Blue Pilot

Transition to a new Course Evaluation Platform for SJSU

Beginning in Fall 2026, Explorance Blue will replace Anthology Course Evaluations for the administration of the Student Opinion of Teaching Effectiveness (SOTE) and Student Opinion of Lab and Activity Teaching Effectiveness (SOLATE) surveys. In preparation for the full scale launch, IRSA will conduct a limited pilot of course evaluations in Blue in Spring 2026. To learn more about the Explorance Blue platform and its features, please visit the Explorance website.

Unsure which platform to go to?

Use the Spring 2026 Course Evaluation Tracker to search for your course and identify which platform will be used.

Blue Pilot Details

Who is included?

In consultation with the Executive Committee of the Academic Senate, Professional Standards Committee, and Student Evaluation Review Board, the pilot project will include course evaluations for all course sections ending between May 11 and May 31 that are taught by full professors (tenured faculty at the highest rank). The Spring 2026 pilot is limited to minimize any potential impact on the RTP process for faculty undergoing review in the near future.

During the pilot, some students will complete course evaluations in two different systems, depending on their course enrollments. Each platform will have its own evaluation link.

What is the goal of the pilot?

This pilot project will allow the implementation team to thoroughly test system integrations and features, evaluate data accuracy, and configure the reporting capabilities before the full deployment scheduled for Fall 2026. The findings and recommendations will be reported to the aforementioned governance bodies.

What is not changing?

The purpose of course evaluations remains the same. The Student Opinion of Teaching Effectiveness (SOTE) and Student Opinion of Lab and Activity Teaching Effectiveness (SOLATE) instruments, as well as the policies governing their use, are unchanged. The overall timing of evaluations and expectations for encouraging student participation will remain consistent. Course evaluations will continue to be administered in Anthology (the current platform) for courses not included in the pilot, including those that are team-taught with faculty who are not full professors. Faculty will continue to receive evaluation results through existing processes, with the same data elements as outlined in University Policy F12-6 [pdf].

Resources for Faculty Participating in the Pilot

April 27 at 2 PM
April 29 at 9 AM
April 29 at 1 PM
April 30 at 9 AM
April 30 at 3 PM

Access your Blue Dashboard

Update your Canvas navigation for course evaluations

Other Faculty Resources (coming soon)

Provide feedback on the Blue Pilot

Questions

If you have any questions regarding the Explorance Blue Implementation, please do not hesitate to contact us at institutional-research@sjsu.edu