FAQ Student Course Evaluation | FAQ Clerkship Evaluation | FAQ Selective Evaluation

Are course evaluations required?

The first and second year course directors have voted to require the completion of electronic course evaluations within 2 days of each final examination. Grades will be released for all students who have completed their course evaluations by 5pm on the second university working day following the final examination for the course.

When are first and second year course evaluations conducted?

Courses are evaluated at their completion. Student evaluations of first and second year courses are distributed according to a schedule that takes breaks, vacations, community weeks, and even weekends into consideration. These adjustments to the schedule are made to maximize students' opportunity to respond to the course evaluation. Thus, the timing of evaluation distribution, reminders and reporting are adjusted to only consider days that students are actually on campus with e-mail access. The general schedule is as follows:

Activity When? (adjusted for when students are on campus)
Course evaluation sent 1 day prior to last class
First reminder sent (to students who have not yet responded) 1 university working day after the final exam
First non-respondent notice to course director 3 university working days after the final exam (in morning)
Final reminder to non-respondents 9 university working days after the final exam
Report to course director and final non-respondent notice 11 university working days after the final exam

Slight modifications to the schedule may also be made at the end of the academic year to permit students to respond to course evaluations while they are still on campus.

What questions are asked on the course evaluation form?

The form covers many aspects of the course as related to its stated learning objectives. It attempts to address instructional methods rather than individual instructors. Beginning with the 2006-07 academic year, course directors may submit up to five questions targeting specific course activities or aspects to OED for inclusion on the standard course evaluation form; school administration may submit up to two such questions. Here's what the form looks like.

Why are reminders sent?

The product used for course evaluation has a reminder feature. Although we would prefer not to remind, we have found that response rates are significantly improved when this feature is used. Once a student submits a response, the student is no longer sent reminders. The electronic survey program determines who should receive reminders based on its database of respondents.

Have other questions? Let us know and we'll get them answered.

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10.12.06