OFFICE OF THE PROVOST
8 Clarkson Avenue
Potsdam, New York
13699 315-268-6544
clarkson.edu
TO: Academic Administrators, Faculty, and Academic Support Staff
FROM: Chris Robinson, Provost
SUBJECT: Teaching Evaluations 2024 Spring Sessions
DATE: January 9, 2024
Please distribute to the appropriate Chairs, Associate Deans, Faculty, and Academic Support Staff
With approvals attained through Clarkson’s shared University governance process (Faculty Senate and its Teaching Excellence Committee, Administrative Council, and Provost), Teaching Evaluations will continue to be conducted as follows:
All teaching evaluations will be available online via PeopleSoft. Evaluations will be activated automatically for all courses (except lab & recitation sections, thesis advising, independent study, seminars, and courses/sections with fewer than three students enrolled). All teaching evaluations will be completed by students online.
The Faculty Center in PeopleSoft will display a listing of courses that are activated for teaching evaluations and the specific dates that the evaluation will be ‘live.’ Below are options for changes through the Faculty Center in PeopleSoft:
● For courses that are not activated automatically, a radio button is available for the instructor of record to activate the teaching evaluation form for labs, recitations, or other courses with enrollment of more than three.
● If you are an instructor of record for a course that should not have teaching evaluations conducted, but the course is active in the system, please have the appropriate unit administrator contact the IT HelpDesk, helpdesk@clarkson.edu to request removal from the evaluation tool.
For proper processing, please ensure all additions, corrections, or updates to the Master Schedule have been completed and entered into myCU before the teaching evaluation system goes live (date may be located in the faculty center). Changes for your attention may include additional sections not originally in the Master
Schedule, sections taught by instructors different from the Master Schedule listing, and section-instructor designations for team-taught courses. Self-serve changes not possible through departments may be submitted to the Registrar’s Office at academicscheduling@clarkson.edu.
Each Department is responsible for the accuracy and completeness of the instructor data included in the Master Schedule. Also note: the data from the Master Schedule is the source for the data load into Interfolio. This includes courses taught, advisor assignments, teaching evaluations, etc.
Instructions for Implementing Teaching Evaluations
- During the teaching evaluation period, at the end of the term, students will be directed to a teaching evaluation form within PeopleSoft whenever they log in. They will also receive periodic reminder emails during the evaluation period for any evaluations that have not yet been submitted.
- Faculty members are encouraged to send a message to students to remind them the evaluations are open. Since all courses are currently online, faculty do not need to dedicate a period of synchronous course delivery time for students to complete their evaluations.
- To mitigate bias in course evaluation outcomes when prompting students to complete evaluations, faculty should not communicate to the class ANY additional commentary that may influence student responses.
General Guidelines to Students for Completing Teaching Evaluations
For utmost transparency, this next section of content reflects instructions to students:
Teaching evaluations play an important role in improving faculty teaching effectiveness and supporting their professional development. They also provide insight into the student experience in a course and how the course could be improved for future students. The data gathered from the evaluations, since they help support and improve course quality, provide data that inform decisions concerning faculty tenure and promotion.
Your numerical ratings as well as your comments will be shared with the faculty member and their department chair. Instructors often find students’ written comments the most valuable element of teaching evaluations. To help your faculty get the most out of your end-of-term feedback, please keep the following in mind:
Remember that you are writing to your instructor. Your feedback can valuably influence the ways they teach this course and others in the future. Your comments should be solely focused on the course itself and the instructional quality you experienced.
Specific constructive suggestions that focus on your learning are far more useful than general critiques. It is far more helpful to say ‘short breaks would have helped me pay attention throughout the 3-hour lecture period’ than to say ‘all they did was lecture’. Both positive and negative feedback is most helpful when very specific.
Comments that are not related to your learning significantly diminish the value of your feedback. You are expected to mirror Clarkson values of caring and integrity. It is not helpful, and counter to Clarkson values, to comment upon an instructor’s appearance or to include personal insults in your feedback.
For general questions, please email apickeri@clarkson.edu
For technical or PeopleSoft related questions, please email helpdesk@clarkson.edu