FACULTY

Student Ratings of Teaching (SRTs) are a vital resource for faculty members, helping faculty better understand how to improve their courses and overall instruction. It is important that all faculty members closely follow the steps for administering SRTs to maximize data quality.

SRT RESULTS

All SRTs produce an electronic report for each instructor. SRT results are used make informed decisions for purposes such as:

• Providing input for faculty tenure, salary, and promotion decisions
• Improving course instruction
• Assisting students in course selection

PRIVACY

Faculty data privacy is protected through compliance with University policy, data processing procedures, and in-house security. The University considers SRT data that directly identify instructors as personnel data. As such, it is protected by the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act, which prohibits the public release of personnel data. In support of this distinction between course data and instructor data, the SRT form separates instructor-specific questions from course- specific questions.

RESOURCES TO IMPROVE INSTRUCTION

Here are some tools and tips for improving course instruction.

• Teaching Support
  A one-stop portal for teaching-related resources and requests for help
• The Center for Educational Innovation
  Professional development resources and instructional support
• Guidelines for interpreting and responding to SRT scores
  Paper written by the Center for Educational Innovation
• UMN Student Learning Outcomes
  Part of the University's effort to improve how data informs academic planning
• UMN Training and Support
  Teaching and learning resources provided by the University
• UMN Center for Writing
  Support and resources for teaching with writing