A. Form
Questions applicable University-wide may be developed by the deans of the colleges, the Senate Academic Affairs Committee, and the Senate Faculty Affairs Committee, and shall be approved by the Vice President for Academic Affairs. Questions applicable to a college may be developed by the dean, the departmental chair and the appropriate college-wide faculty committee, and are subject to the approval of the college faculty, the dean, and the Vice President for Academic Affairs. Questions applicable to a department shall be developed by the departmental chair and faculty of the department and are subject to the approval of the faculty of the department, the departmental chair and the dean of the college. Instructors may add questions of their own choice.

B. Frequency
In at least two quarters of each academic year, or more frequently if approved by a majority of full-time faculty members within a department, a division, or a college without departments, each faculty member (including part-time and graduate teaching assistants) shall be evaluated by students in all courses the faculty member is teaching those quarters. Evaluations shall take place during the last two weeks of the quarter. Each faculty member in consultation with the chair shall determine which quarter(s) evaluation by students will take place.

C. Use
The student evaluations are for purposes of self-improvement and information in the faculty evaluation process, as mandated in BOR Policy, Section 803.07. The aggregate data of student evaluation questionnaires shall be given to the instructor with a copy to the chairman or unit head. These aggregate data are available to deans, provided that the instructor and departmental chair accompany the aggregate data to explain their meaning. The Vice President for Academic Affairs, or President, may also review these aggregate data provided the instructor, chair, and dean accompany the data to explain their meaning. Any written comments by students shall be given to the instructor with copies to the departmental chair or unit head.

Any department may require data from student evaluation questionnaires as one item in tenure and promotion materials, provided that a majority of full-time faculty members within the department approve of such an action.
D. Administration

The evaluation materials shall be distributed by the departmental chair to each instructor at the appropriate time. Each instructor shall designate a student or staff member to administer the evaluation and shall leave the room during the process. The person designated shall place the completed evaluation materials in an envelope provided, seal it, and deliver the envelope to the office of the departmental chair. The departmental chair shall be responsible for insuring that all evaluations have taken place and shall arrange for transmitting the results to the instructor.

E. Implementation

This evaluation policy shall go into effect by Fall Quarter 1986. To insure coherence, University questions were developed in the Fall Quarter 1985; college questions, in the Winter Quarter 1986; departmental questions, in the Spring Quarter 1986.

Source: Senate Resolution, May 1985

Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs

RESOLUTION OF MAY 1985 ON STUDENT EVALUATION OF FACULTY

Some of the policies and procedures contained in this document may be executed at the department level or the college level, depending on the organization of the college. The term "department" is used herein for any academic unit within a college, including departments, institutes, schools and divisions.

PRODUCTION OF STUDENT EVALUATION OF INSTRUCTOR FORMS

Each college or each department within a college, depending on college policy (hereafter college/department), is responsible for designing and printing student evaluation of instructor (SEI) forms in compliance with the 1985 Senate resolution that established this procedure and for using these forms to evaluate courses taught by that college/department.

DISTRIBUTION OF SEI FORMS AND RELATED MATERIALS TO INSTRUCTORS

Envelopes. Each college/department is responsible for providing envelopes that are easily recognizable as belonging to a specific college/department.

Labels. Each college/department will produce computer-generated labels indicating the name of the course instructor, course title, course computer number and number of students enrolled in the course. Each college department will establish procedures for affixing these labels to the envelopes.

Preparation of SEI packets. Each college/department will prepare an envelope with labels affixed for each course being evaluated for the given quarter. Each envelope will contain the instructions for administration of the SEI's (either attached to the envelope or inserted in the envelope) along with a sufficient number of SEI forms for each student in the class.


ADMINISTRATION OF SEI FORMS
Date of administration. The SEI forms are to be administered during the last two weeks of class (excluding final examination week). College/department policy may be more specific as to the period of time within this two week period (e.g., last week of classes). In no cases are SEI forms to be administered during the final examination period since students are expected to be focused on the examinations, rather than on the evaluation of the instructor.

Designation of student to administer SEI forms. During the period specified by the college/department for administration of the SEI forms, the instructor will take the SEI packet to class and designate a student to administer the evaluations. As soon as the student has been designated, the instructor will leave the classroom and will not be involved in the administration of the SEI forms in any manner.

Responsibilities of designated student. The designated student will be responsible for:

• Distributing a copy of the SEI form to each student in attendance and returning any unused SEI forms to the envelope

• Reading the instructions provided with the SEI packet to the class
• Collecting all of the completed SEI forms and returning them to the envelope
  
• Sealing the envelope and signing the back of the envelope to indicate that he/she was responsible for collecting and delivering the SEI Packet
  
• Depositing or returning the completed SEI packet in accordance with the instructions provided with the SEI packet.
  

DEPOSIT OR RETURN OF SEI PACKETS: COURSES TAUGHT ON CAMPUS

Each college/department will determine which of the two following alternatives (or both) will be incorporated in the instructions to be followed by the designated student for deposit or return of the completed SEI packet:

(1) University dropboxes. The Dean of Students Office (DOS) is designated by the Provost to be responsible for the placement of an adequate number of on-campus dropboxes labeled "STUDENT EVALUATION FORMS." Through procedures established in coordination with the Associate Deans' Group, the DOS will collect completed SEI packets from these dropboxes during certain days of the quarter with specified frequency. The DOS staff will deliver the sealed SEI packets to the college/department identified on the envelope in accordance with the schedule specified in the procedures.

For colleges/departments which utilize university dropboxes, the instructions will indicate that the designated student is to deposit the sealed SEI packet immediately in the dropbox nearest to the classroom in which the SEI was administered.

(2) Return directly to college/department. College/department instructions may specify that the designated student, immediately after administration of the SEI form, return the sealed SEI packet to a departmental or college office specified in the instructions. In this process, the college department must have staff available to receive the packet or must have a tamper-proof depository which will maintain security for the packets.

DEPOSIT OR RETURN OF SEI PACKETS:

COURSES TAUGHT AT OFF-CAMPUS LOCATIONS
For courses taught at off-campus locations, colleges/departments are responsible for developing policies and procedures for the return of sealed SEI packets that are consistent with those policies and procedures utilized for the return of sealed SEI packets for on-campus courses.

PREPARATION, ANALYSIS AND RETURN OF SEI DATA
Colleges/departments are responsible for developing procedures for preparing the op-scan forms for scanning on University optical scanning equipment. Colleges/departments are also responsible for the subsequent analysis or statistical summary of the SEI forms and providing that summary to the instructor and department chair.

After scanning, the SEI forms are to be returned to the department (along with copies of any analysis) on a timely basis. The SEI forms are to be retained by the department chair and a copy or transcription of the written comments (if any) is to be provided to the instructor in a timely manner, but not before the date set by the Registrar for grades to be turned in.

RETENTION OF SEI DATA BY DEPARTMENTS
The original SEI forms and any related analysis (hereafter SEI materials) are to be retained as follows:
Courses taught by tenure track faculty.

• 1. Faculty without tenure: retained until the tenure decision is made and, in the case of an unfavorable tenure decision, for the appeal period specified by the University.
• 2. Tenured faculty: retained until the cumulative review that is conducted every five years is completed.
• 3. Faculty making an appeal of decisions rendered regarding teaching performance: retained until all appeals are exhausted or until the appeal is dropped;
• 4. Teaching performance under special review by chair of the department in which the faculty member is budgeted and/or holds faculty rank: retained as long as the department chair deems necessary.
  

Courses taught by full-time, non-tenure track faculty. Except as specified here, the SEI materials pertaining to courses taught by full-time , non-tenure track faculty will be kept by the department chair for three years beyond the academic term in which the course was offered. Exceptions to this retention policy are as follows:

• 1. Faculty making an appeal of decisions rendered regarding teaching performance: retained until all appeals are exhausted or until the appeal is dropped.
  
• 2. Teaching performance under special review by chair of department in which the faculty member is budgeted and/or holds faculty rank: retained as long as the department chair deems necessary.
  

Courses taught by other than full-time faculty. The SEI materials pertaining to courses taught by instructors who are not full-time faculty will be kept by the department chair for a minimum of one year beyond the academic term in which the course was offered, except if an appeal is pending that raises questions about the teaching performance of the instructor. In this case the SEI materials shall be retained until all appeals are exhausted or until the appeal is dropped.

RESEARCH ON SEI INSTRUMENT

To assure that SEI instruments are valid (i.e., the SEI instrument appropriately captures pertinent attributes of teaching effectiveness) and reliable (i.e., similar results are obtained during different administrations of the SEI instrument), colleges may conduct statistical research using SEI data as long as such data are not identified by instructor.

REQUESTS UNDER GEORGIA OPEN RECORDS ACT

In a letter of January 20, 1988, the Attorney General of the State of Georgia ruled that student evaluations of academic courses are subject to disclosure under the Georgia Open Records Act. Accordingly, through the Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs, SEI data are provided at cost to the Student Government Association at its request. Any other requests for access to the data under the Georgia Open Records Act are to be referred to the University's Office of Legal Affairs.

Source: Associate Deans' Group, approved by the Senate Faculty Affairs Committee, May, 1996.