A campus of The California State University
Office of the Academic Senate • One Washington Square • San Jose, California 95192-0024 •408-924-2440 Fax: 408-924-2451
S08-1
At its meeting of April 14, 2008, the Academic Senate passed the following Policy Recommendation presented by Senator Bros for the Professional Standards Committee.
Amendment to university Policy S06-6: Administration of online Student Opinion of Teaching Effectiveness (SOTE) evaluations for online courses.
WHEREAS: AS 1375, Administration of online Student Opinion of Teaching Effectiveness (SOTE) evaluations for online courses, was passed by the senate, but the CFA determined section 5.7 to be in conflict with the CFA-CSU contract; and
WHEREAS: the CFA has no other issues with AS 1375; and
WHEREAS: SJSU President Don Kassing is willing to sign AS 1375 into policy if article 5.7 is deleted; be it further
RESOLVED: that AS 1375 be amended by deleting section 5.7 as follows:
Excerpt from AS 1375
5.6. If a majority of course materials is to be offered online, the instructor must decide if all SOTE evaluations are to be administered online or if all SOTE evaluations are to be administered in the classroom. If online SOTEs are to be administered for a course:
5.6.1 The instructor must inform the department Chair (or equivalent) of the decision.
5.6.2 It is the department’s responsibility to inform Institutional Research to make arrangements for the administration.
5.7. A course section that meets 100%
online shall be evaluated online if it is to be evaluated.
Vote: (7 for, 1 against, 1 absent)
Present: Shannon Bros, Daryl Canham, William Jiang, Mengxiong Liu, Gwendolyn Mok, Sam Obi, Angela Rickford, Asim Zia.
Absent: Steven Zeier
Rationale:
The current administration of hardcopy SOTEs for online courses through the U.S. Postal system is difficult, expensive and, most of all, provides a very poor return rate. The use of online versions of the SOTE for online courses would be more appropriate for the courses and should provide a higher rate of return for those courses.
Financial Impact: It is estimated that the costs for SOTE
administration and analyses for online courses will be reduced by approx $3000 per year.
Workload Impact: No change in workload is expected for instructors who conduct online courses. A reduction in workload is expected for Institutional Research personnel.
S06-6 as amended by S08-1 (Includes changes from AS 1375 and AS 1387)
POLICY RESOLUTION
PROCEDURES TO BE FOLLOWED WHEN ADMINISTERING SOTES
Whereas increased standardization and accountability of the SOTE administration will improve the integrity of the process; and
Whereas policy S03-3 has been rescinded; and
Whereas polices S87-9, S86-2 and S98-4, which had been rescinded by S03-3, are again in effect; be it therefore
Resolved that, policies S87-9, S86-2, S98-4 are hereby rescinded; be it further
Resolved that the following procedures for the administering of SOTES be adopted; be it finally
Resolved that SERB continue to evaluate the efficacy of on-line SOTES, including administration subsequent to final exams.
1. Timing of SOTE Administration
1.1. SOTEs shall be administered during the final 10 days of classes.
1.2. Instructors are encouraged to administer the SOTE during the first 30 minutes of class. Instructors shall ensure that students have sufficient time to fully complete all evaluation instruments (with a 15-minute minimum suggested).
2. Faculty Responsibilities for On-Campus Course Sections
2.1. Faculty are encouraged to select a proctor and a substitute proctor at least one week before the administration of the SOTE instrument.
2.2. Faculty shall be given a checklist that fully and clearly describes the procedures to be followed while administering SOTES. Faculty shall be required to indicate with their signature that they have read and complied with the procedures.
3. Proctor Instructions for On-Campus Course Sections
3.1. Proctors shall be given a checklist that fully and clearly describes the procedures to be followed while administering SOTES. Proctors shall be required to indicate with their signature, printed name, and student ID that they have read and complied with the procedures.
3.2. Proctor instructions shall require the proctor to read the following statement: "You are being asked to complete a Student Opinion of Teaching Effectiveness, or SOTE, form. The results of the SOTE serve some important purposes. First, the results provide helpful feedback to the instructor, which can assist in improvement of instruction and course design. In addition, the results are an element of the instructor's performance evaluation. While the SOTE results are an important part of the instructor's evaluation process, they are but one element of that process."
3.3 Under no circumstances shall any completed SOTE instruments be returned to the instructor of record. For on-campus course sections commencing before 5:00 p.m., proctors should return the completed SOTE instruments to the department office. The Office of Institutional Research, in consultation with the Professional Standards Committee, shall be responsible for devising procedures whereby proctors in night and off-campus course sections can return completed SOTE instruments without giving them to their instructors. Except for off-campus course sections, all SOTE instruments should be returned on the same day they were administered.
4. Qualitative Section of SOTE
4.1. The qualitative section of the SOTE forms will be returned to the department and processed as stated in F83-2. However, these data, unlike department-developed forms for evaluating student opinions on teaching effectives, will be collected as part of the SOTE process.
5. Process for SOTE Implementation.
5.1. SOTEs are required for all faculty who teach.
5.2 Each instructional faculty member who is teaching two or more course sections within an academic year is required to have a minimum of two (2) classes annually evaluated with SOTES.
5.3. SOTEs shall be collected in classes representative of the faculty member’s teaching assignment.
5.4. Unless consultation with an academic unit has resulted in an agreement by the administration and faculty to evaluate all classes, the classes to be evaluated shall be jointly determined in consultation between the faculty member being evaluated and his/her department chair.
5.5. In the event of a disagreement between the faculty member and the department chair, each party shall select 50% of the total courses to be evaluated.
5.6. If a majority of course materials are to be offered online, the instructor must decide if all SOTE evaluations are to be administered online or if all SOTE evaluations are to be administered in the classroom. If online SOTEs are to be administered for a course:
5.6.3 The instructor must inform the department Chair (or equivalent) of the decision.
5.6.4 It is the department’s responsibility to inform Institutional Research to make arrangements for the administration.
6. Implementation date. The policy will become effective immediately.
ACTION BY UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT: Approved by President Don Kassing on April 17, 2008.