor may add up to four additional questions to Section 1;
ii) A Department Chair, or in the absence of a Chair, the Dean may give an instructor permission to eliminate one or more questions in Section 2, and up to the default start date of the evaluation the instructor may use the administrative mode to select the questions to be eliminated;
iii) A Department/Program may request that questions for all of its program-specific courses be added to Section 1
The faculty or program may add additional sections with their own questions after the end of Section 4.
Questions offer a five-point evaluation scale (ranging from Strongly disagree to Strongly agree, with numerical equivalents of 0-4), with ‘Not Applicable’ being an additional option where appropriate. For each section, students have an opportunity to electronically submit written comments.
Administration of Course Evaluation Questionnaires
Anonymity
The online student ratings system will keep students’ individual names separate from their responses, so students can be assured of anonymity in submitting the questionnaires. Students have the right to submit a blank questionnaire or opt out of submitting one at all.
Courses evaluated
All courses taught at UAS will be evaluated using this system. In team-taught courses, a single evaluation form will be used with instructor specific questions naming the individual instructors where appropriate.
Management of student ratings by instructor
Before the official start date for posting of questionnaires within the course management system, an instructor uses the “Instructor Tools” within the UAS Online course management system to:
1) add up to four supplementary questions to section 1, if desired;
2) use “student raters” within the course management system’s “Student Ratings” menu to confirm that the list of potential course evaluators matches an up-to-date class roster in Banner. A course instructor may choose to use the Registrar’s faculty-initiated withdrawal to start removing individuals from the class roster in Banner if they have failed to attend classes.
3) select options, other than the default, for reporting results, with the default being those outlined below under Release of Statistical Summary Information.
An instructor may use “Instructor Tools” within the course management system to set the beginning and end dates for submission of questionnaires only before the default start date. The latest end date would be the course ending date. The default beginning and end dates indicated in the table below will be implemented if the instructor does not reset the evaluation parameters using “Instructor Tools”:
|
Course Length
|
> 10 weeks
|
> 7 Weeks
|
<= 7 Weeks
|
| Default Start
|
@ 3 weeks before end of course
|
@ 2 weeks before end of course
|
@ 1 week
before end of course
|
| Earliest Start
|
@ 4 weeks
|
@ 3 weeks
|
@ 2nd Day
|
| Default End
|
Start of evaluation + 8 days
|
| Latest End
|
Course end date
|
| Shortest Duration
|
5 days
|
Student notification by instructor
Notification of the nature of course evaluation and dates for availability of the online student rating questionnaires is best communicated in course syllabi. Information students need to know:
- student ratings are only administered in an online (electronic) format;
- reasons why feedback and comments provided in the evaluations are important to the University and to the instructor;
- evaluation period for this course is between < date > and < date >;
- Provost’s office will notify students by e-mail to the student’s UAS account when the questionnaire is available for a particular course, and a reminder will be sent again two days prior to the end of the evaluation period;
- a link to the online course evaluation questionnaire will be provided in the Assignments section of the course site in the UAS course management system;
- where students may access computers to complete and submit questionnaires.
Student notification by the Provost’s Office
Students will receive notification from evaluations@uas.alaska.edu in their UAS e-mail account, or to their personal e-mail account with a commercial Internet service provider if they have forwarded their UAS e-mail. The e-mail will be sent on the first date when a student rating questionnaire is available for a particular course and include a direct link to the questionnaire. Unless the instructor has used Instructor Tools to alter the date(s) of administration, the first e-mail will be sent on the date indicated in the table above under Management of Student Ratings by Instructor.
Within two days of the end date set either by the instructor or the default remaining within the system, students who do not submit an online student rating questionnaire will receive a reminder from evaluations@uas.alaska.edu to their UAS e-mail account or, if UAS e-mail has been forwarded, to their personal e-mail account.
Release of Statistical Summary Information
All UAS courses will be evaluated but only lecture and lecture/lab courses with more than 3 enrolled students will have the results reported and distributed as per the below sections. None of the additional questions asked in added sections 5 or higher (if and when added by the department or instructor) will be evaluated statistically.
Section 1 Questions - Instructor Performance
The numerical results and students’ written comments for each question in section 1 Instructor Performance will be made available to the instructor, his/her supervisors, and the Provost as soon as possible after grades are recorded by the Registrar, but no later than one month after the course end date. The frequency distribution, mode, standard deviation, bar chart, mean and median scores for each question will be provided as summary statistics. A dated print copy of the output from Section 1 will be included in the instructor’s permanent Faculty Evaluation File in the Provost’s office. The output will contain the ratings for questions A-E and could contain the results from up to four additional questions chosen by the instructor and/or questions chosen by a program for all of its program-specific courses.
Before the start date for administration of the questionnaire, the instructor may choose to make the numerical results for Section 1 more widely available. A list of other possible recipients is available within “Instructor Tools” and includes students enrolled in the course (class roster for that term which is the default), all students, program faculty, or all faculty.
Section 2 Questions – Skill Development
The numerical results and students’ written comments on Section 2 Skill Development will be made available to the instructor, his/her supervisors, and the Provost as soon as possible after grades are recorded by the Registrar, but no later than one month after the course end date. The frequency distribution, mode, standard deviation, bar chart, mean and median scores for each question will be provided as summary statistics.
The instructor may want to use the results from section 2 as evidence in preparing files for retention, promotion, tenure, and post-tenure reviews. However, the results from section 2 will not be put in the instructor’s permanent Employee File in the Provost’s office
unless the instructor delivers a signed and dated copy of the results to the Provost’s office.
Section 3 Questions - Effectiveness of Technology and Equipment
In addition to the course instructor and his/her supervisors, the Provost’s office and its administrative units, including Information Technology Services, will have access to the numerical results and students’ written comments for the Technology and Equipment question for each course. The results from section 3 will not be put in the instructor’s permanent Employee File in the Provost’s office unless the instructor delivers a signed and dated copy of the results to the Provost’s office.
Section 4 Questions - Adequacy of Library Resources and Services
In addition to the course instructor and his/her supervisors, the Provost’s office and its administrative units as well as library faculty will have access to the numerical results and students’ written comments for the Library Resources and Services questions for each course. The results from Section 4 will not be put in the instructor’s permanent Employee File in the Provost’s office unless the instructor delivers a signed and dated copy of the results to the Provost’s office.
Aggregated results from Sections 1,2,3, and 4
Aggregated Section 1, 2, 3, and 4 results for all courses offered under the same course designator (e.g. ACCT, AKL, ALST, ANTH, etc.) will be made available by the Provost to Deans/Directors, faculty members, and students. This will not include instructor created questions. Year-to-year results may also be compiled.
Archiving and ongoing access to questionnaire results
The Provost’s office and its administrative units have responsibility for continuing archival access to questionnaire results by the instructor and his/her supervisors.
Adjunct evaluation files will be handled at the department level.
08/07
