Winthrop University

Student Evaluations of Instructors

(Approved by Academic Leadership Council February 28, 2001)

As per the policy pertaining to faculty evaluations contained in the Winthrop University Faculty Manual student evaluation of instruction must be conducted according to a standard institutional  process for each section taught.*   

The South Carolina Commission on Higher Education (CHE) Performance Funding guidelines mandate that public colleges and universities have standard teaching evaluation processes in place that assure compliance with certain requirements  (e.g., that evaluations be conducted anonymously); that students be made aware of such processes and be able to bring issues/concerns to appropriate administrators; and that there be procedures for addressing noncompliance.

Although each Winthrop college/department may use its own form to evaluate instruction, certain standardized procedures must be followed to assure consistency in the process and compliance with Performance Funding requirements.  In order to document and make students aware of such procedures, all department/college student evaluation instructions/forms should contain the following information:

Student evaluation of instruction is an important part of faculty evaluation at Winthrop, and is strongly considered in annual evaluations of faculty as well as in tenure, promotion, and post-tenure review decisions.  Students will have the opportunity to anonymously evaluate instruction in every course and section.  In order to assure anonymity, you should not be required to write your name on the evaluation form or to complete the form in the presence of the instructor.  Completed forms should be collected only by a designated department representative or student and submitted to the department office.  Results will not be provided to instructors until after course grades are submitted.  If you have concerns about whether these procedures are followed, you may confidentially  contact your major department chair or the dean of your college. 

Department chairs and Deans are responsible for monitoring compliance  with these procedures and for follow-up with instructors that do not comply. 

Additionally, effective Spring, 2001 all forms must contain the following item to evaluate student accessibility to faculty instructors (Please note: This eliminates the need for a separate form as was previously required for SC Performance Funding; the results on this question will no longer be reported to the Commission on Higher Education.  Colleges/departments that choose not to include the item on their forms by the time Spring, 2001 course evaluations are completed should contact  the Office of Institutional Research to make arrangements to use the separate accessibility form for this semester only):

            Please indicate your satisfaction with the availability of the instructor outside the classroom by choosing one response from the scale below (In selecting your rating, consider the instructor’s availability via established office hours, appointments, and other opportunities for face-to-face interaction as well as via telephone, e-mail, fax, and other means).

Please note that the response scale for this item may now be reversed if that would be consistent with other items on the instructor/teaching evaluation instrument (i.e., the choice “very satisfied” may appear as the first choice if the most positive responses to other items on the instrument also appeared first).

For further information about this policy, or about teaching evaluations in general, please contact your dean, the Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs, or the Office of Assessment.

* Notes: In single student sections (e.g., individualized instruction) in which anonymity cannot be assured, students should be given the option of evaluating instruction but should not be required to do so.