As of Fall 2023, Boston University has implemented a University-wide online course evaluation platform, Blue. This page is intended to outline information, policies, and requirements surrounding course evaluations at BU. Policies and information listed herein have been reviewed and approved by undergraduate, graduate, and faculty councils, along with final approval by the Office of the Provost.
Course Evaluation Questionnaire
The implementation of a new University-wide online system is accompanied by a foundational set of questions that are asked of all BU courses. This allows for longitudinal comparisons across the University. Additionally:
-
- Schools/colleges may add additional questions to the standard questionnaire at the college level (i.e., CAS, Sargent)
- Questions added by the school/college must be approved by the Assistant Provost for Academic Assessment before they can be added to the questionnaire
- Questions may not be added at the individual department/subject level (i.e., Biology, Health Sciences) or at the faculty level
Expand for a list of University-wide evaluation questions
Course Content and Instruction:
- How organized did the course seem to you?
(Not organized at all, slightly organized, moderately organized, very organized, extremely organized)
- How well were the course learning objectives communicated?
(Not at all, slightly well, moderately well, very well, extremely well)
- How well did the course fulfill its stated learning objectives?
(Not at all, slightly well, moderately well, very well, extremely well)
- How much did you learn from this course?
(Nothing, a little, some, a moderate amount, a great deal)
- Please explain your response.
(Open-ended comments)
- What were the most valuable aspects of the course?
(Open-ended comments)
- How well did the course foster a sense of belonging and an inclusive climate that was supportive of learning for all students?
(Not at all, slightly well, moderately well, very well, extremely well)
Additional Feedback:
- If you have additional comments about this course, please provide them below.
(Open-ended comments)
Student Learning:
- What skills or knowledge did you learn or improve in this course?
(Open-ended comments)
For Students:
- What advice would you give to students considering taking this course in the future?
(Open-ended comments)
Student effort:
- What percentage of class meetings did you attend?
(0-20, 20-40, 40-60, 60-80, 80-100)
- Outside of class, how many hours per week on average did you spend preparing for class and working on course-related projects and assignments?
(0-4, 4-8, 8-12, 12-15, 16+)
Questions asked at the school/college level can be seen here.
Student Population and Response Thresholds
Protecting student confidentiality is critical in implementing a standard online system for conducting course evaluations. As such, the following criteria are in place:
-
- All courses receive an evaluation, regardless of the number of enrolled students; this gives each student a voice in the evaluation process and allows their feedback to be included in aggregate reports
- Students who are in a Registered status receive the evaluation
- Reports are only viewable when four (4) or more students have responded
- For cross-listed courses, thresholds are based on total responses across all combined sections
Reporting and Access to Results
Course evaluation reports and results are released automatically based on University grading policies:
-
- University grading policy (expand the Explanation of Grades section) requires that faculty members post final semester grades no more than 72 hours after the final exam, or 72 hours after the last class if no final exam is given
- Reports are generally available three (3) days after final grades are posted; in periods of high usage such as the end of the semester, this may take additional time
- Instructors will be notified by email when the reports are ready for viewing
Length of Evaluation Sessions
Since Blue fully automates the opening, closing, and messaging surrounding course evaluations, the following schedule has been established based on the course duration. An initial invitation email will go out at the opening of evaluations, followed by reminders as noted below. Evaluation sessions automatically open at 10 am on the first day and close at 11:59 pm on the last day:
| Course Length |
Eval Duration |
Open |
Close |
Reminder 1 |
Reminder 2 |
| ≤ 3 days |
2-4 days |
Day of course start date |
1 day after course end date |
1 day after course end date |
|
| 4-7 days |
3 days |
2 days before course end date |
Day of course end date |
Day of course end date |
|
| 8-29 days |
5 days |
4 days before course end date |
Day of course end date |
1 day before eval end date |
|
| 30-89 days |
7 days |
6 days before course end date |
Day of course end date |
2 days before eval end date |
|
90+ days
(Full-term) |
14 days |
12 days before course end date |
1 day after course end date |
7 days before eval end date |
2 days before eval end date |
You can download a list of current course evaluation dates here: Spring 2025 Evaluation Dates (as of 4/11/25)
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the purpose of this course evaluation project?
The primary goal of this project is to elevate and standardize teaching evaluations at Boston University. Specific benefits and goals include:
–Creating a shared definition of teaching excellence
–Allowing for both formative (midterm) and summative (semester) student feedback
–Reducing bias in student feedback
–Comprehensively evaluating teaching and emphasizing its value in tenure and promotion processes
–Keeping pace with AAU peer institutions
–Moving to a single online platform that removes the need for paper-based evaluations, allowing for better data and feedback analyses
Why is a standard questionnaire being used instead of one designed by each college?
A standardized questionnaire allows BU to curate a carefully and deliberately selected set of questions to gather information and feedback that pertains to the University as a whole. These questions, which were recommended by the University’s Task Force on the Evaluation of Teaching, are intended to have students focus more on their overall experiences in the classroom rather than a direct assessment of the instructor. However, schools/colleges have the ability to add their own questions at the school/college level in addition to the standardized questions.
Why did BU implement a new evaluation platform instead of staying with the previous one?
After a review of our previous vendor and an investigation into other evaluation platforms, it was evident that the prior system was lacking in many features and abilities that were necessary to implement a project of this scope and importance. The new platform, Blue, allows for a more robust and user-friendly experience containing features that are beneficial to an improved evaluation process and results analysis.
I am holding class or having students submit work outside of the course dates - can my evaluation be done at a different time?
No – evaluations must open/close according to the schedule listed above, using the official course dates within the University Course Schedule. Holding class or having students submit work outside of the published course dates is against the
Class Scheduling Policy and
Grading Policy.
Why are we not able to use the evaluation platform of our own choosing?
Using a single platform allows for all data to be collected centrally and uniformly across the schools/colleges. This allows for analyzing feedback in a longitudinal manner across the University.
Can I extend my evaluation end or reopen a section that has closed?
No – evaluation sessions were created considering several factors such as course length, being standard or non-standard courses, Registrar grading policies, and final exam periods, to prevent course evaluations from being open at inappropriate times. Since Blue automatically creates evaluation tasks, we are not able to customize individual course section evaluation windows.
What happened to past evaluation data and responses?
Past evaluation information that was done through Anthology (Campus Labs) will be centrally archived – please email
ithelp@bu.edu if you need any data from those archives. For evaluations done on paper or through another platform, please contact the school/department directly.
I have questions that aren't answered here - who can I contact?
You can contact your school/college about course evaluations using the list
here, or you may write to
courseeval@bu.edu, which is monitored by both the Office of the Assistant Provost for Academic Assessment and the IS&T Platform Administrator for Assessment Systems.
