SEI Autumn 2020

Faculty and Staff — September 30, 2020

Student Evaluation of Instruction (SEI) for Autumn 2020

To our faculty, students, and staff who are teaching this semester,

I am reaching out with information about how the student evaluation of instruction (SEI) will be managed this semester. We recognize that the COVID-19 pandemic continues to disrupt your instructional and pedagogical practices, and we sincerely appreciate the steps you continue to maintain a high level teaching practice. 

We also know that students are experiencing their own challenges. Many have been required to isolate and quarantine, struggle with access to consistent connectivity, and face other issues. Even with all of the changes, we believe that it is important that faculty, graduate students and staff receive feedback from their students about their teaching. As such, student evaluations of Instruction (SEIs) again will be conducted in their usual manner, with a few notable changes.

First, the following statement will be added to all SEIs:

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact both teaching and learning this semester, but your feedback through the Student Evaluation of Instruction remains valuable to our faculty, staff and graduate students. We ask that you consider the holistic instruction provided to you this semester in your feedback. Faculty, staff and graduate students can utilize your comments — both about the instruction and how they responded to the circumstances of the semester — as they reflect on their own work in these challenging times.

Second, all faculty, graduate students and staff who are teaching this semester may add this statement to their dossiers or may use this statement (or something comparable to it) in application materials. Candidates should feel free to combine the statement from Spring 2020 (if used) with this one. 

From the Office of Academic Affairs: The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic required everyone to continue making significant changes to their instructional and pedagogical practices. Autumn semester 2020 SEI reports were shared with all faculty, graduate teaching associates, and staff who taught a course, and the numeric scores are included in the Cumulative Student Evaluation of Instruction Reports. However, the review of a candidate for appointment, reappointment, promotion, or promotion with tenure must holistically consider the candidate's full teaching portfolio.

We wish to thank everyone for their continued work, and we hope that everyone will find value in the comments provided by your students.

Please contact me at malone.175@osu.edu with questions.

Helen I. Malone, PhD 
Vice Provost for Academic Policy and Faculty Resources