On October 8, 2025, the Center for Educational Improvement and Quality Assurance (CEIQA) at St. Mary’s University, led by Nibretu Kebede (PhD), presented the Comprehensive Evaluation Report (CER) of instructors for the 2017 (EC) to the University leadership, faculty, and department heads. The presentation emphasized the limitations of relying solely on Student Evaluation of Teaching (SET) and introduced a more robust evaluation framework incorporating four distinct sources: student feedback, supervisor assessments, self-evaluations, and peer reviews. Full-time and contract instructors were evaluated using all four methods, while part-time instructors were assessed through student and supervisor input, with scores normalized to a full scale. The report covered seven undergraduate departments and highlighted several challenges, including inconsistent data submission from departments, limited student engagement with the online evaluation platform, and the absence of meaningful written feedback due to system constraints.
Despite these issues, the University reaffirmed its commitment to CES as a vital tool for enhancing instructional quality and motivating faculty. It was noted that each evaluation method captures different dimensions of teaching performance, and discrepancies across methods underscore the need for a balanced approach. However, supervisors and peer evaluations were found to be highly subjective, often lacking rigor and supporting evidence, which undermines the credibility of merit-based incentives. Encouragingly, the overall evaluation outcomes for the 2017 EC showed a significant improvement compared to the previous year.
Key recommendations comprised scrutinizing high self-evaluation scores with buttressing documentation, ensuring supervisors base assessments on recorded evidence, requiring peer evaluations from at least three colleagues, and improving the reliability of student feedback to discourage superficial responses. During the discussions following the presentation, participants commended CEIQA’s efforts and stressed the importance of extending evaluations to all staff, including deans. They called for a clear, strategic guideline to standardize the process and urged CEIQA to take a leading role in institutionalizing evaluation practices. It was agreed that the data should be further analyzed to inform decisions related to teaching quality, hiring, promotions, and awards. The session concluded with a consensus to refine and finalize the report, provide orientation for instructors on the evaluation process, and ensure active follow-up by top management to reinforce accountability and continuous improvement.
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