Please refer to our information about increasing participation. Instructors who continue to conduct the survey during class time will see very little change in their student participation rates. The response rate (the number of students who filled out the survey divided by the enrollment) for the online surveys for each semester ranges on average between 50% to 65%. When compared to paper surveys, this represents a drop for some departments and an increase for others. This change is largely caused by a shift in the behavior of instructors, from conducting the survey in class to relying on students to complete the survey on their own. We are closely tracking response rates as we implement our online ratings. Based on our own data and on evidence from other universities, the change in response rate does not significantly affect the average ratings for individual instructors or departments as a whole. Response rates to individual surveys may either decrease or rise depending on how the instructor communicates the details of the survey with the students and is affected by factors such as class size, attendance policies, and mode of instruction (lecture versus lab, etc.).