Under College policy, evaluations of teaching must be solicited from students at the end of every course. Evaluations may take any form. Departments often develop specific policies for evaluation. There is only one University-wide requirement: every evaluation must include a question on the oral communication competence of the instructor.

Procedures for Student Evaluation of Teaching

Procedures for evaluation must ensure that student evaluations are anonymous and uninfluenced by the instructor. Instructors should follow these procedures:

• allow enough time for the evaluation,
• inform students that the process is important to the instructor for improving the course and teaching methods and that constructive recommendations will be taken seriously,
• remind students that the instructor will not have access to the evaluations until after grades have been submitted,
• designate a student to deliver the forms (to the departmental office or to Evaluation and Examination Service) or to put them in campus mail in an envelope addressed to the department or to EES, and
• leave the room while students are completing the forms.

The University's Evaluation and Examination Service (300 Jefferson Building, 335-0356), has developed several evaluation forms for use in University classrooms. Instructors may select elements from an item pool or they may generate their own items; questions may be closed or open-ended. EES provides the forms, processes them, and summarizes the data at no charge. The deadlines for requesting this service are in early November for fall semester courses and in early April for spring semester courses.

Many instructors also find it beneficial to have a mid-term or earlier evaluation of the class for their own use. Instructors may devise their own instruments of evaluation, or may work with EES to arrange these evaluations. Instructors who choose to do such evaluations should assure students that these evaluations are optional and develop ways to preserve the anonymity of the responses.

Keeping Student Evaluations of Teaching on Files

Student evaluations of teaching must be kept on file as evidence of teaching effectiveness in all reviews of teaching assistants and of tenure-track and non-tenure-track faculty.

At the time of the tenure review, faculty must have all student evaluations since the beginning of the appointment available for inclusion in the promotion dossier. At the time of a tenured faculty review or a review for promotion to full professor, tenured faculty must have available for the review dossier all student evaluations of teaching obtained for each course taught since the previous review. For a faculty member who undergoes tenured faculty review before review for promotion to full professor, the summary of teaching evaluations prepared for the tenured faculty review must be available at the time of the promotion review, as well as all student evaluations of teaching obtained after the tenured faculty review.

For teaching assistants, all student evaluations of teaching must be kept on file from the initial appointment until the time the individual leaves the University. For lecturers, visiting faculty, and adjunct faculty, the evaluations must be kept on file for five years. For clinical-track faculty, evaluations since the previous review for reappointment or promotion must be kept on file