Some students this semester may not be handed course evaluations in class to fill out.
It isn’t because they aren’t expected to do an evaluation, it’s because many are being asked to do it online.
According to Chuck Wight, associate dean of undergraduate studies, 43,000 evaluations will be completed online this semester.
Online evaluations save paper, money and time for departments conducting the evaluations, said Christopher Iceman, chemistry graduate student who oversees the course evaluations for the chemistry department.
Originally developed for off campus students to evaluate online classes, 13,000 online evaluations were done by on campus students last spring in the College of Fine Arts and the chemistry department, Wight said.
Students in classes selected to give online evaluations by their departments will be e mailed by Wight or will see a message on their campus information system file.
Until Dec. 22, the requested students will be blocked from looking up grades until they have completed the evaluation, Wight said.
The online version is expected to grow in popularity because the results have fewer mistakes and takes less time than the scanners, Wight said.
Results can now be seen by teachers before the start of the next semester.
Previously, it took months.
The departments can now print off typed student comments instead of transcribing the hand-written ones. That will save employee resources, Wight said.
Despite these advantages, the vast majority of evaluations will still be done with paper.
The new method is still considered experimental and is merely offered as an alternative for now, according to Wight.
Updated course evaluation results have not been available for students to read since 2001.
The reasons are not clear, but Academic Computing Services has been asked by Wight and ASUU Director of Technology Chris Carlston to post the results on the Web.
After the proposal is submitted, Computing Services will assign a task force to prepare the data and make it available for students on the Web, Wight said.
