FAQs Faculty

You may have questions about:

Confidentiality/Security

• Will the SOTE/SOLATE data be secure? 

  • Yes. These data will be as secure as any other on campus. As they are considered an extension of the personnel file, not only is the Institutional Research and Strategic Analytics committed to their secure storage, the Faculty Services in University Personnel is also invested in protecting them. 

• Is there a way to tell which students have evaluated my course?

  • No, as this would be breach of confidentiality.

Courses Evaluated 

• How may I select which courses are evaluated?

  • 1. No, you cannot select which of your courses are evaluated. Generally, all courses must be evaluated.

    2. These courses are exempted from SOTEs unless the instructor requests that they be included:

       1. Supervision courses

       2. Courses taught by a non-faculty union member (administrator, student, etc.) are optional

       3. Special courses upon department request. At the request of the instructor, these may be evaluated as well.

       4. Courses with 5 students or less.

       5. At the request of the instructor Courses with 5-9 students may not be evaluated.

• I teach an excluded class, how do I request that it be evaluated?

  • Your Department approval is required. If approved, then the Department may contact IR and request that the course be included in the evaluation system. Such requests must be made in the first half of the semester.

• Why isn't a course being evaluated?

  • It may be due to a request by your department, or perhaps an error. If you feel your course should be receiving an evaluation and you do not see an evaluation for it, it is recommended that you reach out to your department and or institutional-research@sjsu.edu.

• Will my students see the course evaluation results?

  • No.

Reporting Evaluations

• Do I have to report evaluations for all classes in my department review files or dossier?

  • No. You may exclude evaluations for 1 class per academic year (AY) in which you taught more than 15 units. See Senate Policy F12-6,E4. 

    No. You have the option to exclude any SOTEs obtained Spring 2020 from future evaluations. See Senate Policy F20-4. 

    An instructor informs their Department Chair of the removal of the identified class' SOTE/SOLATE reports under Senate Policy F12-6, E4, and their Department Chair alerts Faculty Services.

• If I disagree with a qualitative comment in the SOTE, what is the process to remove or rebut it?

  • Senate Policy F12-6 requires that “[f]aculty may request the removal of remarks in the qualitative surveys that are completely unrelated to teaching, such as comments that are bigoted, hateful, comment on personal appearance, or otherwise violate campus policies.” and that “such remarks will be removed after
    verification of their content by the Department Chair.” See Senate Policy F12-6 and An Interpretation Guide for the SOTEs [pdf] prepared by SERB.

• How can I improve my response rates?
  • 1. Though not required, faculty can share when the SOTE/SOLATE is available and encourage students to take them.
    2. Faculty may also remind their students to complete them.
    3. Generally, faculty remind students 1-2 times.
• How do I monitor the response rate for a course I'm teaching?

  • While the SOTE period is open, you can view your response rates in each of your Canvas courses by clicking on the SOTE in the left-hand menu.

• May I provide incentives for students to complete the surveys?

  • No.

• May I use class time for students to fill out their evaluation?

  • According to Senate Policy F12-6 [pdf], faculty may provide class time so students may complete SOTEs, subject to the following provisions:
    
    a) Students must be informed that they may complet SOTEs outside of class if they prefer, or if they do not have an appropriate electronic instrument with them in class.
    
    b) If faculty provide class time, it must be at least a 15 minute block.

    c) The faculty member must not be present while the survey is being completed.

Viewing and Collecting Evaluations

• Who can see and use course evaluation results?

  • SOTEs are placed into all instructors’ eFaculty courses for review by anyone with the authority to review the instructor’s eFaculty.

• Is there an option to collect evaluations using pencil-and-paper as before?

  • No. The new policy states that all evaluations will be collected online. The benefits of using the online method are numerous, including saving money, natural resources, storage space, and staff, faculty, and administration’s time. The new system will allow several offices to keep better records, and they will even take SJSU one step closer to electronic dossiers.

• How does the online system affect the reports returned to departments and instructors?

  • Ratings will be available to departments and faculty electronically. They will be accessed via MySJSU. All items previously reported will remain the same. However, there will be some enhancements:

    1. Ratings by expected grade will be reported.
    2. Less than 50% participation in a class will be flagged on reports in the same way that having fewer than 10 participating students is flagged.
    3. Written comments will now be reported as a few lines of text instead of photocopies of handwritten work.
• What if multiple instructors teach a course? In other words, what if my course is team-taught?

  • All instructors will be evaluated individually and will be unable to view each other's results.

• My course is cross-listed with another department. How do I ensure that students evaluate the course? Which department’s evaluation instrument is used for my class?

  • There are no different instruments for different departments, the cross-listing of departments will have no impact on the evaluation for a course.

• How can I check which of my courses are being evaluated each semester?

  • You can always check which courses are being actively evaluated or have been evaluated by logging in here: MyCoursEval. If your course is not yet listed, you may inquire with your department.

• How will my students know the course evaluations are available?

  • They will be contacted via email and asked to participate in the SOTE/SOLATE evaluations.

• I have students enrolled in Open University, are they eligible to take the evaluation?

  • All students will be able to submit evaluations, but any students who have dropped or withdrawn from the course will have their responses removed.

• How do I see evaluation results as an instructor or TA?

  • You can access your SOTEs/SOLATEs through CourseEval using the SOTE/SOLATE tile on the SJSU One page. You can also access them through the SOTE tab on the left side of your course Canvas page.

Timing

• When is a course evaluated?

  • University Policy F12-6, Section H.5 [pdf] stipulates that the survey administration period "shall not be earlier than the final ten days of class nor later than the normal time when the student's final grade is released...A minimum of ten calendar days will be provided to respond." 

• Will students be allowed to evaluate me after seeing their grades?

  • No. The policy prohibits collecting SOTE/SOLATE data after grades are submitted. The students’ MySJSU links to evaluations will be deactivated as soon as the ratings period ends.

• When do students receive reminders?

  • Students will receive a series of reminders during the evaluation period for a course.

• When will reports be available?

  • Reports will be available 3 weeks after SOTE evaluations have concluded.

• Will grades be released earlier for those students who have completed SOTEs?

  • Yes, students who complete their evaluations on time will have early access to grades.

• Why do evaluations close before finals?

  • It is University policy.

Content of Evaluations

• What types of reports are available?

  • SJSU utilizes a standard comparative report that demonstrates your own scores compared to those from your department and the university.

• Can I add my own questions to the online evaluation?

  • No

• Can I change the dates of the evaluation period for my course?

  • Only with department approval.

• Can I control when my students fill out the survey?

  • You are welcome to encourage your students to fill out the survey, it will always be available for the same two week period discussed above.

• Will I receive a notice each semester reminding me of information regarding the online evaluations (open date, close date, # of reminders, etc.)?

  • You will receive an email notifying you when the reports have begun which will contain a link to access the information for all of your courses.

• Who decides the content of the evaluation questionnaire?

  • Student Evaluation Review Board. It is a university committee charged with the creating the guidelines for effective interpretation of Student Opinions of Teaching Effectiveness (SOTE), and proposing and drafting modifications/clarifications to SOTE instruments. See Senate Policy F17-2. 

• How are the comparison means calculated?

  • The mean is simply the average of all responses. For an individual course, the mean will be the sum of all ratings provided by students divided by the number of responses.

• How do I interpret standard deviation?

  • The standard deviation measures the dispersion of the data. It is the square root of the variance.

• How do I determine the median versus the mean?

  • The mean is simply an average of all scores. T, the median is the score which falls at the middle point of all received scores.

• What do University and Departmental average scores mean?

  • The norms represent the middle 60% of the data. SOTE scores below the 20th percentile are considered below the norm and those above the 80th percentile are considered above the norm. Policy 12-6 requires that SERB set norms for SOTEs; however, norms are not the only way to evaluate quantitative data. Amendment B to University Policy S15-8, Retention, Tenure and Promotion for Regular Faculty Employees: Criteria and Standards, acknowledges the problem with relying too heavily upon norms and requires reviews to also look at “the preponderance of student opinion from objective and subjective questions [which] indicates effective teaching.”

• Can I change the visual of my evaluation reports?

  • Yes, please email institutional-research@sjsu.edu for further information.

System

• Why am I unable to login to the system?

  • All Faculty members have access to MyCoursEval as long as they are logged into one.sjsu. If you find yourself still having difficulties logging in please contact institutional-research@sjsu.edu.

• Why is a report not showing for a course that was evaluated?

  • The landing page on MyCoursEval by default will only show recent courses. You will need to follow the instructions on the blue text box at the top of the page to access prior reports. All reports dating back to Fall 2017 will be available here, with older reports available upon request. If you still do not see your report, please contact institutional-research@sjsu.edu.

Other Questions

• How are SOTEs different from instructor rating websites and social media?

  • SOTEs are a formal evaluation tool of SJSU. Other third-party websites and social media tools are not endorsed by SJSU and are unregulated self-selection surveys. The third-party websites are not connected to SJSU SOTEs.

How to Access Reports for Faculty and Departments

In 2017, SJSU migrated to MyCoursEval for collecting and reporting on teaching evaluations. Faculty and department contacts have access to their respective reports year round on the system after the reports have been released. Historical reports from before then are available from office of IR on request. Designated department administrative staff often have access to back copies as well. There are plans for direct links between MyCoursEval and the eFaculty system in the future.

See our faculty access guide and department access guide for more details on how to access and use the new reports.

This table summarizes electronic report availability for teaching evaluations.​

​If you did not find an answer to your question, email us at institutional-research@sjsu.edu or visit the Institutional Research website.