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Policy Contact: Office of Academic Affairs

1. Purpose

   This policy and its procedures set forth the SDBOR and University requirements regarding student opinion surveys of faculty instruction and provide standardized procedures for administration of the survey.

2. Policy
    
   1. The University, as directed by the SDBOR, requires the use of the IDEA Student Ratings of Instruction as the student opinion survey to facilitate the evaluation of faculty. Colleges have the option to select the short form (Agriculture, Food & Environmental Sciences; Natural Sciences; Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences; Nursing; Pharmacy & Allied Health Professions), or long form (Engineering, Education & Human Sciences).
       
   2. Tenure-track faculty will administer the survey for all courses, that is, every semester in every section of every course during every term. The only exemption for tenure-track faculty is for a multiple section course when multiple sections are taught by the same faculty member. In this situation a student opinion survey does not need to be administered in every section of a multiple section course. The supervising administrator will designate which section(s) of a multi-section course will be given student opinion surveys. This decision is made by the supervising administrator anytime during the term.
       
   3. Lecturers and repeating term faculty will administer the diagnostic/short form in at least one section of every course each year.
       
   4. Tenured faculty will administer the diagnostic/short form in every section in a given semester at least once every three years.
       
   5. Part-time and occasional term faculty will administer the diagnostic/short form as needed.
       
   6. Department heads/school directors, deans, or the Vice President for Academic Affairs (VPAA) may require the survey of any course.
       
   7. The Provost and VPAA may approve course exemptions from the evaluation process (thesis, dissertation, independent study, clinical sections, special topics, capstone, practicum, student teaching, etc.).
       
   8. Sections with fewer than ten (10) students enrolled at the time the IDEA instrument is to be administered will be exempt from data collection unless specifically requested by the faculty member.
       
   9. Regardless of the rotation employed for administering the long or short form according to instructor professional rank, the University must provide students an opportunity to provide written comments in a confidential manner.
       
3. Procedures
    
   1. Through discussion at the departmental/school level between the department head/school director and faculty member, the rotation schedule (frequency of administration) will be determined.
       
   2. The IDEA SRI course evaluation should be administered during the last three weeks of class instruction prior to finals week and at the beginning of the class period. Classes that end earlier (short courses, nonstandard courses, e.g. CM 101, ENTR 203) should administer the survey in the last week of classes. It is important to provide students with sufficient time to complete these surveys confidentially.
       
   3. The faculty member is not present in the classroom when students are completing the survey. The faculty member must be available to begin class once surveys are completed.
       
   4. The Provost and VPAA has approved the following general course exemptions from IDEA survey:
      1. Those with fewer than ten students enrolled (unless requested by faculty member or supervisor.)
      2. Those with the following prefix/number or number series:
         1. Independent Study 491, 591, 691, 791, 891
         2. Master’s Research Problem/Project 788
         3. Thesis 798
         4. Dissertation 898
             
   5. The Provost and VPAA has approved alternative survey instruments for clinical or individualized instruction. Courses with approved alternative instruments include:
      1. Nursing: all clinical courses
      2. Music: all courses with a MUAP or MUEN prefix
      3. Medical Laboratory Science: all clinical practice courses 
          
   6. All courses must provide students an opportunity to provide written comments in a confidential manner. For those courses with the prefix/number or number series indicated below, instructors may elect to use the IDEA survey or the approved open-ended questions in the Student Comments Option for Student Opinion Surveys form. However, one of these two forms of assessment must be made available to students.

      1. Activity Courses:

         SPCM 281, Speech and Debate Activities

         THEA 135, Theatre Activities-Acting

         THEA 145, Theatre Activities-Technical

         MCOM 144/344, Mass Communications Activities

      2. Student Teaching (488 series)
      3. Special Topics 492/592/692/792 (If more than 9)
      4. Internship 494/594/794
      5. Practicum 495/595/695/795/895
      6. Field Experience 496/596/796/896
      7. Cooperative Education 497
      8. Undergraduate Research/Scholarship 498
      9. Directed Study PHA 700
      10. Practice Experience PHA 701-780
      11. Nursing Education Practicum 778
      12. International Experience or Study Abroad 482/582

4. Responsible Administrator

   The Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, successor, or designee is responsible for annual and ad hoc review of this policy and its procedures. The University President is responsible for approval of modifications to this policy and its procedures.

Approved by President on 10/02/2013. Revised Approved by President on 04/21/2014. Revised; Approved by President on 04/21/2021. Revised 01/26/2024 (clerical).

Sources: 

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