Course Evaluation Changes

Starting in Spring 2027, all seminar and lecture courses across Texas State University will begin using a unified list of 12 questions for course evaluations. Instead of these evaluations being sent by individual departments, they will now be sent by the Watermark Team at Texas State University. 
Special courses such as labs, thesis, dissertation, independent study, performance, practicum, clinical, or internship will not be required to use this unified question set. Each department will still be responsible for sending evaluations for these specialized courses unless requested otherwise. 

The new unified course evaluation consists of 12 questions designed to gather feedback on teaching, learning, and the overall course experience. These questions were designed with the purpose of evaluating instructors and their teaching rather than course-level design. 

Additionally, these new unified questions satisfy the HB2504 requirements for undergraduate courses. Required questions for HB2504 reporting will now be included as part of the unified evaluations sent, meaning students will see a decreased number of total evaluations per course. 

Nine of the questions use a strongly agree to strongly disagree rating scale:

1. The instructor presents course content in a manner that helps me learn.
2. The instructor encourages me to participate in the class.
3. The instructor encourages me to do my best in the course.
4. The instructor explains how I can succeed in the course.
5. The instructor communicates that I am welcome to ask for help when I need it.
6. The instructor makes it clear how I can ask questions when I need help.
7. The instructor demonstrates how I can apply the topics and skills covered in this course.
8. The instructor provides sufficient opportunities to practice what I am learning.
9. The instructor provides feedback that helps me identify strengths or areas for improvement.

While three questions are open-ended:

1. What did the instructor do that helped you learn?
2. What could the instructor do differently to improve learning in this class?
3. Is there anything else you’d like the instructor to know about the course?

With the guidance of the Provost, the launch and end dates for all evaluations will now be standardized. Evaluations will now open at least a week before finals begin, and will end on the Monday after finals (the day grades are due). Reports will be available to faculty the following day (the day grades post to transcripts). 

NOTE: If the grades deadline does not fall on a Monday, we will adjust the days to align with the registrar deadlines.

In addition to the unified questions, Departments and Colleges can begin creating Targeted Surveys in the system for important questions that may not be addressed by this list. These targeted surveys have a limit of 5 questions. 

More information about targeted surveys can be found on the administrator resources page. 

These changes were made in an effort to address concerns that we have heard from students, faculty, and administrators alike. With these changes to the course evaluations system, we aim to: 

• Reduce the administrative burden by simplifying the evaluation process.
• Reduce survey fatigue for students by decreasing the number of surveys they complete for each course each semester.
• Reduce the cognitive load for students by simplifying the evaluation experience and making it easier to navigate and complete.
• Increase response rates by creating a more streamlined and focused evaluation experience.
• Provide more meaningful feedback to faculty by focusing questions on observable teaching practices and behaviors rather than course content alone.
• Establish a consistent evaluation framework by providing a unified set of questions and rating scales for faculty across the university.
• Create standardized evaluation dates by establishing consistent timelines for when course evaluations open and close across the university.

If you have any questions or concerns about course evaluations, please reach out to our team at txstwatermark@txstate.edu.