Course Evaluations

Final Course Evaluations

Information for Students

End of semester (or module) course evaluations are submitted by students on line. Here is how it works:

Evaluations will open to students (via intranet login) on the last day of the module period or semester and remain open for 7 days, closing at midnight seven days later. Students will receive an additional email from the Assistant Dean for Teaching Support announcing the start of the Online Evaluation Period, a reminder at the midpoint of the period, and a final email on the day the period closes.

Log in here to access previous years’ course evaluation reports.

Note that cross registered students must apply for an intranet account and password in order to access the evaluations. Most will have done this already, but a reminder from faculty that they must have intranet access will insure that cross registrants have the opportunity to submit the evaluation.

Student responses are confidential. Students will not be able to see their grades for any of their courses in a particular module period or semester until they have submitted an evaluation for all of their courses in that module period or semester.

Information for Faculty

Faculty are given electronic access to the data only after they have submitted final grades for the course, and the grades have been entered into the database by the Registrar’s Office. For Modules Period 1 and 3 expect a delay of up to 48 hours for data entry. For the end of term (with a larger volume of data entry ), expect a delay of up to four days. To access their evaluation information faculty will log on to the Intranet. At the top center of the page they will see a message regarding course evaluations. After clicking on the message, if faculty do not see any courses listed it means the grades have not yet been entered. As soon as the grades are entered, when faculty click on this site they will see the list of their courses for which they may now access evaluation data.

Faculty will be able to view the data by “Summary,” (summary of all numerical scores) “Comments,” (written comments from the students) or “Raw Data.” The “Raw Data” option gives faculty the opportunity to delve deeper into the data to do analysis. While the identities of each student will remain anonymous, faculty will be able to correlate any individual’s responses to questions with that individual’s written comments.

Faculty teaching jointly listed courses will receive a separate email from the Assistant Dean for Teaching Support explaining the process for students registering under the other course number.

Courses with Enrollments under Five Students
These courses may be evaluated to provide feedback for the instructor. With such small a small enrollment, the score averages are statistically meaningless. Hence they may not be published.

Auditors
Auditors do not fill out evaluation forms unless they are fully participating in the course - attending all classes, submitting all homework and papers, and taking the final exam.

Evaluation of the TFs
TFs are not evaluated on the standard Kennedy School course evaluation form (unless the student chooses to make a written comment). Recently we have begun midterm TF evaluations on a voluntary basis.

Making Course Evaluations Public
The summaries of all course evaluations are posted on line at the conclusion of the academic year. These are accessible by Kennedy School Intranet login only.

Midcourse Evaluations for Faculty
Faculty are encouraged to engage in some form moderately formal midcourse evaluation to get feedback from students about how their courses are going while there is still time to make adjustments before the semester ends. Faculty who regularly engage in this process generally find it well worth the time invested; often it has made a real difference in their ability to produce the most effective course possible.

In the past, faculty have had success with the sample forms, which can be modified to fit a particular course. If you have used another form that you like better, we'll be happy to add it to this website.