Wednesday Message from Ed Bonahue

April 24, 2013

Dear Colleagues,

Only two quick items this week: student opinion surveys and graduation.

First, please note: student opinion surveys are now available for all students via their cell phones, as well as online.  This means by setting aside ten minutes, faculty can personally offer the surveys in class, which for most will be a welcome return to the same kind of in-class administration (and response rates) we had before the operation was moved online.  These mobile surveys were piloted last fall for in-class use, and instructors found that they worked great.  Although a few students may not have a smart cell phone that works with the mobile version of eSantaFe, in general, students reported few problems (and if there is any problem, the online surveys remain open).  Most importantly, student response rates for in-class survey administration rose to about 85%.

Here are the simple instructions to give students.  Many will already be familiar with the eSantaFe mobile platform, but just in case they're not, these instructions start from the beginning.

1.       Go to www.sfcollege.edu on your mobile device.

2.       Select the 'eSantaFe Login' option; this will redirect the user to eSantafe Mobile.

3.       Login using your SF ID and eSantafe password.

4.       Once the user is logged in, tap the View Course Schedule option.

5.       Tap the Student Opinion Survey option for the specific course and section.

6.       Complete the survey.

The questions on the survey are those approved some years ago by the College Senate.  And the results of the surveys will flow automatically into instructor evaluation reports after grades are posted.  With many thanks to the ITS programming staff for developing this platform last year, this opportunity to do synchronous in-class surveys will help to restore the validity of student evaluations and also remind students that we value their feedback.

Commencement Exercises

Everyone is invited to the spring graduation exercises, which will be on Friday, May 3 in the gym.  The health sciences graduation will be at 3:00, while the general graduation will be at 7:00.   These ceremonies mean so much to our students, many of whom will be the first college graduates in their families.  I hope you'll come celebrate with them.  They certainly want to see all of us.

Cheers,

-Ed