A student evaluation system should reflect elements of effective teaching that are agreed upon by faculty and should provide flexibility for different types of instruction across departments and for the individual faculty. The University of North Texas should begin the development of a comprehensive student evaluation system. Each academic unit should develop policies and procedures for the observation of all faculty in the academic unit by other colleagues. Department chairs should be responsible for ensuring that the policies and procedures for the observation of faculty are carried out in a fair and consistent manner. Caution should be exercised in the implementation of the teaching portfolio recommendation not only to ensure acceptance by the faculty but also to ensure that an adequate number of mentors are trained to assist in the development of portfolios and that selective use be made of the portfolios in annual evaluations to avoid an undue burden on personnel affairs committees.
Student evaluations remain one important part of a comprehensive evaluation system.
This feedback is useful in an ongoing process of instructional improvement that is central to teaching effectiveness. In fact, student evaluation should be looked upon as a continuing process throughout a course rather than only at the end. By asking for student feedback in each class period or at midterm, the instructor has an opportunity immediately to make adjustments to instruction. At the present time, student evaluations at UNT are handled in a variety of ways in different units. While the committee did not conduct a campus-wide assessment of techniques, anecdotal information was sufficient to demonstrate the many different approaches.