Course Evaluation SB389

  • Policy Number: KC-ACA-3112
  • Date Issued: Summer 2011
  • Date Revised: April 1, 2024
  • Last Modified: Jun 28, 2024
  • Effective Date: August 1, 2024
  • Approved By: Provost
  • Sponsor(s): Provost
  • Responsible Office(s): Registrar's Office

Policy Statement

In all academic units at UMKC, satisfaction of the reporting requirements for SB389 related to course evaluation by students is accomplished by including the designated SB389 question as a required item among each academic unit’s full set of course evaluation items. The results of the SB389 are extracted from the unit-specific questions and uploaded by the Information Services (IS) programmers into PeopleSoft where they are then reported on-screen in Pathway within the listing for the relevant instructor and course. 

Reason for Policy

Fulfill the requirements of Senate Bill 389.

Who Should Read this Policy?

Provost’s office personnel, academic unit deans and other academic administrative personnel and Registrar’s Office personnel. 

Instructions, Procedures and Related Information

*Course Evaluations core set of questions:

  • The course materials prepared me well for course activities and assessments (exams, papers, projects, quizzes etc.).
  • The course assessments (exams, papers, projects, quizzes etc.) allowed me to demonstrate knowledge and/or apply skill in support of the stated course learning objectives.
  • The course materials and learning activities included diverse perspectives and experiences.
  • The course technology (Canvas, etc.) supported my learning.
  • The course encouraged me to think critically.
  • Please provide any other comments about your experience in the course or how it could be improved: (text entry response).

*Faculty Evaluations core set of questions:

  • The instructor created a class environment that was conducive to learning.
  • The instructor encouraged student questions and participation.
  • The instructor was responsive when I had questions and challenges.
  • The instructor provided timely feedback on course assessments (quizzes, exams, papers, projects, etc.)
  • The instructor provided constructive feedback on course assignments (quizzes, exams, papers, projects, etc.)
  • Please provide additional comments on any of the above items: (text entry response)
  • **Overall, how would you rate (instructor name inserted here) effectiveness as an instructor?

*Academic units adhering to accreditation standards may be excluded from the core questions. **This question is the SB389 question.

Evaluation procedures

The following procedure occurs during the final six weeks of the Fall and Spring semesters and during the final three weeks of the Summer semester. Provost Office Personnel will determine the timeline for all other academic periods, e.g., intersessions.

The majority of UMKC academic units use the RooEval system to collect course evaluations. The only exceptions are courses offered within the B.A./M.D., M.D., and HPE programs within the School of Medicine (SoM), which use the OASIS system. Procedures relating to the collection of results from the SB389 course evaluation item for the two systems is provided below.

For units using the RooEval system:

  1. Approximately 6 weeks before the end of the semester, the Dean’s designee for the course evaluation process in each unit, typically an associate or assistant dean, completes the required steps to select dates for the course evaluations to open and close for the unit and selects the courses to be evaluated. 
  2. Near the date of the evaluations opening in the unit, the Dean’s designee should send a notice to students alerting them that the course evaluation process is about to begin and providing the date by which evaluations must be completed.
  3. A follow‐up email is sent to students by the Dean’s designee approximately one week before the deadline on which the course evaluations will close.
  4. Within 3-4 weeks of the unit’s evaluation close date, the results of the SB389 item are extracted from the unit-specific questions by the Information Services (IS) programmers and uploaded into PeopleSoft where they are then reported on-screen in Pathway within the listing for the relevant instructor and course. 
  5. All evaluations deadlines will be published on the Canvas course site in the announcements section by Provost Office personnel assigned to this responsibility.

Courses offered within the B.A./M.D., M.D., and HPE programs within the School of Medicine use the Oasis system with the following process:

  1. Approximately 6 weeks before the end of the semester, the SoM Assistant Dean for Assessment and Quality Improvement completes the required steps to select dates for the course evaluations to open and close for the unit and selects the courses to be evaluated. 
  2. The course/faculty evaluations open 7 days before the end date for courses and clerkships and remain open for 21 days. Students receive an automatic email reminder from OASIS every Wednesday morning while the evaluations are open. The email reminder includes the deadline to submit the evaluations.
  3. While the evaluations open, the SoM Assistant Dean for Assessment and Quality Improvement monitors response rates. If response rates are low, the deadline for submitting evaluations is extended and students receive an additional email reminder and are informed of the new submission deadline.
  4. Within 4 weeks of the final grade deadline of the Fall, Spring, and Summer semesters, the SoM Assistant Dean for Assessment and Quality Improvement extracts results for the SB389 item from the full set of evaluations and sends the results to the Information Access Director at infoaccess@umkc.edu using the agreed upon format.
  5. Information Services (IS) programmers will upload the results into PeopleSoft where they are then reported on-screen in Pathway within the listing for the relevant instructor and course. 

Non-Compliance

Academic units who do not meet the above requirements on time are subject to a $10,000 fine per occurrence.

Contacts

Dean's office for the academic unit.

Exclusions

None

History and Updates

The UMKC Faculty Senate determined that the question to be asked would be: Is the instructor an effective teacher?

Appendices

None