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Evaluation guidelines |
To complete the quarter and receive credit, in addition to meeting requirements in the program Covenant, you must (0) submit a completed portfolio, (1) write a self evaluation, (2) write a faculty evaluation, (3) write peer evaluations, and (4) attend an evaluation conference scheduled by faculty (see program Syllabus for eval conference schedule).
You are encouraged to visit Academic Advising for assistance writing evals. They offer workshops on evals and portfolios.
(0) Portfolios: see portfolio/eval guidelines, and participate in the portfolio workshop in class.
You must bring a signed copy of your self evaluation to the conference. It should be meticulously edited. We will go over it with you and we may make suggestions for changes. We will not require changes, and we will not sign your self-eval. You are the author of this document. Be specific. Be honest. Be concise (1 page or less). More self-eval guidelines.
If you want your evaluation included in your transcript, you will have to take or mail two signed copies to the registrar. If your faculty member makes reference to your self evaluation in his or her evaluation of you, you must submit your self evaluation in order to receive credit.
In any event, one ticket for getting into the evaluation conference is a signed copy of your self evaluation. Plan to leave one copy with your faculty member.
(2) Faculty Evaluation
Faculty members can contribute to your learning experience in lectures, workshops, conversations, seminars, and more. How did your professors contribute to your learning? Comment on your own personal experiences with each faculty member (not on your perceptions of classmates' perceptions). How did profs help you in workshops, in seminar, in lectures, with homework, etc.?
You can write in any form you wish, as long as you type or computer-print it. Your faculty eval does not have to be on the official form. Your signed evaluation of your seminar leader becomes a part of his or her portfolio (as well as a part of your portfolio), and is used in decisions regarding the standing of the faculty member at the college. The Academic Deans and Provost can consider only the following factors in evaluating a faculty member and these are the topics they are supposed to want information about. You don't have to cover all these points and you do not have to use this as an outline (and you should discuss only those matters for which you have evidence), but the faculty member is obliged to inform you of the criteria. You might also refer to the expectations in the program covenant.
A. Teaching:
1. contribution to the learning environment in programs through:
a. subject matter expertise;
b. interdisciplinary approach to the material;
c. counseling and advising students;
d. facilitation of a stimulating and challenging atmosphere;
e. seminars, lectures, lab or field work, workshops, and individual contracts;
and
f. working collaboratively with faculty and students;
2. fostering students' intellectual and cognitive development;
3. fostering students' communication abilities;
4. the design and execution of parts of a program's curriculum;
5. innovation; and
6. intellectual vitality.
B. Meeting commitments: ...
2. Adherence to covenants and program syllabi and specialty area or graduate
program obligations....
4. Writing timely evaluations of each student taught, assessing specifically
and substantively the student's understanding of program material.
5. Adherence to the Social Contract, the Affirmative Action Policy, and
the Sexual Harassment Policy....
Patrick Hill, a faculty member and former Provost, urges students to list, on scrap paper, the good things and bad things about a faculty member and then engage in the following exercise (on paper). Type out the following sentences: "The following are the most important ways in which [enter faculty member's name] contributed to my learning in this program. ____, ____, ____, ____. The following are the most important ways in which [enter faculty member's name] detracted from my learning in this program. : ____, ____, ____, ____." Fill in the blanks from your list. (If any of these appear with statistical regularity in his evaluations, these should be published in the [still imaginary] Student Guide to Evergreen Faculty.)
You can try this approach; you can write a letter to the faculty member; you can write your mother a letter; you can write out an address to graduating seniors that is about this program or about the faculty member. Your choice, of course.
SUBMITTING your faculty evaluation: The College values reciprocity and mutuality. Therefore, faculty members value receiving your faculty evaluation during the evaluation conference at the end of the program. While we value reciprocity and mutuality, the Faculty have approved a policy that allows you to submit your faculty evaluation to the Program Secretaries instead (Ruth Joynes or Pat Kolstad, Lab II 2250). They can give your eval to us after they have our evaluation of you.
Your eval of your faculty is DUE at the evaluation conference. (If you choose to give it to program secretaries, get a note from them saying the evaluation has been submitted.)
(3) Peer Evaluations
Write a few sentences about each classmate who worked closely with you
(or was supposed to), on your seminar team, research team, or otherwise.
Email these evals to your seminar faculty when required on your syllabus
(subject header: peer evals).
- Did he/she come to every team meeting?
- Did he/she always come prepared, having read everything and taken notes?
- Was he/she a reliable contributor to your group work, e.g. seminar planning, facilitating, or research?
- Did he/she give you thoughtful feedback on your seminar essays?
- Did you work together effectively to prepare for seminar, improve your writing, do workshops, deepen your understanding of the program material?
- Could you reliably count on him/her?
- Would you want to be on a team with him/her again?