Spring 2025 SET Pilot

Background

In February 2018, UCR's Academic Senate convened an ad hoc committee to review our Student Evaluations of Teaching (SETs). These evaluations are also commonly referred to as iEval, which is the name of the IT system which supports the evaluation process each quarter. The ad hoc committee's main priorities were to review policies, procedures, and mechanisms for how teaching is evaluated; establish new policies and procedures for accurate and reliable evaluation; and review iEval for its efficacy and recommend changes to maximize student participation and provide faculty with constructive feedback.

The ad hoc committee issued its report in 2021, at which time the Provost charged a joint Senate-administrative committee to implement the ad hoc committee's recommendations. The joint committee's work focused on producing a more equitable and useful tool for evaluation of teaching effectiveness and pedagogical improvement, and facilitating the submission of multiple forms of teaching effectiveness via eFile. The joint committee completed the bulk of its work in October 2023, including a round of Senate consultation that informed modifications to the new SET instrument.

Subsequently, all instructors were invited to participate in a pilot of the new SET in Spring 2024. Feedback from faculty and students who participated in the pilot (as well as from faculty who did not participate in the pilot) was collected and used to inform further adjustments to the SET and technology. An analysis of the feedback along with the joint committee's recommendations were included in a final report to the Senate.

After their November 18, 2024 meeting, the Senate Executive Council voted to "endorse mandatory adoption of the new SET as a campus-wide replacement for the old iEval questions [and] usage of the new software."

The next step towards campus-wide replacement will be a second pilot of the new SET instrument in Spring 2025 along with the new Qualtrics-based software that will replace the old iEval technology. Unlike the first pilot, this second pilot will not include a round of feedback and modifications prior to campus-wide adoption in Fall 2025. However, the Senate is currently determining a new oversight structure for SETs so that future suggestions may be considered in a timely manner.

More information is provided in the FAQs below.

Spring 2025 Pilot - FAQs

How can I register to participate in the pilot?

Please go to 2025 SET Pilot by March 19 to register for the Spring 2025 Pilot.
How can I learn more about the development of the new SET instrument?

The joint Senate-administrative committee produced this document which provides an overview of the rationale.
Where can I find the new SET questions?

The new SET has two parts; an optional early-term survey here and a required end-of-term survey here. The end-of-term survey also includes an expanded preamble here that students must acknowledge before proceeding to answer the questions.
How can I provide feedback on the new SET questions?

All instructors were invited to provide feedback on the new SET instrument in Winter and Spring 2024. Instructors who participated in the pilot, and their students, also were surveyed after the pilot to solicit additional feedback about the instrument and the Qualtrics-based IT system. Further suggestions for continuing to improve the SET will be handled by the Senate.
When will the pilot run?

Instructors who opt-in to the pilot will have the opportunity to run both parts of the new SET in spring quarter 2025.
How will the student responses to the pilot be used?

Instructors will receive their student responses, and will have the option to include the responses in the "Other Information" section of their eFile.
If I participate in the pilot, do I have to administer both new and existing SET instruments for a piloted course?

No. Participating instructors may choose whether to administer both instruments, or just the new one, for a piloted course. If you choose to administer both, results for the existing SET will be automatically uploaded to eFile as usual. If you choose to administer just the new SET, no results will be automatically uploaded. Whether you administer both or just the new one, it is your choice to include the new SET results under "Other Information" in eFile. VPAP Jeske and CAP have agreed that a piloted course without any evaluations will not be viewed negatively in the merit/promotion process. However, such cases should be noted in the department letter as is normal whenever a course is missing student evaluations.
Whom should I contact with additional questions?

If you have other questions, please email Director of Evaluation and Assessment omar.safie@ucr.edu.