Course Evaluations

Fall 2009 Course Evaluation Calendar

What are course evaluations?
Course evaluations are surveys of student opinions of the instructor and the course and are intended to help faculty members improve their teaching.

How are the course evaluations used?
Course evaluations are an important source of information as individual faculty members assess their teaching effectiveness. They are used in annual reviews for reappointment and merit increases.

What courses will be evaluated?
Course evaluations are created for every course except student teaching, internship programs, and independent study courses. Instructors are evaluated regardless of tenure status.

When are courses evaluated?
Course evaluations are conducted at the end of each regular class, including 5-week, 8-week, and semester long classes. Semester courses are evaluated during the two weeks prior to semester finals week. Summer course evaluations are not required but can be created upon request. Summer course evaluations must use the online method.

How will the course be evaluated?
Instructors have two options for the method of evaluation distribution: paper (in-class) or online (invitations to evaluate the class will be sent to the students' mail.usi.edu email account).
NEW!!! Blackboard Integration for online courses. The course evaluation appears under a Class Climate header on the student's Blackboard homepage.

Each semester, instructors will be sent a request to indicate their preference for method of evaluation distribution for their courses. This request will be sent during the first few weeks of classes to USI-issued email accounts only. NOTE: Course evaluations for the College of Nursing and Health Professions are conducted using the online method only.

Will instructors know an individual student's evaluation scoring?
Security and anonymity of student responses is of utmost importance. Individual evaluation forms are not given to faculty members. Instead, a faculty member receives a statistical summary of the course evaluations after final grades have been submitted. This report is sent to the faculty member's USI issued employee email address.

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