Access to Educator Teaching Evaluations Policy

Teaching evaluation data are available directly to the educators (e.g. faculty members, residents, post-doctoral fellows) via the online course evaluation system MedHub or via other systems used at the course level. Educators are responsible for reviewing their own teaching evaluations. Course directors are responsible for accessing and monitoring, in an ongoing and consistent fashion, teaching by educators in courses or programs they direct. To protect educator confidentiality, the following rules apply to accessing and viewing of teaching evaluation data:

1. Department chairs and their designated representatives (e.g. human resources for faculty promotion packets) have access to teaching evaluation data for all faculty and other teachers (e.g. residents) in their department.

2. Course directors can view teaching evaluation data only for their course. This also includes ongoing low score notifications triggered automatically when an educator receives a score of 1 or 2 (on a 5-point scale) on any item on the teaching evaluation form. Course directors cannot view teaching evaluations from other courses unless they request that data directly from the educator. Course directors are required to let educators in their courses know they review their teaching evaluations, further investigate low teaching scores, and report on the number of low teaching scores received as well as their plan for addressing those low scores during their reporting to the education committees. Written permission from course director is required for designated representative access to teaching evaluation data.

3. In the situation of a student, resident or faculty grievance, the Vice Dean for Education and Associate Deans for Students, Curriculum, and Assessment will be allowed access to teaching evaluations. These evaluations will be used in confidential proceedings. In these situations, student evaluator names will continue to be withheld from the evaluations they complete about their educators/courses and will only be revealed if the student chooses to do so, in writing.

4. In addition, the Associate Dean for Students has ongoing access to and receives low score notifications for the “respect” items on educators (i.e. faculty members and residents) for student mistreatment. This includes individual and aggregate teaching evaluation data. The “respect” items identify when a student has experienced lack of respectful behavior by faculty members and/or residents. Students names will continue to be withheld on these notifications and will only be revealed if the student chooses to consent in writing.

5. Teaching nominations (not evaluations) are used to judge educators for teaching awards by the various teaching awards committees. Individual faculty members’ evaluations are not accessible or used by teaching awards committees. If individual educator teaching evaluations are required for teaching awards, the teaching awards committees will notify the educator in advance for their teaching evaluation.

6. Faculty teaching evaluations are not released to search committees unless they are released by the faculty member her/himself.