A. Student Ratings of Instruction

1. Evaluation instrument:

The instrument used for the student rating of instruction at MTU will be the IDEA (Instructional Development and Effectiveness Assessment) System for Student Rating of Instruction developed by the Center for Faculty Evaluation and Development at Kansas State University.

The IDEA system includes two different forms for student rating of instruction. The longer form is designed primarily for "formative" purposes (providing instructional improvement information to faculty), but also provides "summative" information (useful for merit, promotion and tenure, or other personnel decisions). The shorter form is designed primarily for "summative" purposes.

During the 1997-98 academic year, the current MTU five core items (Senate Proposal 3-87) will be appended to the longer IDEA form for purposes of student evaluation. To the extent that scores derived from student responses are used for summative purposes, only the averaged scores from the MTU five core items will be used during the 1997-98 academic year.

Beginning in the fall 1998 term, the IDEA instruments will be used to provide information for teaching improvement and as a component of the summative evaluation of faculty members. The MTU five core items will no longer be appended to the IDEA instruments unless requested by individual faculty or department chair.

Additional questions may be added to the longer form of the IDEA instrument at the discretion of the faculty member or academic unit. Comment sheets will be available for faculty members who wish to elicit verbal responses from the students as part of the evaluation.

2. Frequency of required student evaluation:

Beginning in the Fall 1998 term, either the longer or shorter IDEA form must be used in at least one section of each different course preparation each term. (During the 1997-98 academic year, the longer IDEA form will be used with the five MTU core items appended.) Evaluations in additional sections may be requested by the faculty member or may be required by his/her academic administrator. To encourage instructional development, faculty members shall use the longer IDEA form at least once each academic year.

Sections with fewer than six enrolled students should also be evaluated using an IDEA instrument. However, because a very small number of responses tends to yield unreliable data, forms from these small sections will not be processed, but simply returned to the faculty member for his/her own use.

Sections taught by teams of instructors must also be evaluated using the longer and/or shorter form of the IDEA instrument. Whether the faculty members who are team teaching a section will utilize separate evaluation instruments to evaluate their contribution to the course, or whether one instrument will be used to evaluate the entire course is an issue that will be resolved by the relevant department chair(s) and faculty members.

The requirement for student evaluation will also apply to courses and lab sections taught by graduate teaching assistants.

3. Procedures for student evaluation:

Evaluation instruments will be completed by students during a regular class meeting during the seventh through tenth week of the term. On the day of the evaluation, the instructor will distribute the evaluation materials to the class, read the appropriate instructions to the students, and designate a student to collect and return the completed forms in a sealed envelope to the departmental office or designated location. The instructor will leave the classroom while the students are completing the forms. In classes using the longer IDEA form, 20-25 minutes should be allowed for the students to complete the instrument. In classes using the shorter form, 10 minutes should be sufficient.

Completed evaluations are to be mailed to the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Faculty Development. After processing, the forms completed by the students and the IDEA Reports will be sent to the faculty member. Copies of the IDEA Report will be sent to the appropriate department chair, and a copy will be retained by the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Faculty Development solely to inform developmental and outreach efforts of the Center.

4. Use of the results of student evaluation:

During the 1997-98 academic year, the results from the MTU five core questions on student evaluations will be used by academic administrators as partial support for and justification of personnel decisions (reappointment, promotion, tenure and salary adjustments) concerning the faculty member being evaluated. The evaluation of teaching will be weighted in a manner commensurate with the assigned teaching responsibilities of each faculty member. During the 1997-98 academic year, information from the IDEA Reports will be used solely for teaching improvement purposes.

Beginning in the fall 1998 term, data from the IDEA reports may be used as partial support (less than 50%) for and justification of personnel decisions.

Adopted by Senate: May 14, 1997
Approved by President: August 18, 1997