5 Nov 2013
Be it resolved that,
Given the importance of the SOFI's in personnel decisions, the college senate considers it a best practice for faculty to administer the SOFI's online in-class at an appropriate time at the end of the semester.
7 May 2013
Whereas, student assessment of faculty instruction is a required element of faculty evaluation; and
Whereas, student opinions of faculty instruction are an important factor considered by faculty in the development and improvement of courses; and
Whereas, SOFIs are the current mode of obtaining student opinions of faculty instruction; and
Whereas, students responses should not be unduly influenced by factors other than instruction;
Be it Resolved That:
Students' completion of the SOFIs is voluntary. There will be no administrative or academic penalty on individuals or classes of students who decline to complete the SOFIs.
Faculty members are encouraged to administer on-line SOFIs in class whenever possible and practical as it has been shown to be an effective way to improve response rates.
The Senate asks the college administration to reiterate and emphasize at all levels the existing policy on the availability of SOFI comments described herein:
Written SOFI comments will be only directly accessible to the instructor, whether through electronic or any other means. The instructor shall not be required to share written comments with those involved in decisions pertaining to renewal, continuing appointment, promotion, and awards. This policy will be published on the provost’s web site.
1 May 2012
Whereas it is the current policy that student input is a required part of faculty evaluation,
Whereas, the Senate recognizes the important role of accurate student feedback reflecting the students' opinions of the quality of the instruction they receive,
Whereas response rates to online SOFIs are inadequate and unrelated to attendance,
Whereas non-attending students who cannot evaluate class can respond to online SOFIs,
Whereas online SOFI response rates vary greatly,
Whereas the online SOFI system has sometimes been unreliable,
Whereas students fill out SOFIs in a non-uniform time and manner,
Therefore, Senate concludes that the current system fails to capture student opinion accurately,
and Therefore, Senate recommends that the College replace online administration of the SOFIs used in the evaluation of faculty with a valid alternative.
26 Apr 2011 (Declined by President, as verified in fall 2014)
RESOLUTION ON ADMINISTERING THE SOFI'S
Whereas: Geneseo has a long standing guiding principle to minimize the influence of final grades on Student Opinion of Faculty Instruction (SOFI) data collection, and
Whereas: Recent difficulties in achieving an acceptable SOFI response rate have led to the extension of the data collection period through study day, to the evening before finals period, and
Whereas: A major contributing factor to the low response rate is time pressure on students as the end of the semester approaches, and
Whereas: Considering that 10 to 12 weeks of instruction should provide an adequate basis for students to form their opinions of faculty instruction,
Be it therefore resolved: The Senate recommends that the SOFI period be scheduled such that the data collection ends roughly two weeks prior to the beginning of finals period.
