Information for Students
Important Dates
Find information on course evaluation periods, report release dates on the Important Dates page.
When and where to complete your course evaluations
The timing for students to complete their evaluations is set by each Division. Generally speaking, evaluations occur before the exam period and run for approximately two weeks, depending on when the course withdrawal date is. For a list of current course evaluation periods, please see Evaluation Periods.
During the course evaluation period, you can complete your evaluations by:
- Clicking on the link emailed to you from the course evaluation software, Blue, or
- Accessing Blue via the Course Evals page on Quercus.
If you are unable to access your evaluations, please contact course.evaluations@utoronto.ca.
Note: the central course evaluation system now uses UTORid credentials for all users (Students, Instructors, Academic Administrators)
Access to previous course evaluation results
It is institutional policy that course evaluation data is shared with students. Students can access data from select divisions via the Quercus course evals page.
While the default is that course evaluation data is shared with students, instructors have the right to opt-out of sharing their data. As well, the course evaluation results for courses with fewer than five responses are not shared.
Guidance on Providing Valuable Feedback
- Be aware that we all have unconscious biases. Consider your own biases and be objective based on your own experience.
- Offer constructive and specific feedback. Regardless of if the feedback is positive or negative, clear and specific feedback is more useful than vague commentary.
- Where possible, provide illustrative examples to support your feedback.
- Be respectful. Focus your feedback on the teaching practices and your learning experience and not on the appearance or personal characteristics of the instructor.
- Be aware that the information you provide in course evaluation responses will remain completely confidential except in very limited circumstances (e.g. harm to yourself or others; harassing, abusive or discriminatory language; or where required by law)
Do course evaluations really make a difference?
Student feedback is essential to the teaching and learning experience at the University of Toronto. Your fellow students rely on your feedback to make decisions about course selection. Instructors rely on your feedback to improve the learning environment for their courses. Chairs and Deans rely on your feedback to make changes to your programs and degree requirements. They also use feedback for tenure, review, and promotion decisions. Course evaluation plays a role in all important decision-making at U of T.
Do students get access to the feedback data?
It is institutional policy that course evaluation data is shared with students. Students can access data via the Quercus course evals page. Please note that not all schools/Faculties are currently sharing the course evaluation data with students. Instructors are given the option to opt out of sharing their data, though most choose to share.
How do I access my course evaluations?
There are two ways to access your course evaluations.
- Via the personalized email link that you’ll receive from course.evaluations@utoronto.ca.
- Via Quercus. Log in to Quercus and access the Course Evals page. All your active course evaluation tasks will be displayed in the Complete Your Evaluations section.
Are my responses confidential?
The information you provide in your course evaluation responses will be de-identified and aggregated with others in the course. This information will only become available to instructors and senior divisional administrations after final course grades have been submitted. In very limited circumstances (e.g., harm to yourself or others; harassing, violent or discriminatory language; where otherwise required by law), your course evaluation may no longer be treated as confidential.
Why do I receive multiple reminder emails?
Reminder emails are sent because they are proven to be effective, and students have informed us they are helpful.
You will receive automated reminders throughout each evaluation period until an evaluation is fully complete. Note that some divisions have more than one evaluation period.
My course evaluation forms have different items. Is this normal?
Yes! Each evaluation form contains 8 core items that are administered for every course at U of T. Beyond that, each Faculty and each Department can customize the evaluation form as it pertains to their disciplines. Beyond that, instructors have the option to customize the form by adding items that will provide them with additional information about your learning experiences in their courses.
Some of my courses aren't showing up for evaluation.
This could be due to a number of factors. First, keep in mind that not every Faculty is part of the Course Evaluation System as of yet. If your course is part of a Faculty that uses the new system but you don’t see your course, it is possible that the course was excluded from evaluation. Some courses, like reading & research or independent study courses are not usually included because of their unique teaching structure. If you’re still concerned that a course is missing from your evaluation tasks and you think it should be included, please contact us at course.evaluations@utoronto.ca. The sooner you contact us, the sooner we’re able to help!
I don't recognize a course/instructor in my evaluation task list. What do I do?
Blue administers evaluations based on course and instructor information that is extracted from ROSI. If you don’t recognize one of the courses, check your ROSI account to make sure your course list is accurate. If the course isn’t showing up in ROSI, please contact our office at course.evaluations@utoronto.ca.
Can I submit feedback after the evaluation period closes?
No. The timing of evaluations is set in accordance with University policies, and we are unable to make exceptions for those who have missed the opportunity to submit feedback. Students are given at least a week or more to complete their evaluations, and are sent reminders over the course of the evaluation period.
Resources
Contacts
For all general course evaluation questions, please contact: course.evaluations@utoronto.ca