Committee for Effective Teaching

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Frequently Asked Questions

Role of the Committee

• What does this committee do?
  • In April of 1995 the Academic Council approved the following charge for the CET:
    The Committee on Effective Teaching and Faculty Awards is authorized and established by the Chancellor. It has responsibility for:
    1. developing methods for the student evaluation of teaching
    2. assuring the integrity of the evaluations
    3. recommending methods for improving teaching
    4. nominating faculty members for special teaching awards established at the University of Missouri-Rolla.
    The committee is expected to keep the faculty informed of its policies in consultation with the Academic Council. The committee's responsibilities include teaching in the formats of lecture, recitation and laboratory.
• Who is the chairs for the committee for effective teaching?
  • Larry Gragg, Professor, History

Practice and Purpose of the Student Evaluation

• What has been UMR's practice with regards to student evaluation of teaching?
  • Toward the end of the fall and winter semesters, the Provost's office assembles then distributes evaluation materials to departmental offices across campus. If the department had indicated an instructor is to be evaluated, the evaluation material will include a packet of scan sheets and a packet of comment sheets for that instructor. After the students have completed the sheets, the packets are returned to the Provost's office. The written comment sheets are forwarded to the mail center for return to the instructor after the completion of the semester. The scan sheets are forwarded to the Computer Center for processing. Once tabulated, the results are given in a confidential form to the CET at the beginning of the fall to determine Outstanding Teaching Award recipients. This is a blind selection process. The CET committee members do not see the name of instructors.
• What is the purpose of the student evaluation?
  • As indicated by item (4) of the charge, the primary purpose of the evaluation process is to nominate faculty for the Outstanding Teacher Award according to student opinion. The secondary purpose of the evaluations corresponds to item (3), namely improving teaching. The written comment sheets are not used in the nomination process. They are collected for the sole purpose of helping an instructor identify ways in which a course can be improved.
• Can these evaluations be used to determine my raises/tenure/promotion?
• On December 8, 1988 the Academic Council approved Attachment III.A.1 called Policy for Evaluation of Faculty Instruction. This policy states

  The results of these evaluations will provide a portion of the information used by the administration in personnel decisions, including promotion and tenure, salaries, and awards.

  Hence the Academic Council has approved that these evaluation numbers can be a portion of the decision making process. The operative word, of course, is portion. The policy later elaborates that when used for personnel decisions

  These evaluations must be broad-based, including input from student evaluations, peer evaluations, and self evaluations, with all tenure track faculty participating in the evaluations on a periodic basis.

  The CET abides by the policy proposed by the Academic Council and believe that student evaluation results should provide a portion of the information used in making personnel decisions, including promotion and tenure. However, the CET also believes that the student evaluation SHOULD NOT be the sole factor in evaluation of teaching performance for personnel decisions.
• Am I required to participate?
  • We believe that faculty have the right not to participate. However, it is important to note that both the academic council and the CET support the use of the teaching evaluations governed by the CET as a part of the information to be used in making personnel decisions. Therefore, the burden is on faculty who have opted out of this process to provide rationale to those making these decisions as to why they have opted out of the process; to provide alternative evidence of teaching effectiveness that involves student opinion; and to demonstrate the integrity of this alternative evidence.

Ownership of the Evaluations

• Who will see the results of my scan sheet?
  • According to the Policy for Evaluation of Faculty Instruction

    The results of the evaluations will be confidential and available only to the faculty member being evaluated, the chair of that department, the dean of that school, and the vice-chancellor for academic affairs. In addition, the results will be available to committees reviewing promotion and tenure decisions. Faculty members may release their evaluations to other groups if they choose.

    traditionally, the Provost authorizes on his behalf the chair of the Committee on Effective Teaching and Faculty Awards to have access to this information in order to nominate faculty for Outstanding Teacher Awards.
• Are my written comment sheets part of the results reported to my administrators?
• It is the opinion of the committee that any written communication between student and faculty is to be considered private and shall be the property of the individual faculty. Thus, written evaluations are not subject to review by anyone other than the individual faculty. However, since the written comments are anonymous in nature, the individual faculty has the right to use the written comments as evidence of effective teaching.

Details in Administering the Evaluations

• Who should administer the evaluations?
  • To maintain the integrity of the process, it is recommended that a faculty or staff member administer the evaluations, that this person be from the same department as the class being evaluated, and that this person be approved by the faculty's supervisor.
• Who should NOTadminister the evaluations?
  • To maintain the integrity of the process, the instructor of the class and students currently enrolled in the class are strictly prohibited from administering the evaluations. The committee also agrees that there is an integrity risk if the person administering the evaluations is a graduate student of the instructor or, similarly, a postdoctoral associate of the instructor. That is, a person whom the instructor can influence professionally. However, if the instructor's supervisor approves of the selected administrator, so does the committee.
• When should we administer the evaluations?
  • The evaluation packets will not be distributed until after the last day for students to withdraw from a class. After that date, the evaluations should be given at anytime the class regularly meets. The committee recommends the evaluations be performed at the beginning of class in order to unify the measurement tool as much as possible.
• What procedure is to be followed when?
  • There is a detailed instruction sheet distributed with the evaluation packets. The Instructions are self-explanatory and should be followed-step by step. Their intention is to ensure a uniform measurement of student opinion. Particular attention should be given to the statements to be read to the students. The committee has observed that many students are unaware of the role, purpose, and seriousness of the evaluations, even though they have taken these evaluations for years. Studies have shown that students respond more favorably to a teacher if they know the survey is a serious matter.

Concerns and Grievances

• I don't feel that I've been treated fairly. Is this an issue for the CET?
  • It should be noted that the charge of the CET does not include enforcement of the guidelines enumerated here. Any grievances on behalf of a faculty or supervisor should be directed to the office of the Provost. However, we anticipate that the guidelines established by the CET will serve an important role in the resolution of such grievances.
• To whom do I call with my grievance or concern?
  • The responsibility for the students survey is widely distributed. We recommend the following people for the concerns listed:

    CONCERN	PERSON	CONTACT
    There is a mistake in the evaluation packet in relation to the instructor/section.	CET	Committee Chair
    My section didn't get an evaluation packet.	CET	Committee Chair
    I don't like the way my department handles the evaluations.	Your Chair
    I can't resolve things with my department chair.	Provost's Office	Provost
    I have suggestion on how to improve the evaluations.	CET	Committee Chair
    I think someone is cheating.	CET	Committee Chair
    Something seems wrong with the results of my evaluation.	CET	Committee Chair

• How long are the original scan sheets ratained?
  • The paper version of the evaluation scan will be retained for four months after scanning. A professor may request access to the sheets from the chair of the CET