Currently, at UBC Vancouver there is a Senate policy on Student Evaluations of Teaching, passed in 2007. The current Senate policy is concerned solely with the role of student feedback and does not encompass other elements of evaluating teaching that are currently in place at UBC (such as peer review of teaching, the role of a teaching dossier etc.). It says little about how student feedback should be integrated with other forms of data before making judgments about the effectiveness of teaching.
In addition, the Student Evaluations of Teaching Working Group's recommendations to both Senates in May 2020 include the following two recommendations that are relevant to the overall process of evaluation of teaching:
- “Units should be supported to adopt a scholarly and Integrated approach to evaluation of teaching.”
- “The Vancouver Senate should review the policy on Student Evaluations of Teaching and consider a broader policy on the evaluation of teaching writ large. The Okanagan Senate should develop a similar policy for the Okanagan campus.”
When the SEoT Working Group presented their report to Senates in May 2020, the accompanying cover memo stated:
“Because teaching is complex and contextually dependent, departments and units should be supported to adopt an integrative and scholarly approach to evaluation that synthesizes multiple data sources (e.g., students, peers, historical patterns, and self-reflection documentation) for a holistic picture, without over-reliance on any single data source.”
Integrative Evaluation of Teaching (IEoT) Policy Development
Work began in 2022 to draft a new, bi-campus policy to stipulate that evaluation of teaching at UBC will include data from at least three sources: peer review, student feedback, and self-reflection. This work took place through a policy working group and policy review group that together had wide representation across both campuses, including faculty, students, Senators, Associate Deans, Heads, and representatives of several central units. This new policy is focused on the methods for the evaluation of teaching and is distinct from the Student Evaluation of Teaching', SEoT, policy. Review of the existing SEoT policyis on the work program for the 2024/25 academic year with changes coming back for further review and consultation.
Before the IEoT policy takes effect there will be 12-month lead-in. This provides time for Faculties to develop their implementation processes in line with the policy principles. The project team will also work with the Senior Appointments Committee (SAC) to ensure their guidelines are up to date.
This policy is designed to ensure a broadly consistent use of an integrated approach to the evaluation of teaching, while also supporting flexibility where needed. A draft guiding document has been created to support the Faculty development of their processes and will be available on each of the Provost offices websites when the final policy is approved at Senate. This guiding document is not part of the senate consultation process but a draft is available for comment from the UBC community. Both the draft document and a short Qualtrics feedback survey are available here for review.
Draft guiding document and feedback survey
- Step 1: Download/view the draft guiding document (PDF)
- Step 2: Complete the Qualtrics feedback survey
Contact
For any questions on this project, please contact:
- Debbie Hart, Senior Manager Strategic Projects, Office of the Provost and Vice-President Academic
- Dr. Simon P Bates, Vice-Provost and Associate Vice-President, Teaching and Learning, Vancouver Campus
- Brad Wuetherick, Associate Provost, Academic Programs, Teaching and Learning, Okanagan campus