Student Evaluation of Teaching Policy

Recommended By
The Academic Senate
Approved
Ruben Armiñana, President
Issue Date
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
Current Issue Date
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
Effective Date
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
Contact Office
University Affairs
Policy number
2014-1

Information from the student evaluations of teaching effectiveness (SETE) is used as one element of assessing instructional effectiveness, but not as the sole indicator of such effectiveness. This policy outlines the methods that apply to the electronic SETE instrument, administration of the SETE, and access to SETE data, and, is consistent with past practices at SSU, the SSU RTP policy, and the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).

  1. Instrumentation

    1. The SETE instrument shall consist of a common set of closed-ended questions to be used by all faculty members. These questions shall address the criteria of teaching effectiveness (or their equivalent) listed in SSU RTP policy section II.B.1.
    2. Each school, department, or program may select additional closed-ended and/or open ended questions to evaluate all faculty members in the respective school, department, or program. New questions or changes to the questions must be reviewed by all faculty unit employees in the school, department, or program, and approved by a simple majority vote of the faculty unit employees in the respective unit. Once approved these must be distributed to all faculty who will be evaluated with these questions and sent to Faculty Affairs by the end of the spring semester for inclusion in the following academic year evaluation cycle.
    3. The Faculty Standards and Affairs Committee (FSAC) is responsible for determining the common questions with any changes subject to Academic Senate approval. FSAC is responsible for creating instructions for using the instrument, in conjunction with the office of Faculty Affairs. FSAC will review the instrument at least every five years and report review outcomes to the Academic Senate.
  2. Administration

    1. All courses taught by each faculty unit employee shall be evaluated (as per CBA) with the exception of classes where enrollment is at or below 5 students, or for courses with CS codes of 77 and 78 (e.g., peer-taught or non-traditional courses).
    2. The SETE will open for student input within the last three weeks of classes. This is herein defined as the beginning of the second to last week of scheduled instruction for the University.
    3. Each school will determine the end date for student input to the SETE in their respective school. The choices for the end date are the last day of scheduled instruction or the last day of finals for the University. The School Dean must notify Faculty Affairs by the end of the spring semesterto request a change for the upcoming academic year.
    4. Courses officially scheduled with an early end date will be processed on a case-by-case basis.
    5. One week before the University opens the SETE for student access, students will be sent notice via official university communication methods that the SETE is available for each course in which the students are enrolled (minus the exceptions noted above). Such notice will explain the purpose of the SETE and provide explicit instructions on how to complete the evaluation.
    6. One week before the University opens the SETE for student access, instructors will receive notice via official university communication methods that SETE notices have been sent to students. This message will include a copy of the message sent to the students and will request instructors to encourage their students to complete the SETE.
    7. Student evaluations of teaching effectiveness shall be anonymous (re: SSU RTP Policy section II.B.2.b.iii).
    8. If the instructor chooses to use class time for students to complete the SETE, the instructor shall not be in the room when students are completing the evaluation (re: SSU RTP Policy section II.B.2.b.iii).
  3. Access
    1. Instructors will receive for each of their courses the summarized results of closed-ended questions, the complete verbatim responses to open-ended questions, and an aggregate summary of the closed-ended responses in the department in the current semester, after the end of the semester and all final grades have been submitted by the instructor.
    2. Access to individual instructor results and aggregate summaries at the department and school level shall be made available to authorized personnel through the Office of the Associate Vice President for Faculty Affairs. The following list provides pre-approved levels of access:
      1. Individual instructor results and aggregate summaries within a department/program – Department Chair/Program Coordinator, Department RTP Committee, School RTP Committee, University RTP Committee
      2. Individual instructor results and aggregate summaries within and between departments/programs within a school – School Dean
    3. Access to data by individuals/committees at SSU, not specified above, must request access through Faculty Affairs.
    4. Each approved request for data will be logged in the Office of the Associate Vice President for Faculty Affairs.