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Courtney Brewer
Student opinion surveys evoke mixed feelings among faculty, as we have heard since last year when the college announced they would be implementing course-based student experience surveys. Because administration will be piloting these surveys next month, below is information about the survey’s origins, implementation, use for professional development and finally the survey questions themselves. Origins The decision to develop this survey was partially brought about as a result of our previous Middle States accreditation report feedback in 2018, which stated
Now that we are in the midst of another accreditation cycle, the college has decided to act on this recommendation. The other factor involved in the survey’s creation is the fact that we are a clear outlier, with almost all other institutions in the SUNY system and beyond utilizing some sort of feedback mechanism for students to voice their opinions. SUNY requires all of its institutions to administer a variety of surveys on a regular basis, including the Campus Climate Survey and the Student Information Survey. These are not focused on asking students about their experiences in specific courses, however, which is what the end-of-course survey focuses on. Implementation As Vice President for Academic Affairs Irene Rios reported to the Board of Trustees at their October 16 meeting, the end-of-course student experience survey will be piloted in all 15-week courses taught in all modalities at the end of the fall semester, with the goal of implementing them in all courses college-wide during the spring 2026 semester. Professional development Regarding how survey results will be used, a few important distinctions must be made. An opinion survey is not the same as an evaluation. Evaluation is a formal assessment, measuring something against a predetermined set of criteria. An opinion survey is subjective and describes how someone may feel in response to an experience. It is not formal or evaluative. Students cannot evaluate course delivery methods, course content or faculty. Our contract does not contain any language on the approved use of student experience surveys because we have other, clearly stated mechanisms for the evaluation of faculty. Article VII Section E, which outlines the process for evaluating faculty, states in part
The evaluation process spelled out in section E is the only means by which personnel actions can be taken, including promotion, reappointment, continuing appointment and termination. The process requires a formal observation by a supervisor and does not include student experience survey responses. The FA will be entering into a formalized memorandum of agreement with the college prior to the implementation of the survey at the end of the semester, clearly stating the restrictions on the use of survey data in personnel decisions. While student opinions cannot form the basis for an evaluative decision about any faculty member, students certainly do have opinions and we should be open to hearing them. The survey questions resulted from a working group consisting of administration, faculty, governance and FA representatives who collaborated to hear what students have to say about a variety of issues in their courses including the usefulness of materials they are required to purchase, the clarity of instructions regarding assignments, the alignment with course materials and exams or other assessments and the responsiveness of their instructor. The questions focus on each student’s experience in the course, not their subjective opinion of the instructor. We are well aware of the pitfalls of student opinion surveys with regard bias in responses. Faculty of color and faculty who identify as female often receive more negative feedback, and students who do not perform well in a class are more likely to provide biased responses. This is not news to anyone, and it is why the results of the surveys cannot and will not be used in any of the personnel decisions mentioned previously. Welcoming student feedback What student survey data can do, however, is help faculty to have a better understanding of students’ experience in their courses. I know I believe that all of my materials are very clearly written and my instructions are accurate, but if my student experience survey feedback says otherwise, I will make adjustments. For instance, because I already survey my students at semester’s end, I’ve already made changes to my exam schedule in response to their feedback. I discovered students preferred four exams instead of three because they felt there was too much material on each exam when there were only three. I was surprised, having always assumed that while students certainly do not want one huge exam, they would opt for fewer rather than more tests in my classes. It was an interesting insight I would not have gotten had I not asked. In my fully online courses, the responses to my end-of-course questions are not anonymous, so I am curious to see what if any changes to the overall messages in the feedback will come about once they are afforded anonymity. The feedback obtained from the student experience surveys implemented at the end of this semester will only be available to the individual faculty member and their chairperson after the semester has concluded. This is designed to provide faculty with an opportunity to engage in conversation and self-reflection about what is working, and what may not be working, in their classes. It is also an opportunity for faculty to share with their colleagues what might be a particularly successful strategy or ideas for improving the student experience. These are things that should be welcome, as student success and retention are everyone’s concern. The survey questions Below are the survey questions as developed by the Office of Academic Affairs in collaboration with the survey collegewide task force members and working group.
Single Choice
Open-Ended Questions
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