Evaluation Completion Requirements by Students
The purpose of this policy is to establish uniform procedures for the collection and use of student evaluations of courses and instructors in the College of Medicine. It is imperative that standardized and accurate procedures are employed to ensure reliable and valid data collection. This is a requirement outlined by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, University of Nebraska Board of Regents, and the College of Medicine. Further, it is essential that the procedures employed protect the rights of both the instructors and the students.
Receiving substantive, representative feedback from students about our required medical school curriculum and instructors is crucial in helping the College of Medicine to understand program strengths and weaknesses to identify opportunities to improve the educational experience for future generations of students. In addition, learning to give and receive feedback is an integral part of developing professional skills students will need as future physicians.
Requirements for Completing Evaluations
- Students must complete all evaluations assigned. This includes evaluations of lecturers, small group facilitators, laboratory instructors, and courses.
- Evaluations must be completed within 5 days of being assigned. (Due dates are included in the initial evaluation notice.)
- Required Phase 1 evaluations include:
- Evaluations of all required courses
- Individual evaluations of faculty instructors identified by the block director
- Small group evaluations
- Required Phase 2 and Phase 3 evaluations include:
- Evaluations of all required courses (clerkships, RPC and CER)
- Individual evaluations of faculty and house officers
Noncompliance Process
- Completion rates will be reviewed at the end of each semester. If a student has not completed at least 90% of the evaluations assigned during the evaluation period, he or she will receive a notification from the Office of Medical Education with a reminder of the policy and professional expectations of completion.
- If a student completes less than 90% of the evaluations assigned during a subsequent evaluation period, feedback will be entered via Behaviors and Attributes reporting and the Associate Dean for Admissions and Student Affairs will be notified. The student may receive additional feedback regarding professionalism expectations.
Use of Professional Language in Evaluations
- Comments provided in evaluations should be constructive and respectful and framed using language that the evaluator would want to receive if he or she was being evaluated.
- Written comments provided in student evaluations are confidential. Faculty members cannot access information about the identity of an individual student who provides comments on an evaluation form. The Office of Medical Education reserves the right to reveal the author of a comment if it completely disregards the policies set forth here or includes threatening or profane language.
Revised by Student Evaluation Committee: August 5, 2014
Revised by the Office of Medical Education: July 2017
Revised by the Office of Medical Education: October 2020
Approved by the Curriculum Committee: October 27, 2020
Approved by the Curriculum Committee: July 26, 2022