The University of Iowa

Under College policy, evaluations of teaching must be solicited from students at the end of every course.

This includes courses taught by teaching assistants or adjunct instructors. It also includes Saturday and Evening courses, GIS courses, and courses taught in the summer and winter sessions.

Courses that are cross-listed are evaluated by the department or program which is the administrative home of the course.

Evaluations may take any form, with departments often developing specific evaluation policies. There is only one University-wide requirement: every evaluation must include a question on the oral communication competence of the instructor.

The University's Evaluation and Examination Service has developed forms that may be used for the evaluation of teaching, if desired. Instructors may select elements from an item pool or 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. Visit the EES web site for more information on deadlines and procedures.

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 are taken seriously.
• Remind students that the instructor do 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.
• Leave the room while students are completing the forms.

Optional Mid-term Evaluations

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

 

Keeping Student Evaluations on File

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

In reviews for tenure and/or promotion to associate professor, the faculty member must include (as an appendix to the promotion dossier) the student evaluations for each course taught since he or she joined the UI tenure-track faculty.

In reviews for promotion to full professor, faculty must include as an appendix to the promotion dossier the student evaluations for each course taught since the tenure review (or for the previous seven years if the interval since the tenure review has been longer than seven years).

In peer reviews of tenured faculty, the review committee must examine student evaluations of teaching for all courses taught since the previous tenured faculty review or promotion review (ordinarily a five-year period).

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 review, evaluations since the previous review for reappointment or promotion must be kept on file.