Revamping Course Evaluations – Your Input Needed

(Email: 18 November 23)

Hope you are doing well! 

During the summer, a team got together to start the process of reexamining our student evaluations – with a focus on redesigning a system that works to eliminate known bias, inappropriate use of course evaluation data and adverse impacts on faculty. The Office of Academic Affairs fully supports this work and the creation of new system for gathering meaningful data.  

I’d like to ask that you help the team gather data for this work by taking a few minutes to read their message below and complete this survey with your feedback about student course evaluations by Wednesday, November 25

Class Evaluations Revision Survey 

My thanks to the team – including Ariane (Ann) Hayes, Caroline Leffall, Ellen Nichols, Jennie Mayer, Lindsay Haney, Tonya Estes, and Aron Segal – for their initiative on this project.  Please do not hesitate to contact them if you would like further information. 

Thanks for your help in this important endeavor! 

Rob 

Class Evaluation Revision Survey 

The American Sociological Association released a statement last fall that said class evaluation processes, as they are typically employed, are flawed.  They amplify student biases and are harmful to the retention and growth of faculty.  Receiving constructive feedback from students is important nonetheless.   

In concert with the College’s efforts to address anti-Blackness, a mixed group of faculty and an exempt employee began meeting over the summer to brainstorm how the institution might respond to the litany of issues that exist with our current evaluation process.  Concerns were raised regarding not only anti-Black, misogynistic, and other biases, but also other aspects of the evaluation process itself.  Concerns regarding how the evaluations are used, whether alternative mechanisms might be better used to gain certain types of information, and whether it is appropriate for faculty to be responsible for soliciting the feedback all arose.   

Recognizing that evaluations completed by students are but one part of the instructor evaluation structure that also includes peer evaluations and a self-evaluation, the team has been exploring alternative processes advocated by researchers and those that other institutions have begun using.  To guide us in the first phase of a process of reviewing current practices and developing suggestions for alternatives, we would appreciate your responses to the questions in the linked survey regarding student class evaluations. 

We know that the current system is critically flawed.  Please help us to build one that will better serve faculty, administrators, and our students by responding to this survey by Wednesday November 25th, 2020. 

Preparing Faculty to Lead with Racial Equity Teaching Online During COVID-19

(Email: August 20)
I’d like to invite anyone who is interested to attend the SBCTC’s Fall Faculty Institute (Sept 9-10) which is focused on “Preparing Faculty to Lead with Racial Equity Teaching Online During  COVID-19” (see the agenda below). The meeting is entirely online and open to anyone from BC. Thanks to Jennie Mayer for promoting this opportunity earlier this week!
We have purchased an institutional license, so all you need to do to register is sign up at (https://www.sbctc.edu/colleges-staff/programs-services/assessment-teaching-learning/fall-faculty-institute.aspx) and select Institutional Pricing $0 for the conference fee on the registration form. 
I hope you are able to take advantage of this opportunity while you enjoy the rest of the summer break!
Rob

2020 Fall Faculty InstitutePreparing Faculty to Lead with Racial Equity Teaching Online During  COVID-19
Wednesday, 9/9/20 to Thursday, 9/10/20
10:00 AM to 4:30 PM 


Short URL to this Document: https://bit.ly/31TP7aq

Link for A la Carte Registration: https://bit.ly/2Xpam19
Link to Institutional Pricing: https://bit.ly/30Dyejj
Follow-Up DEI Programming:
Follow-Up DEI Programming for faculty on instruction-specific topics is being developed and will be available by August 31st, 2020.

What is the Fall Faculty Institute?
The 2020 Fall Faculty Institute is designed to support faculty learning by providing sessions on:

Sessions will be informed by the SBCTC vision statement and antiracist criteria currently in development by a subcommittee of the DEI Instruction workgroup (one of the DEI in WA CTCs Initiatives).

Who Should Attend the Fall Faculty Institute?

Sessions will be useful for faculty in all 3 mission areas: Basic Education for Adults (BEdA)Academic-TransferWorkforce (Prof-Tech)Full-time faculty, faculty beginning or in the tenure process, and part-time  faculty are all welcome.

Agenda

Day 1
10:00 AM to 10:30 AMOpening Welcome
10:30 AM to 12:00 PMPlenary Session Part I: Leading with Racial EquityFacilitator: Dr. Debra Jenkins
12:00 PM to 1:00 PMLunch on your own
1:00 PM to 2:30 PMPlenary Session Part II: Leading with Racial EquityFacilitator: Dr. Debra Jenkins
2:30 to 3:00 PM Break
3:00 to 4:30 PMTeaching Online During COVID-19: Choose 1 of  3 Concurrent Sessions
(1) Moving from “Surviving” to “Striving” to “Thriving” Facilitators: Dr. Todd Waters and Whatcom Faculty Members, (2) Increasing Retention and Completion in Your Online Course Facilitator: Dr. Tish Lopez (3) Critical Pedagogy Online Facilitator: Laura Adele Soracco

Day 2
10:00 AM to 10:30 AMLand Acknowledgement
10:30 AM to 12:00 PMOpening Plenary: What is the Faculty Responsibility in Interrupting Systemic Racism? Facilitator: Dr. Xyan Neider, Whatcom Community College
12:00 PM to 1:00 PM Lunch on your own
1:00 PM to 2:30 PM Antiracist Assessment Practices: Choose 1 of 3 Concurrent Sessions
(1) Antiracist Assignment Design Across Disciplines & Programs Facilitator: Dr. Xyan Neider, Whatcom Community College, (2) For Faculty Who Teach or Assess Writing: Antiracist Writing Assessment Ecologies and Labor Based Grading Contracts Facilitators: Asao B. Inoue (ASU) and Emily Beals (GRC), (3) For STEM Faculty: Contextualized Learning and Labor Based Grading in STEM Facilitators: Karina Vega-Villa and Bobbi Johnson, Wenatchee Valley College
2:30 to 3:00 PMBreak
3:00 to 4:30 PMClosing Plenary Session: Reflection and ActionFacilitators: Dr. Judy Loveless Morris, Tacoma; Amanda Rasmussen, Spokane; Peg Balachowski, EvCC