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Student Rating of Teaching (SRT)


In late 2006 and early 2007 a University subcommittee was charged by the Senate Committee on Educational Policy (SCEP) and the Senate Committee on Faculty Affairs (SCFA) to revise the Student Evaluation of Teaching (SET) form. The new form, now called the Student Rating of Teaching (SRT) form, was unanimously approved by the Faculty Senate in December 2007. The form has a solid research base from the literature on student learning and instructional excellence.

The SRT was introduced in Spring (2008) for assessing instructional performance. Six core statements have been derived for all classes. If you are interested in the online Student Rating of Teaching, go to eval.umn.edu for assistance.

STUDENT RATING OF TEACHING MATERIALS

SRT News

June 1, 2009
Summer SRT Information (Arlene Carney, Vice Provost for Faculty and Academic Affairs)
In fall semester 2008, Provost Sullivan appointed my office, Faculty and Academic Affairs, as the point of contact for the implementation of the Senate policy regarding the Student Rating of Teaching. The new Student Rating of Teaching (SRT) was approved unanimously by the Faculty Senate in December, 2007. The SRT provides summative information about teaching at the end of a course. The University also offers early semester evaluations for instructors to provide formative information to help them make changes in their classes. Click here for the full article.

May 28, 2009
FOR FACULTY: Student Release Use and Form
The SRT contains a number of student release items that require your permission before results are released to students. For more information and to sign up to release this information, click here to see the online Student Release Form.

May 7, 2009
To students and those administering the paper SRTs
The paper form of the Student Rating of Teaching (SRT) may be completed using blue or black ink. It is no longer required to use a Number 2 pencil to complete the form.

March 13, 2009
A Message on SRT Usage by Arlene Carney, Vice Provost for Faculty and Academic Affairs
As we near the end of the semester, I write to encourage you to complete course evaluations for your courses this semester.

Taking the time to complete course evaluations, the Student Rating of Teaching (SRT), provides important feedback to your instructors and is used to make important personnel decisions, such as those for the tenure and promotion of faculty and the evaluation of other instructional staff. I encourage you to complete thoughtfully the evaluations for your courses, providing your instructors with feedback both about what you thought were strengths of their course as well as aspects of the course that you think can be improved. In addition, course evaluations provide you with an opportunity to reflect upon the amount of effort you, as a learner, put into your courses.

Please note that some courses you are taking that are taught by an Academic Health Center department may use a different course evaluation system, and you will be contacted separately about evaluations for those courses.

If your courses use online evaluations and you have questions about this process, feel free to send an email to eval@umn.edu. If your courses use paper evaluations and you have questions about that process, feel free to write to Zach Bikus or call 612.626.0307.

You should be completing evaluations in your courses, whether you are completing online evaluations or paper evaluations, during the last two weeks of the semester (April 27-May 8, 2009). Course evaluation reports will not be returned to instructors until grades have been submitted.

University Senate policy requires the evaluation of all courses taught at the University. For more information regarding the Senate policy, see the UWide Policy Library web site.

Please direct questions regarding the Student Rating of Teaching to my associate, Karen Zentner Bacig.

Best wishes!

Arlene Carney, Vice Provost for Faculty and Academic Affairs



March 5, 2009
Enrollment Determination for the Purposes of Reporting the Student Rating of Teaching
This article describes how we at the Office of Measurement Services collect enrollment information for the Student Rating of Teaching (SRT), and how we compute response rate for each course. It will enumerate some of the challenges associated with that task, and solutions in place to generate the most accurate report possible. It will also explore some of the ways that this process can lead to counterintuitive results. Click here to read the full article.

January 20, 2009
SET Early Semester Form B Available for Early-Semester Evaluation
The purpose of this evaluation is to provide information to the instructor to improve instruction. It is administered early in the semester (generally prior to the end of the 7th week of classes) so that there is sufficient time for the instructor to receive feedback to improve instruction. This survey may be administered in two ways, either on paper or online. To schedule an online administration, please go to eval.umn.edu; and to schedule a paper-administration, please call OMS at 612-626-0307. Only the instructor teaching the course receives the feedback report for this survey.

For instructors who wish to improve instruction, the Center for Teaching and Learning provides numerous workshops, consultations and other resources.

Click on the image to review the full form. Please note that, due to technical restrictions, you may not print this form from web and use it in the classroom. If you're interested in using the SET Form B instrument, please contact OMS.


January 20, 2009
2009 Spring Semester
The Office of Measurement Services' Student Rating of Teaching site has been updated with new information, including current partner and contact details and information around the use of the SET Form B for midsemester evaluation. This site will continue to be updated with policy and process updates for the SRT. Check back in the near future for more information.