Privacy
General Student FAQs
Completing Evaluations
Requesting Evaluations Evaluation Results
Privacy
Are my responses anonymous?
Yes! Once you submit your evaluation it is stored separately from any identifying information.
Then why do I have to login?
You need to login so that the system can determine which courses you are enrolled in, which of those have the option for online evaluations, and whether or not you have completed an evaluation for a specific course. This is only to prevent individuals from submitting evaluations for courses they were not enrolled in or from submitting multiple evaluations for the same course. A submitted evaluation can not be traced back to you.
I am in a small class. What prevents my instructor(s) from determining who provided the written responses?
For any course section with five or fewer students enrolled the information returned to the instructor will contain only aggregate data; no individual responses will be included in the report provided to the instructor.
General Student FAQs
Do I have to complete the entire evaluation?
No, you do not. However you are encouraged to provide as much information as possible. Some forms (those that appear mid-term) tend to be just for instructors so they can better understand their class and what changes they may need to make. Other forms, typically those that appear at end-of-semester, may influence decisions as far as tenure and salary. What you answer is up to you but you are urged to help in this process.
Can I go back and change my evaluation?
No. Once you have submitted an evaluation the system records this fact so you can not submit another evaluation for the same portion of a course. The answers you provide are stored separately and without any information identifying you as the submitter so neither your instructors nor those people who support the evaluation system will be able to recover your individual responses.
Can instructors view my individual responses?
No. For the same reasons you can not change an evaluation you have already submitted, instructors can not see your individual responses. Additionally, University policy does not allow instructors to know who submitted what responses.
How do instructors see the results?
The information is stored electronically and, once the evaluation period has ended and the deadline for grade reporting has passed, responses are compiled and provided to the instructor. The department chair will also receive a copy of the evaluation results, less any individual comments.
Completing Evaluations
When can I complete my course evaluations?
The available period for completing course evaluations varies by term. Generally, for the Fall and Spring terms, mid-semester evaluations are available for completion during weeks six through eight (6-8) of the term while end-of-semester evaluations may be completed during the final two weeks of instruction for these terms. The evaluation period closes on the last day prior to the official start of the final examination period. Due to the varying date ranges for summer term, IDL, and certain other classes, course evaluation periods vary on a class-by-class basis. For most courses, end-of-semester evaluations will still occur during the final two weeks of a course.
Will I get a reminder to complete my course evaluations?
Yes. At the beginning of each course evaluation period, any student who has evaluations to complete will receive an email to this effect. During the evaluation period several reminders are sent out to students who have not yet completed their course evaluations.
Can I have my name removed from the list of people who will receive reminders?
University-assigned student e-mail accounts are the University's official means of communication with all students. Professors are required to submit evaluations by students of their teaching. Your instructors who are using the online evaluation process are communicating through normal channels to tell you about it, so we are not able to remove your name from the mailing list.
The evaluation period has passed. Can I still complete my evaluations?
No, the mid-semester and end-of-semester evaluation periods are firm and established in accordance with policy pertaining to course evaluations.
The instructor listed on the evaluation is not the correct one. Should I still complete the evaluation?
If you encounter this problem, do not complete the evaluation. Contact your instructor as soon as possible and advise him/her of this problem.
Requesting Evaluations
What types of evaluations are offered?
Both mid-semester and end-of-semester course evaluations are available through the online system. Evaluations can be set up to use any of the standard student evaluation of teaching (SET) forms or a general TA evaluation form. Custom evaluation forms can also be created, given enough notice. Please contact Dave Johnson at eval@umn.edu for more information regarding customized evaluation forms.
When are the evaluation periods?
For Fall and Spring terms, mid-semester evaluations are offered for completion during the sixth through eighth weeks of the term and end-of-semester evaluations are offered during the final two weeks of instruction; the last day evaluations may be completed by students is the day before the final examination period begins.
I team teach a course. Which instructor will get evaluated?
Assuming only one instructor teaches a specific part of the course (i.e. separate instructors for lab, lecture, and discussion sections), each instructor will be evaluated for their portion. If more than one instructor is involved in the same area, separate evaluation forms will be made available for each instructor.
Who should I contact if I want mid-term evaluations for one or more of my classes?
Submit a request for the form you would like to use for mid-semester evaluations using the Request to Participate form at [https://eval.umn.edu/request.pl].
How do I request evaluations for more than one course?
You will need to sumbit a separate evaluation request for each course you wish to have evaluated. For courses with multiple sections, please indicate if you would like all sections or specific sections evaluated.
How do I request evaluations for more than one section of the same course?
You may request evaluations for multiple sections of the same course using a single evaluation request form. Be certain to either check the "All Sections" box or provide a list of sections to be evaluated in the space provided. If you wish to use different evaluation forms for different sections you will need to submit separate requests.
When are requests for online evaluations due?
We ask that you submit your requests to have online evaluations at least two business days before the beginning of the evaluation period. Once we receive your request we will create the evaluation(s) and send you a message to this effect, which you should verify. The two business days are necessary for us to accomodate all the requests we receive before the evaluations are opened to students.
I teach more than one course. What should I do if I want all of my courses to use online evaluations? What if I only want one specific course?
You should submit a separate evaluation for each course you teach. If you teach more than one section of the same course, you may submit a single request for that course but need to be clear on which sections are to be evaluated.
My entire department wants to use online course evaluations. How do we make this request?
A contact person within the department should send an email to eval@umn.edu and ask for further information on setting up evaluations for an entire department. We will send the contact person a list of all courses, sections, and instructors within the department and ask that they check off which courses are to be evaluated. Alternatively, if your department has a list of course sections and instructors to be evaluated, you may provide us with this list and we will use it to create the evaluations.
Evaluation Results
When will the results from my evaluations be ready?
Once the final grade reporting deadline for the term passes, evaluation results are made available online to instructors. There may be an additional delay if more time is needed to process results but they will generally be available once the reporting deadline has past.
What results will I receive?
You will receive summary information from all completed evaluations, including a breakdown of each question posed on the evaluation form as well as individual comments. Will departments still receive evaluation results? If so, how and when?
Once the evaluation period has ended, summary information for all evaluations offered within a department will be created and that information will be forwarded to the department chair. Why does the report containing my results indicate Form F-SR was used when a different form was used?
All evaluations offered using non-standard forms will be reported to have used "Form F-SR" in the multiple-choice report. How do I find my online evaluation results?
To check the results of your online evaluations follow the steps below. - Go to http://eval.umn.edu
- Under the Instructors heading of the table in the center of the page, choose the View List of Your Classes with Evaluations link.
- Authenticate for access.
- You should see a list of courses with links to two reports:
- Multiple-Choice Responses
- Comments Report
- Open the reports in your browser; or download the reports to your desktop and open with a pdf reader (like Adobe Acrobat.) If you have trouble opening a file with a .pl extension, change it to .pdf and try again.
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