Student Evaluation of Teaching – May 16, 2019

Page 1 of 5

STUDENT

EVALUATION

TEACHING

POLICY

Policy Type:

Academic

Initially

Approved:

May 16, 2019

Policy Sponsor:

Provost and Vice-

President,

Academic

Last

Revised:

Primary Contact: Vice-Provost,

Academic

Review

Scheduled: May 16, 2025

Approver:

General Faculties Council

OVERVIEW

Student Evaluation of Teaching (“SET”) is the primary method that students use to provide

feedback about their instructor’s teaching. Faculty can use this feedback to help improve their

teaching and may incorporate SET results in various reports and evaluative processes. SET results

can become part of a full-time Instructor’s annual report, are required in tenure dossiers, and may

be used in contract faculty appointment and re-appointment procedures.

PURPOSE

The Student Evaluation of Teaching policy governs the administration of SET in credit courses at

the University and is aligned with related articles in the Collective Agreement between the Mount

Royal Faculty Association and the Board of Governors of Mount Royal University.

SCOPE

This Policy applies to all academic units and Instructors delivering instruction in credit courses at

the University.

POLICY STATEMENT

Student Evaluation of Teaching

1.1

Student Evaluation of Teaching is one component of the University’s holistic

approach to evaluation of teaching which integrates multiple methods of collecting

formative and summative feedback on teaching effectiveness.

1.2

There shall be a University wide Student Evaluation of Teaching system for collecting

data from students for all courses subject to evaluation.

1.3

The administration and use of SET shall be consistent with relevant articles in the

collective agreement between the MRFA and the Board of Governors.

1.4

The Associate Vice-President, Academic is responsible for the administrative

oversight of SET. Institutional Analysis and Planning (IAP) is responsible for the day-

Student Evaluation of Teaching – May 16, 2019

Page 2 of 5

to-day management and administration of SET in alignment with the Collective

Agreement, UTPC guidelines and University policies.

1.5

Chairs of academic units will ensure that instructors are informed of policies and

procedures relating to SET.

1.6

Newly-appointed faculty members (full-time and contract) shall be oriented to the

purposes of SET, processes related to SET administration, and how to interpret SET

results prior to receiving their first SET results at the University.

1.7

Members of Tenure and Promotion committees shall receive training in the

interpretation of SET results, such training to be integrated in tenure and promotion

workshops conducted by the MRFA and the Office of the Provost and Vice-

President, Academic.

1.8

SET instruments shall consist of both required and optional components:

a. Required

Feedback on Instruction.

ii.

Feedback on the Course.

iii.

Student Background.

b. Optional

Supplemental items as specified for each approved SET instrument.

1.9

The Student Perceptions of Teaching (SPoT) instrument shall be the instrument

used for SET in classroom-based credit courses. Instruction offered in non-

classroom settings (e.g. practicum, clinical, laboratory, other) may be evaluated

using a customized instrument approved by the Teaching-Learning Standing

Committee of GFC.

1.10

The minimum number of SETs to be conducted by an instructor will be as specified

in the Collective Agreement.

a. An instructor may elect to have more courses evaluated than those required by

the Collective Agreement. These evaluations shall be part of the faculty

member’s file, unless otherwise stated by the faculty member. These additional

evaluations shall be shared with the faculty member and the Chair, and the Dean

as appropriate.

1.11

The University will maintain a repository for all feedback collected by SET

instruments within the content management system in accordance with the retention

schedules included in the Records and Information Management Program Policy.

2. Administration

2.1

Academic Affairs is responsible for identifying all courses and instructors eligible for

evaluation each semester.

2.2

Academic units will confirm those courses and sections that are being delivered each

semester, and shall ensure that course and instructor information is accurate prior

to administration.

Student Evaluation of Teaching – May 16, 2019

Page 3 of 5

2.3

Communication to students concerning SET shall address the following:

a. Students shall be informed of the purposes of SETs when they are invited to

complete their instructor’s SET and on the SET instrument itself.

b. Students shall be informed that their identity will be kept strictly confidential from

the faculty member being evaluated at all times.

c. Students shall be informed that, because they must log in to an electronic system

to complete their SET, their responses are not completely anonymous and that

the system administrator in IAP is able to link responses to individual students.

2.4

If at any point, an individual involved in administering SET instruments believes that

student feedback may indicate a threat to the safety and/or well-being of the student

or a member of the University community, the Associate Vice-President, Academic

will engage the appropriate University resources to address the concerns.

2.5

Instructors, in consultation with their Chair and IAP, shall choose the timing of the

Student Evaluation of Teaching with a view to affording students reasonable

opportunity to respond within a pre-set response window for each semester.

a. The default response window for full-semester classes shall normally be the final

20 business days of the teaching semester.

b. The default response window for non-standard courses (online courses, block

courses, spring or summer courses, 1.5 credit classes, etc.) shall be adjusted by

IAP in consultation with the AVP, Academic.

Reporting and Disclosure of Results

3.1

IAP is responsible for summarizing and distributing the results of SETs to all

appropriate recipients.

3.2

All SETs are reviewed by IAP to comply with Alberta’s Freedom of Information and

Protection of Privacy Act, as amended. The identity of individual student respondents

shall be kept strictly confidential from the instructors being evaluated.

3.3

Results from SETs shall not be disclosed to faculty until final grades of the relevant

semester have been released.

3.4

Instructors and their Chair (or Supervisor) shall discuss SET results when requested

by either party. Signed copies of the results shall be filed in the instructor’s official

personnel file, and tenure dossier as appropriate.

3.5

Results from SPoT’s Instruction items (Section A) and associated student

comments, as well as results from SPoT’s Student Background items (Section D)

are reported to the individual faculty member and Chair, and shared with other

audiences (e.g. tenure committees) as stipulated in the Collective Agreement. This

report shall be called the Official Report.

Results from SPoT’s Course items (Section B) and associated open-ended

comments are normally reported only to the instructor, for formative purposes. For

purposes of cyclical program review or program accreditation, aggregate and

anonymized course item results may be provided by IAP upon request of the

academic unit chair and with approval of the dean.

Student Evaluation of Teaching – May 16, 2019

Page 4 of 5

Results from Supplemental items added by the faculty member (Section C) are

reported only to the instructor, for formative purposes.

The report containing results from SPoT’s course items and supplemental items shall

be called the Individual Instructor Report.

3.6

Instructors, through their Chair and with approval of the Dean, may request IAP to

remove discriminatory and vexatious comment(s) from the Official Report and the

Individual Instructor Report. The comment(s), and the student’s quantitative

responses, will be removed from the data and the reports updated. The comment(s)

will be retained for a period of one year by IAP, after which, the file will be deleted.

3.7

Within 10 business days of receiving the Official Report, faculty members shall have

the opportunity to provide written responses to SETs to help contextualize the

results.

3.8

At the end of each academic year, an annual report will be submitted to GFC by the

Office of the Provost that summarizes SET related data, trends and issues, including

but not limited to student response rates.

4. Exceptions

4.1

In situations where SETs must be conducted in a class of less than five students, the

Instructor will consult with their Chair regarding appropriate alternatives to the

standard SET.

4.2

The Teaching-Learning Standing Committee of GFC shall review and recommend to

GFC any SET instruments or forms that are developed, or revised, for the purpose

of assessing alternative (non-classroom) forms of teaching including but not limited

to clinicals, practica, laboratories, library instruction, educational development

(ADC) and counselling.

DEFINITIONS

(1)

Instructor:

means an employee teaching credit courses and performing

related duties

(2)

Policy:

means the Student Evaluation of Teaching Policy

(3)

GFC

means General Faculties Council

(4)

University:

means Mount Royal University

RELATED POLICIES

•

Records and Information Management Program Policy

RELATED LEGISLATION

•

Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act

Student Evaluation of Teaching – May 16, 2019

Page 5 of 5

RELATED DOCUMENTS

●

UPTC Form 300 – Instructor Feedback

●

SPot instrument

●

Collective Agreement between the Board of Governors of Mount Royal University and the

Mount Royal Faculty Association

REVISION HISTORY

Date

(mm/dd/yyyy)

Description of

Change

Sections

Person who

Entered Revision

(Position Title)

Person who

Authorized

Revision

(Position Title)

01/29/2020

Editorial

Template Update

Policy Specialist

University Secretary