The Office of the Vice-Provost, Innovations in Undergraduate Education has concluded the development of the Provostial Guidelines on the Student Evaluation of Teaching in Courses. This process occurred over the span of twelve months in consultation with the Provost’s Course Evaluation Advisory Group, which included senior academic administrators from divisions that have implemented the University’s new course evaluation framework.

The 2011 Policy on the Student Evaluation of Teaching in Courses stipulates that each undergraduate and graduate course at the University of Toronto will be evaluated by students each time a course is offered. The Policy states: “At the University of Toronto, course evaluations are conducted for the following reasons:

1. To provide formative data used by instructors for the continuous improvement of their teaching.
2. To provide members of the University community, including students, with information about teaching and courses at the institution.
3. To collect data used in the summative evaluation of teaching for administrative purposes such as annual merit, tenure and promotion review.
4. To provide data used by departments and divisions for program and curriculum review.”

In response to this requirement, and other pedagogical best practices reviewed by the Advisory Group, the University developed a centrally-supported Course Evaluation Framework and implemented it through an online assessment software system. The new Guidelines address the administration, use, and storage of course evaluations and related data. In combination with the Policy and divisional guidelines on the student evaluation of teaching in courses, the new Guidelines form an institutional methodology for the student evaluation of teaching in courses. Please feel free to share the new Guidelines with colleagues as divisional guidelines are being developed.