Access Course Evaluations and Reports

The Integration of Faculty Success with Course Evaluations and Surveys is now complete. Please update your bookmarks accordingly. In order to view the correct version of the Navigator, you may need to clear your cache.

Watermark CES has replaced Explorance as our system for conducting and retaining course evaluations beginning in Spring 2023. We are excited to have this module added to the tool we are already using to capture faculty activities, annual performance evaluations and agreements, and promotion and tenure portfolios. Any questions or concerns, please email CourseEvals@kennesaw.edu.

Please login using your full KSU email address and password. 

Log in to Watermark CES Watermark CES Issues Since Implementation
student at laptop filling out surveys. Smiley face star ratings.

Opting-Out of Course Evaluations

At Kennesaw State University we take the student perception of teaching effectiveness very seriously. The information provided by students about their classes and instructors is useful to educators working to improve their courses and instrumental in institutional faculty reviews. Furthermore, the University System of Georgia requires that each institution, as part of its evaluative procedures, utilize a written system of faculty evaluations by students, with the improvement of teaching effectiveness as its main focus.

However, in order to make any student evaluations meaningful, we need a significant response rate, something that has been historically low. In order to improve response rates, the Faculty Senate passed a resolution in February 2020 (later amended in April 2020) that establishes an opt-out system requiring students to engage with the evaluation system before they can view grades. In addition, this resolution expands the evaluation period, giving students more time to provide instructor feedback.

When checking for final grades, students will be prompted to complete course evaluations or opt-out of the evaluation process. Opting-out can be completed in two ways:

Select the opt-out button, just to the right of submit, on the welcome page of the evaluation form for each of your course sections.
On My Homepage, slide the toggle to Opt-Out for each evaluation task.

Email

Course Evaluation Data Collection Period Schedule

The Course Evaluation Data Collection Period Schedule outlines the key dates for students to provide feedback on their courses for the academic school year. These evaluation windows align with the end of each academic session, allowing students to submit their evaluations before the last day of classes. Faculty will receive the results after the evaluation periods close, with specific dates provided for each session.

Please note: Dates are subject to change based on the final academic calendar.

  • May Session
    Last Day of Class: May 23
    Students can participate May 19 – May 23; results available to faculty June 4.

    4-Week Session I
    Last Day of Class: June 26
    Students can participate June 19 – June 26; results available to faculty July 6.

    4-Week Session II
    Last Day of Class: July 29
    Students can participate July 22 – August 5; results available to faculty August 8.

    6-Week Session
    Last Day of Class: July 15
    Students can participate July 1 – July 15; results available to faculty July 29.

    8-Week Session
    Last Day of Class: July 23
    Students can participate July 10 - July 23; results available to faculty August 8.

    10-Week Session
    Last Day of Class: July 24
    Students can participate July 12 – July 24; results available to faculty August 8.

  • 7-Week Session I 
    Last Day of Class: September 30
    Students can participate September 18 - September 30; results available to faculty October 12.

    7-Week Session II
    Last Day of Class: December 2
    Students can participate November 18 - December 2; results available to faculty December 17.

    15-Week Session
    Last day of Class: December 2
    Students can participate November 4 - December 2; results available to faculty December 17.

  • 7-Week Session I

    Last Day of Class: February 24
    Students can participate February 12 – February 24; results available to faculty March 5.

    7-Week Session II
    Last day of Class: April 25
    Students can participate April 13 – April 25; results available to faculty May 13.

    15-Week Session
    Last Day of Class: April 28
    Students can participate March 31 – April 28; results available to faculty May 13.

Course Evaluations and Surveys Guides

Frequently Asked Questions

  • How are students notified to complete their evaluations?

    The course evaluation system sends notifications when evaluations open, as well as several reminders throughout the evaluation period.  In addition, students see an active link when they log into their D2L.  Faculty should also remind their students during the evaluation period. 

    I didn’t get a chance to complete my evaluation, now what?

    Course evaluations expire on the last day of classes for the term, and that does not include the final exam period.  Unfortunately, we are unable to re-open the evaluations after they close.

    What if my course evaluations are not in my D2L?

    Please contact CourseEvals and explain the issue.

  • Can I access my evaluations from Explorance Blue?

    As previously announced, we are no longer using Explorance Blue for end of course student evaluations.   Effective January 1, 2023, KSU moved to a new product called Watermark Course Evaluations and Surveys (CES). 

    Course evaluations prior to January 1, 2023 were conducted in Explorance Blue. If you did not download and save prior course evaluation summaries before the system was decommissioned, you will need to contact CourseEvals and request them. Please note that fulfilling any such requests may take several days, so plan accordingly.

    Course evaluations prior to June 30, 2018 were conducted in Course Response. If you did not download and save prior course evaluation summaries before the system was decommissioned, please search your email for “Your Course Evaluation Results.” If you still have access to those emails, your evaluations should be attached as a PDF.

    How are faculty notified about evaluation periods?

    The schedule for course evaluations is available on the CourseEvals website at schedule.  Emails are also generated to faculty from the course evaluation system when the evaluations open to students.

    How are faculty notified when evaluation reports are accessible?

    The schedule  for course evaluations is available above. Emails are also generated to faculty from the course evaluation system when the reports are ready to be accessed.

    Where can I find the mean scores for our department or college?

    The decision to remove this option is based on the literature on course evaluations, which recommends against this practice for several reasons:

    • Course evaluation instruments are not designed for comparing faculty to one another (Franklin, 2001); rather, their purpose is to gather student perceptions of a single faculty member teaching a single course. Comparing faculty leads to incorrect inferences and misunderstanding of the data.
    • Although the research on student bias in course evaluations is mixed, ratings for instructors who are members of minority groups within their disciplines may be negatively impacted by factors unrelated to their teaching effectiveness, leading to ratings that fall below the department or college mean but don’t reflect their actual teaching (Linse, 2017).
    • Departments full of excellent teachers will have an artificially high mean score, which will cause some very good teachers to fall below the statistical mean for that department (Arreola, 2007).

    Where can I go to receive help on raising my response rates or interpreting my course evaluation data?

    The Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) provides consultations and workshops on these topics. Please see Faculty Development for more information.