CMU to conduct student opinion surveys online
Empty seats accompany someone using the computers at Charles V. Park Library March 17 on campus. The Charles V. Park Library originally remained open despite classes being moved online.
Central Michigan University will be conducting Student Opinion Surveys entirely online for the first time.
In light of the various complications of the COVID-19 pandemic, such as many students not attending classes in person, CMU is implementing EvaluationKIT, an online survey tool, to conduct the end of the semester student opinion surveys.
Surveys will become available to students through blackboard starting tomorrow, Nov. 18, surveys will close permanently at midnight Tuesday, Nov. 24.
Student Opinion Surveys or SOS Forms, are anonymous forms completed by students to evaluate their professor's performance during the semester. Students are encouraged to provide meaningful feedback to their instructors.
The online surveys will contain all of the standard student opinion questions that are the same for every course, but faculty will have the option to add and customize questions of their own if they choose. This class customization will allow professors to make survey questions that relate to them or their class more specifically.
Jason Kennedy, professor of Sociology and Anthropology is one who plans on adding additional questions to SOS forms to look for better student feedback.
"I think this customization is positive," Kennedy said, "there's not a lot of questions on the standard SOS that directly tell me how to improve my teaching."
Kennedy hopes the online format makes distribution easier for students and faculty and allows students plenty of time to answer the questions.
"Having it done online removes some of the headaches for the professor," Kennedy said. "it cuts down on paper and labor and it's gonna save the university money."
Even though the EvalutationKIT system will know whether or not a student has completed the survey, all student information will remain confidential and cannot be connected to a student's survey response.
Although it is not a requirement, all students are encouraged to complete their SOS forms and to provide meaningful feedback.
SOS Forms will likely remain in its online format even after classes return to normal.
