The OIRA is working to expand our portfolio of professional development opportunities to equip members of our community with helpful tools for doing meaningful assessment work. This semester, we will be offering two workshops (each with two time options) focused on writing strong program/course student learning outcomes and developing program curriculum maps.  Both of these topics are foundational in building a good assessment plan.

Below are the dates and times for the workshops:

• Learning Outcomes – February 24 at 2 PM (Bangor Room)
• Learning Outcomes – February 25 at 10 PM (Lown Room)
• Curriculum Mapping – April 1 at 2 PM (Senior Skulls Room)
• Curriculum Mapping – April 2 at 9 AM (Senior Skulls Room)

If you are interested in attending any of these workshops, please register . A flyer is available on our website if you would like to promote the upcoming Learning Outcomes Workshop in your unit.

Please contact Mandy Barrington (amanda.barrington@maine.edu) or Ryan Weatherbee (ryan.a.weatherbee@maine.edu) with any questions.

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91���� will be participating in the National Survey of Student Engagement this spring.  This survey, administered to first-year and senior students, seeks information on their participation in programs and activities, time and effort put into their studies, and their perceptions of various aspects of their experience at 91����. Information from this important survey will be used to inform planning and measure key indicators relevant to the Strategic Vision and Values framework.

91���� last administered the survey in spring 2017.  The response rates for first-years and seniors were 24% and 25%, respectively.   The results compared 91���� with other New England Public Universities. Some highlights from that comparison:

• 91���� seniors rate significantly higher than comparison schools on the collaborative learning engagement indicators.  In contrast, first-year students rated lower on the supportive environment engagement indicators.
• 91���� seniors participate in far more High-Impact Practices (e.g., learning communities, service learning, research, internship, study abroad) than seniors at the other schools (72% vs. 64%).
• First-years and seniors reported more class preparation hours and pages of assigned writing than their peers.

The survey will open in February, with the first email prompt sent on February 17th and reminder prompts sent throughout February and March. Students who respond will be entered into a raffle for an array of prizes:  hockey tickets, a hockey jersey, CCA tickets, and 91���� coffee mugs. For more information on the NSSE, please see our website /oira/nsse/.  We will be promoting with flyers, tabling, and social media posts.  We are aiming to boost the response rate this year so please spread the word!  

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Important SET Dates for Spring 2020

The following online student evaluations of teaching event dates apply to standard full-semester courses at 91���� and UMM. Please visit the OIRA website for dates that apply to shorter courses.

Question Personalization (Faculty add up to 10 of your own questions):

Begin date: April 7, 2020

End date: April 19, 2020

Survey Opens for Students (Students receive an email with a link to the evaluations):

1st email: April 20, 2020

Reminder email: April 24, 2020

End date: May 1, 2020 at 11:59 pm

Students will receive reminder emails only if they have not completed a submission.

Monitor Response Rates (Faculty watch your response rates):

Begin date: April 20, 2020

End date: May 1, 2020

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In an effort to understand whether there is a relationship between providing in-class time for completing evaluations and response rates, we will examine the response rates for fall 2019 classes evaluated in Blue.  Toward that end, we invite all faculty who used Blue in the fall to take .

We recently sent faculty who used Blue in the fall a newsletter highlighting response rate information and ways students interacted with Blue. Here are a few highlights from that document:

Mean undergrad response rates were consistently around 50% while graduate rates were a bit higher at 64%.

In-person and video conference courses had better mean response rates than web-based or blended courses.

Mondays and Wednesdays had the best response rates.

Most students used a computer, and not a phone or tablet, to complete their evaluations.

For more information on online student evaluations of teaching, please contact Ryan Weatherbee (ryan.a.weatherbee@maine.edu).

¹ Kuch, F., Roberts, R. (2018) Electronic in-class course evaluations and future directions. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 44(5), 726-731.

Young, K., Joines, J., Standish, T., & Gallagher, V. (2018). Student evaluations of teaching: the impact of faculty procedures on response rates. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education,44(1), 37-49. doi:

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Advisors who were unable to attend a training workshop on the Navigate Staff Platform can sign up for workshops scheduled throughout the semester using : . Additional workshops will be added, as needed. If you would like to schedule a refresher for your department or unit, please contact Kim Stewart either through the form above or by emailing kimberly.stewart@maine.edu. We are also happy to announce that a series of training videos and guides will be posted on the Navigate website, , in the coming weeks. Keep an eye on this site as new material is added for students, faculty, and staff. One other exciting website update: the Navigate platform can now be accessed through the MyCampus portal by clicking on the EAB logo on the launchpad:

The final major focus this month has been the second pilot for Progress Reports and alerts. After a successful small pilot of this feature in the fall, eight courses enrolling just over 1,500 students are involved in an expanded pilot this spring. There are two major changes with this pilot: Advisors will now be notified directly when an alert is issued on one of their advisees and there is an expanded list of alert reasons for faculty to choose from. The first progress report is due on January 30th and will serve as an early alert for those students who have not attended a single class session and/or have not yet accessed a required technology. Two additional alerts, focused on grade concerns, will be due February 17 and April 6.  

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