About the Student Opinion of Instruction Survey (SOIS)

The SOIS consists of four online surveys, conducted each semester to obtain student evaluations of their instruction. Administered by IPAR, these evaluations are used by instructors for course development purposes and by administrators for assessment purposes.   

With few exceptions, (fewer than 6 students, more than 2 instructors, no instructor, or excluded by chairperson) instructors are required by the Faculty Senate to have their courses surveyed each semester. If summer session surveys are conducted by IPAR, participation in these surveys is voluntary on the part of the instructor, and results are returned to the instructor only.  

Results become part of the instructors' personnel records and are used by academic heads to inform decisions regarding promotion and tenure. Instructor reports are available online using the ecuBIC application. Unit heads can view the SOIS instructor reports of their own faculty. 

Each of the four surveys consists of a common core set of 18 questions, plus demographic questions. The distance education survey includes 20 additional questions that consider web-related aspects of online courses.

1. The SOIS of Standard Face-to-Face Courses is used to assess the majority of courses at ECU. 
2. The SOIS of Laboratory Courses is used with lab courses, mainly in the physical sciences, and typically complement a lecture section.
3. The SOIS of Field-Based Courses is used with courses with atypical formats that do not meet on a regular basis (student teaching, internships, seminars, field-placements).
4. The SOIS of Distance Education Courses is used for all courses in which at least 25% of the instruction is delivered by a non-face-to-face method.

Procedures
Click here for instructions on viewing and printing online results 
Click here for instructions on coding a course, combining results, and excluding courses 
Click here for procedures on using results and statistics
Click here for an explanation of course statistics and norms

Forms
Click here for Standard Face-to-Face Survey Form
Click here for Laboratory Survey Form
Click here for Field-Based Course Survey Form
Click here for Distance Education Survey Form

Reports
Click here for an Example of an Instructor Report
Click here for an Example of a Quality Assurance Report
Click here for an Example of a Summary Report to Unit Head
Click here for an Example of a Vice Chancellor Report

Schedule
Click here for the current schedule for administering the Student Opinion of Instruction Survey.