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These matters are handled by a subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Teaching and Teaching Evaluation, made up of eight members: five regular professors, one part-time professor, one student representative from the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa and one representative from the Graduate Students Association. In 2005, this group, which meets between six and eight times a year to discuss evaluation issues, created the evaluation questionnaire in use today.

The answers to the 13 questions are tabulated and provided directly to the professor; they are also posted online, where all registered students and faculty members can review them. Login to uoZone or VirtuO, click on  “Services” and on “S-Report – Evaluation of Teaching and Courses”. You can then enter either a course code and year, or a professor’s name.

The evaluation questionnaire also provides space for as many as 10 additional questions, which a professor could add to address special evaluation needs, such as assessing activities taking place in a given course. The answers to these questions are provided only to the professor and are not posted online.

Similarly, the anonymous comments accompanying the questionnaires are not posted and are seen only by the professor. A recent survey of professors found strong endorsement for leaving this portion of the evaluation confidential.

The main purpose of all questions is to obtain feedback from students on a course and a professor’s teaching skills. This information can help professors gauge their abilities and help other students learn about how a course was taught. A survey of professors found that in general, professors agreed that  these evaluations provided adequate feedback and prompted them to improve their teaching skills in some way.

At the same time, three of the questions — tabulated in a report called the A-Report — have a more specific purpose. They ask students to evaluate how well professors prepare for class, how well they convey the subject matter, and their general ability as a teacher. These criteria are  formally included in  the collective agreement that binds individual faculty members and the University. The results of the A-Report are scored on a five-point scale and can be considered by deans and department chairs when making career and professional advancement decisions.

Depending on the nature and extent of the feedback, a course evaluation could lead to significant changes in features such as the use of technology in a course, the course structure, timing and weight of evaluations such as tests, and other learning activities that take place. As such, evaluations could be the catalyst for redesigning a course. However, it is important to note that such changes could only be implemented the next time the course is given,  not during the term during which  the evaluation takes place.

Yes. Professors may be nominated for various awards and scholarships if their teaching skills clearly and significantly exceed expectations. Each year, the University gives out the Excellence in Education Prizes, the Distinguished University Professor Award and the Excellence in Teaching Award to highlight the work of exceptional educators and outstanding teaching. Also, professors may be nominated by their faculty to receive a faculty award for professor of the year.

In addition, there are provincial awards presented by organizations such as the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations, as well as national distinctions, such as the prestigious 3M Fellowship for Teaching Excellence. Positive evaluations may also play a role in a professor’s contract renewal for tenure-track positions, or contract renewals for part-time professors.

The answer depends on the status of the professor as either a part-time or regular full-time faculty member. Part-time professors are evaluated primarily on their teaching record, while full-time professors are evaluated on all aspects of their academic performance, including research, academic service and teaching. In the case of part-time professors, therefore, consistently bad teaching evaluations can lead to a loss of seniority points when they re-apply for the teaching job, which often means that these professors’ contracts will not be renewed. For full-time professors, on the other hand, teaching is only one of their three main responsibilities, so a poor evaluation in this area will seldom get them fired.

Nevertheless, unsatisfactory teaching evaluations can determine whether or not a full-time professor will receive advancement opportunities such as tenure. More specifically, the three questions that make up the A-report are summarized for the last 3 years a full-time professor has taught and then compared with results from peers in the same faculty. A consistently poor evaluation record might raise questions about the course structure, delivery or the professor's ability and/or effort in teaching. Corrective measures could be taken, including recommending that the professor take advantage of the resources designed to improve teaching.

If the dean has good reasons to believe that a regular professor’s teaching is unsatisfactory, a formal warning may be issued, along with disciplinary measures for deficient performance of workload duties. For a part-time professor, unsatisfactory teaching performance may result in a refusal of the  request for contract renewal. These questions are scored out of 5.0, and a cumulative average below 2.9 signals to administrators that an individual may require help with teaching skills. It may also lead to a loss of seniority if this part-time professor re-applies for the position.

Full-time faculty members submit their preferences to their respective dean and chair, who then try to balance the teaching loads of every member of a department. Courses are often assigned even if no one asks to teach them, but sometimes, there are simply not enough potential teachers among the regular faculty members. These openings are then advertised as part-time positions, and previous teaching evaluations often serve as one of the applicants’ key qualifications.

Part-time faculty applying for these positions may have an advantage if they have maintained a good average in their A-Report, a set of three questions in the teaching evaluation that are included in  the collective agreement that binds faculty members and the University. These questions deal with how well the professor prepares for class, how well they convey the subject matter, and their general ability as a teacher.