Student FAQ

• How do I find the course evaluation system?

  For each course, an email notifiation is sent to your Cougar email from cc_admin@csusm.edu letting you know when the evaluation is open. These emails include your unique links to access the evaluations. Reminders are sent every three days for incomplete evaluations until the evaluations close.

• What does the University do with my course evaluations?

  All the student feedback received for a course is added together in a report that is provided to the Instructor, their Department Chair, and the College.

• Why should I complete the course evaluations?

  It is critical that students complete their course evaluations for several key reasons. Firstly, it gives students a voice in sharing their perspectives and empowers their learning experiences. This helps future students since professors use constructive feedback to improve their courses. In addition to general improvements, professors often introduce new readings, lessons, and assessments over time; so this feedback helps them learn what is working/not working or ways they can make the course elements more impactful.

  Course evaluation results are also reviewed as part of faculty evaluation. It is important to hear from as many students as possible to ensure that the evaluation is representative of different student voices and perspectives.

• What kind of feedback is most useful?

  Constructive feedback that is specific to aspects of the course (readings, lessons, lectures) is most helpful. The more focused and practical the feedback, the easier it is to implement and make actual changes to the course. Furthermore, research shows that student evaluations of courses can be biased based on the demographics of the instructor (such as gender identity, race). This bias most often appears in comments about general feelings about the class or about the instructor’s personality, therefore comments about specific aspects of teaching or the course content itself are the most useful.

• Are the evaluations really anonymous?

  Yes. Your responses are completely anonymous, meaning that your responses cannot be tied back to you in the system we use. Instructors receive the results as averages, based on all student responses, as well as a list of student comments. The only exception to your anonymity would be if you provide identifying information in your comments. For example, mentioning your name or describing a specific interaction with your instructor, in which case the instructor could deduce that the comment came from you.

• How can my responses be anonymous if I have to log-in?

  There is an individual password connected to your cougar courses link however the password cannot be tracked back to your individual responses on the evaluations. And in turn, cannot be tracked back to your CSUSM login.

• If responses are anonymous, how am I able to receive email reminders that I have not yet completed my course evaluation?

  The reminders are sent from the central evaluation system and based on which passwords have and have not been utilized to complete the evaluations. These passwords are not connected to your login information or your responses in any way. It only serves as an indicator for response rates. Once you complete your evaluation, your responses are completely anonymous.

• Will my instructor know if I completed the evaluation?

  The instructor will not know if any specific individual has completed the evaluation. Instructors do receive the total number of responses, without any identifying information, in their final report as well as a response rate report about half-way through the process.

• If the instructor does not know whether I complete my evaluation, how am I able to receive reminders?

  The reminders are sent from the central evaluation system and based on which links have and have not been utilized to complete the evaluations. The instructors do not administer the reminders going out to the students and do not know which students have not yet completed the evaluations.

• Will evaluation results be available to instructors before grades are posted?

  No. Protocols are taken so that evaluation results are only released AFTER the faculty member has posted their final grades. This procedure assures that the evaluations will have no impact on any final grades.

• I keep getting email reminders to complete my evaluations. How can I get them to stop?

  Evaluation reminder emails are set up to ensure ample opportunity for the student to complete their course evaluations, as the feedback collected is very important to the campus. The reminders will be sent out every few days during the evaluation period until they are completed or until the evaluation closing date. Once you have completed the evaluations, either from the Cougar Courses link or the link emailed to you, the reminders will stop.

• What can I do if I missed the course evaluation deadline?
  Unfortunately, you have missed the opportunity to evaluate the class. 
• I do not want to evaluate courses that are on my list. Will I still be able to see my grades?
  You will still be able to see your grades on the official grade posting date even if you do not complete your evaluations. 
• Not all of my courses for evaluation are appearing on my list. Why not?
  Some courses, such as Independent Studies courses, do not get evaluated due to low enrollment and difficulty ensuring student anonymity.  Therefore, it is possible that not all courses will appear on your list.  If there is a course missing that you believe should have an evaluation feel free to contact the Dean’s Office for the College that offers the course (see question 28 for contact information).
• What if I have two instructors for one course?
  You will receive two separate evaluations, one for each instructor but under the same course.  You will need to respond to both in order to evaluate both instructors. 
• I have a course that has a lecture and a discussion section. What do I do?
  If you receive two evaluations for course with a lecture and discussion section, please evaluate both parts of the course separately. Different forms are used to gather feedback specific to the type of course being evaluated.   
• Can I modify an evaluation that I have already submitted?
  No.  Once submitted, the evaluation cannot be edited.   
• I submitted an evaluation for the wrong Professor!
  If this issue arises, please contact your College’s Dean’s Office and they will work with Planning & Academic Resources to take appropriate action in assisting you. 
• I’m a new student and I am not familiar with CSUSM’s course evaluation process. What should I do?
  One suggestion would be to speak with fellow students or your professors about the process.  You may also send inquiries to Kayla Hardin in Planning & Academic Resources (khardin@csusm.edu) if questions remain. 
• How can I get more help?
  You can always contact the College Dean’s Offices or Kayla Hardin in Planning & Academic Resources (khardin@csusm.edu) with any questions you have about your course evaluations. 
• I am receiving email notices to complete evaluations for courses which are not in my major, why?
  You will be asked to complete an evaluation for each course you are enrolled in, whether it is within your major’s field or not.   
• Are all of the course evaluations made available at the same time?
  Yes. The only difference in release time is for courses that are offered on a special schedule that ends after eight weeks, in which the evaluations will be released within two weeks of the end of the eight-week period.  All other courses will receive their course evaluations two weeks prior to finals week.  
• When I try to access my evaluations, I receive an error indicating the ‘tasks are not accessible’. What’s wrong?
  This could be an issue with internet connection, the Class Climate Evaluation system or perhaps Cougar Courses.  If this error occurs, please contact the Student Help Desk (x6505) or Kayla Hardin in Planning & Academic Resources (khardin@csusm.edu). We will do our best to quickly resolve the issue. 
• Is it possible to evaluate the same course more than once?
  No.  Each link can only be used once and therefore you will never be able to evaluate any course more than once. 
• I do not have time to complete my evaluation right now. Will my answers be lost if I stop in the middle of the evaluation?
  Unfortunately, your answers will be lost if you stop in the middle of the evaluation.  The system does not save responses for unfinished evaluation forms therefore you will have to log back in to complete the entire evaluation again. 
• How can I tell if I have completed all my evaluations?
  Reminder emails will no longer be sent to you as soon as each evaluation is completed.
• There is a course or instructor I don’t recognize in my evaluation list. What should I do?
  The best thing to do is to contact the Dean’s Office for your respective College and they will work with Institutional Planning & Analysis to correct the issue.