Every instructor is required to have his or her teaching evaluated by students every semester using a standard form adopted for such purpose. [Policy (02.78.14), Nov. 2002]

Student feedback is anonymous and confidential; results are available in composite form after grades have been submitted and evaluations processed. Please be advised that to preserve student anonymity data are not reported for any course in which the enrollment is fewer than five students.

View Frequently Asked Questions for Instructors

Selecting Instructor Items

As a faculty member you will now have the option to select up to four questions, from the item bank, to the SFF for your course(s). This will allow you to assess aspects of your course that will be of value to you. Below are some reminders about using the new system.

• Only you will see the data from these items unless you opt to share your SFF report with your chair or others.
• Instructor added items must come from the item bank.  If you do not see the item you would like to add to your SFF, you may suggest an item to be added to the item bank.  The suggested item will then be reviewed by the Assessment of Instruction Committee. Please allow two weeks for item approval.
• You can review and select items for your course up to 60 days before the start of your course.
• You may add or edit items until 11:59pm the day before the SFF is set to open.
• Once you select items for your course, those items will roll-over to future SFFs until you decide to change them.
• If you do not add any instructor level items, a SFF for your course will still be administered to students.  All SFFs will have the university-wide items at a minimum, along with college level and subject code level items if they were added.

Suggesting New Items for the SFF Item Bank

The Student Feedback Form Admin Panel allows users to customize the SFF by selecting items from an Item Bank to be included on the SFF. Items added to an SFF must come from the Item Bank. New item suggestions can be submitted and will be reviewed by the Assessment of Instruction Committee (AIC) for inclusion in the Item Bank. You can suggest a new item for review at any time. However, in order for an item to be added to the bank for use on an upcoming SFF, items must be submitted at least three weeks before the SFF administration, so that AIC has time to review and provide feedback.

SFF Administration Calendar

Reminders

Instructors can add or edit items on their SFF forms until 11:59pm the day before SFFs are scheduled to open.

Below is the general schedule for SFF administration. To review the specific SFF administration dates for your courses, including those which fall outside of these general parts-of-term, review your course information on the Welcome page of the SFF system Admin Panel (https://sff.temple.edu/admin/).

View Full SFF Activity Calendar

Encouraging a Strong Response Rate

SFF data is most valuable when you have a high response rate, helping to ensure that you have a representative picture of the student experience in your course.

University Communication

• Students will be sent emails from the University asking them to complete their evaluations online.  
• Email communication for a short duration and early start courses are sent directly by school/college liaisons.

What can instructors do to encourage a strong response rate?

• Instructors are encouraged to give students time in class to complete SFFs. Students have said giving time in class signals to them that SFFs are important to the instructor.
• Discuss with students the importance of providing course and instructor feedback. Give students specific examples of how you have used SFF data in the past.
• Monitor your response rates on the Welcome page of the SFF system. (http://sff.temple.edu).

Review These Additional Strategies to Increase Response Rates »

Reports

After the grading deadline has passed for your course, the SFF report will be available to you through the new SFF system Admin Panel (http://sff.temple.edu/admin) via the Reports tab. SFF reports for Summer 2020 and prior are still available through the previous SFF Report link and on TUPortal (under TUapplications). 

Data for instructor-added items are reported only to the instructor. These items are intended for your own assessment and self-improvement. You may opt to share data from instructor-added items with your chair or others. 

Recommendations for the Use of Student Feedback Form (SFF) Data at Temple University

Assessment of Instruction Committee Recommendations >>

This document provides a set of guidelines and suggestions for the use of Student Feedback Form (SFF) data by individual faculty, faculty committees, school and college leadership, and university-level administrators at Temple. The document contains a brief history of the SFFs, a discussion of what these data represent, guidelines for their appropriate use, and suggestions for ways to get the most benefit from them. The document was created by the Assessment of Instruction Committee as part of its charge to provide guidance on assessment to the University community.

 

If you have difficulty logging in, please contact the Computer Services Help Desk through the TUhelp Website or call 215-204-8000.

If you have additional questions regarding SFFs or the SFF website, please email Student Feedback Forms at sff@temple.edu.