After two successful semesters, Waynesburg University has fully transitioned to using the SmartEval system for digital course evaluation. According to administrators, the new system is vastly more efficient and useful to faculty members.  

“The information is more readily available, as far as the results from the evaluations,” said Vikki Wilson, registrar. “[Faculty members] are not waiting until the middle of the next semester to get them. They’re typically out before the beginning of the next semester.” 

Wilson is responsible for managing the information gathered from SmartEvals after the completion of the semester. With Waynesburg’s previous paper system for evaluation, SUMMA, she had to order the tests and get them distributed and collected across campus––a test in organization and patience. 

When the company that produced SUMMA went out of business last year, the university had no choice but to adapt—and according to Dr. Marie Leichliter-Krause, assistant provost, most systems are digital now, anyway.

Now, instead of having students complete course evaluations during class time, they have the option of doing them outside of class, online. 

Thus far, Waynesburg’s use of SmartEvals has gone smoothly with a remarkable participation rate among students, said Leichliter-Krause. She attributes this to the students’ own initiative and their reputation for staying up to date with expectations. 

“The typical student that tends to respond—regardless of the format of SmartEvals or any digital kind of evaluation—tends to be your better student,” she said. “Regardless of whether they are giving the professor a five or a two, they are the better student…There is solid research that is telling us that digital evaluations are both more effective and more efficient.” 

Leichliter-Krause said the added effort it takes for students to log in on their own time makes the information gathered from SmartEvals even more reliable.  

Additionally, instructors are able to give feedback to their colleagues. The system gives professors and faculty members quick access to their data, so they can immediately begin making any necessary adjustments to their course structures.  

“The information is released to administrators, and that would be myself, [Leichliter-Krause], Dr. Baer, [provost]—we get to the information first,” said Wilson. “Then it goes to the departments, and then a week later, it goes to the faculty.” 

SmartEvals also has a function that makes data from each semester available long after its end, allowing professors to compare evaluations from different courses, semesters and years, said Dr. Leichliter-Krause. 

One of the most valuable aspects of SmartEvals, Leichliter-Krause said, is that it shows administrators what is and isn’t working. This is significant, she said, because the system allows professors to take feedback into account when designing a course—and it gives students the chance to have their voices heard. 

“The evaluation process is very important because this is a way that students can communicate to their faculty members,” Leichliter-Krause said. “They can share everything they really loved about a course, and they can also express to the faculty person ways that they feel that a course can be improved. They can tell that faculty person everything that they want to share in that evaluation, and faculty members do take evaluations very seriously, and so we ask that students do, too.”