SCE Task Force Meeting
Minutes
December 6, 2007  

Minutes

Minutes of previous meeting approved.

Preliminary Matters

It seems unlikely that LC will follow the SCE Task Force’s recommendation
that SCEs be administered in a paper format versus an online format, given
that the FARG group gave it a lower ranking than other requests

Discussion of Proposed Language Regarding Administration of SCEs

Members of the Task Force discussed “Straw Man” proposal regarding the
administration of SCEs; the proposal is divided in four sections:  “General,”
“Paper,” “Comments,” and “Electronic.”  Members made the following
decisions/recommendations:

• “General”
• Faculty should be able to see the results of SCEs from all
  of their courses regardless of  class size and thus agreed
  to eliminate #4 and #5.
• Students should have the opportunity to complete SCEs for
  summer classes.
• “Paper”
• There is a need for language explaining how students will
  complete SCEs for courses that do not meet for the entire
  semester, since #2 stipulates that SCEs will be administered
  “between the 9^th week of the semester and the course final.”
• Discussion regarding where students should go if they miss
  the class during which the SCEs area administered.  Division
  office?  Dean’s office?  IPRA office?  Library?
• Wording on #7 will be changed to read “Divisions shall monitor
  completed surveys and insure that all envelopes are returned
  to division offices.”
• Howard Erdman agreed to reword #8 to clarify by what point
  in the semester Divisions should return completed SCEs to
  IPRA.
• The 1^st sentence of #9 was changed to correct a typo and
  should read: “IPRA shall verify that all envelopes are signed
  and sealed.”
• Members agreed to change #10 to stipulate that IPRA
  would process and return reports and completed SCE
  forms to Divisions chairs no later than six weeks after
  the end of the semester.
• “Comments”
• Title of this section changed to read “Comments (Paper).”
• Decided against allowing comments to be submitted
  electronically for courses using paper evaluations because
  this seemed likely to result in a low number of student
  comments.  Instead, students will receive a paper form
  on which to submit comments at the same time they
  receive the form with the SCE questions.  Thus, #1, #2,
  and #3 deleted and replaced with “Comments may be
  submitted on forms provided by IPRA” (or something along
  those lines).
• “Electronic”
• There is a need for language explaining how students will
  complete SCEs for courses that do not meet for the entire
  semester, since #2 stipulates that SCEs will be “open from
  the 9^th week through finals.”

SCE Administration Procedures

Recognizing the usefulness of student feedback in improving teaching
and learning, the administration of student evaluation of instruction
should allow for optimal and confidential participation by students
while providing for an appropriate level of security to insure the validity
of the process. The following rules shall be observed for administration
of student evaluations of instruction:

General

1. All courses shall be evaluated in the fall and spring semesters. Online
classes will use the electronic SCE application; all other classes will use
the paper version.

2. Summer courses shall be evaluated using the online SCE application.

3. Each instructor in courses taught by more than one instructor
will be evaluated separately.

4. Courses with less than 5 students shall have their results reported
in the report of a similar course taught by the same instructor in the
same semester.

5. The completed forms for classes with less than 5 students will not
be returned to the instructor.

6. 4. Evaluation results shall be returned to divisions no sooner than
the day after grades are due. 

Paper

1. Forms will be provided to Deans for distribution. The forms will be
enclosed in an envelope with the course number, section, and
instructor’s name. Cross listed courses will be combined and will not
be delivered separately. An envelope for returning the forms, both
complete and blank, will be enclosed as well as written instructions.
The written instructions will include instructions to be read to the
students before they begin responding to the survey.

2. The dean shall deliver the forms to divisions at the beginning of
the 9th week of each semester. Surveys shall be administered
between the 9th week of the semester and the course final. [There
is a need for language explaining how students will complete SCEs
for courses that do not meet for the entire semester.]

3. Instructors should administer the surveys at a time that will
insure maximum participation.

4. Students who do not attend the class when the evaluations are
administered will be allowed to complete the form at another time
before grades are due if they request.[Where should students go
to do this? Dean’s office? Division office? Etc.]

5. The instructor shall deliver the envelope containing the
questionnaires to a student in the course, who will assume
responsibility for distributing the forms and collecting them. The
selected student will seal and sign the return envelope and deliver
it to the division office within 24 hours of completion of the survey.

6. Instructors shall leave the classroom after delivering the forms
to the student selected to administer the questionnaire and shall
not attempt to identify specific students’ responses.

7. Divisions shall monitor completed surveys and insure that all
envelopes are returned to the division offices.

8. When all envelopes are completed and returned to the division
office, the division chair shall deliver them to the Institutional
Planning, Research, and Assessment (IPRA) for processing. [Reword
to clarify by what point in the semester Divisions should return
completed SCEs to IPRA]

9.  IPRA shall verify the that all envelopes are signed and sealed.
Unsigned or unsealed envelopes will not be accepted and shall be
returned to the division chair. The dean shall be notified of receipt
of unsigned or unsealed envelopes.

10. IPRA shall process the forms and deliver reports to the division
chair. All completed forms shall be returned to the division chair
no later than six weeks after the end of the semester.

11. If forms are not processed because of mutilation, they will,
if possible, be reconstructed and processed. All reconstructed
forms shall be returned along with the original form (stapled).

12. Reports produced by IPRA shall conform to guidelines
specified by the appropriate use portion of the SCE procedures.

Comments (Paper)

1. Comments shall be submitted electronically using the online
SCE application.

2. Comments may be submitted from the 9th week of each
semester through finals.

3. Students may only submit comments once for each course.

1. Comments may be submitted on forms provided by IPRA.
[or something along such lines]

Electronic

1. Online courses will use the electronic SCE application.

2. The electronic SCE application will be open from the 9th week
through finals. [There is a need for language explaining how
students will complete SCEs for courses that do not meet for
the entire semester.]

3. Instructors shall monitor completion rates of their online courses
and encourage students to participate in the evaluation process.

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