The major initiatives and activities of CTQ are summarized below. In light of the proposed restructuring of the Academic Senate, the committee examined the mission and by-laws of CTQ and forwarded specific suggestions to the Senate Restructuring Committee during fall quarter. In the new, approved Divisional Senate Assembly structure, the committee retained its charge and focus as an independent action committee. During the 1997-98 academic year, both the School of Engineering and the School of Biological Sciences voted to adopt the STEF as the official teaching evaluation form for their schools. A major initiative of CTQ was the evaluation of the status of TA training on the UCI campus.
Teaching assistants play a critical role in the teaching mission of the university.
As an initial step in the assessment of TA training at UCI, the committee decided to survey the 1997-98 teaching assistants to obtain their perception of the level and adequacy of TA training. To both encourage completion and to simplify later data analysis, the committee decided to place the survey on the Web. The committee voted to follow last year's precedent and focus on teaching innovation as well as excellence for the faculty awards. The second annual Web Page of the Year Award was also presented. The winner of the web page award was chosen by a subcommittee consisting of experts from CTQ, the Instructional Resources Center, and the Office of Academic Computing.