The eUSRIs

USRIs, of course, stands for Universal Student Ratings of Instruction. You know, the paperwork you fill out near the end of term, evaluating and giving feedback to the instructors of all of your courses. Until this year, that is. Hence, the “e” in eUSRIs.

After a limited trial of online evaluations, General Faculties Council approved the move to online-only evaluations on September 22, 2014. (That’s why my course outlines for this term still had a date set aside for evaluations to be completed in class. I created those syllabi in August. Warm, sweet August.) The trials took place in Spring, Summer, and Fall terms in 2013. The results are available at the VPIT's website.

This abrupt change caught a lot of people off guard--we were officially told only on October 7. Instructors received a curt email with a link to a very limited FAQ and an attached technical document that was of no use or information to anyone who does not have backend administrative access to IT systems. (No, most instructors do not get backdoor access to Bear Tracks, PeopleSoft, or any other system. I wouldn’t want it anyway--it smells like more work.)
So what’s driving this move to online evaluations? Although you won’t see it anywhere, the idea is to reduce costs. No more printing forms, scanning them, and (in some cases of very small classes) transcribing students’ written responses. The rumour mill has whispered that it’s actually costing more to do online evals this term; the software platform (CoursEval) isn’t free, and people have to be trained how to use and modify it.

The biggest downside to eUSRIs? Lower response rates. Online evaluations are notorious for having significantly lower uptake than paper forms that are distributed during class time. Which brings me to my point.

Please please please please please please please please please complete your eUSRIs! Please? The results of USRIs are important for things like promotion (of tenure-stream faculty) and rehiring (of contract academic staff). Written comments are tremendously useful feedback; I look forward to them every time. Plus, sometimes they’re, you know, interesting.

So won’t you take a few minutes to evaluate your instructors this term--please?
Here’s the link: eUSRIs. Thank you in advance.

Why aren’t you studying?