Staff FAQs

Online evaluations allow students to provide feedback on their learning experiences at ACU while ensuring that their comments remain confidential. Students have the opportunity to "save and continue" and have more time to provide detailed feedback. This allows students to further explain the best aspects of the unit or why improvement is needed. The Student Evaluation of Learning and Teaching (SELT) surveys remain open until just before the final results/grades for the units are published.

Online evaluations also support ACU's environmentally friendly green initiative, especially since all units with at least 10 enrolled students (and not just about half the number of units) in ACU are evaluated.

The Student Evaluation of Learning and Teaching (SELT) survey is the current evaluation tool.

The SELT survey is administered centrally through the Centre of Education and Innovation (CEI). The CEI is a central area of the University that reports to the Provost.

There are 7 stages in the online evaluation process:

1) School/Faculty nominees verify teaching staff and units on Teacher Validation Database (TVD) web interface.

2) Preparation of data and creation of surveys by CEI.

3) Staff request period for additional (optional) item to be included in survey.

4) Survey start: invitation to students by email via CEI@acu.edu.au

5) Promotion initiatives during live survey period, and automated reminder emails to students.

6) Survey close: data analysis and report generation by the CEI.

7) Staff access to interim individual reports (after exam results release date).

During the process of verifying teaching staff and units for SELT surveys, CEI sends out a notice via the ACU Staff Bulletin requesting all staff members to login to the Teacher Validation Database (TVD) to review that they are associated with the correct unit(s) they are teaching, and (if necessary) to liaise with their Faculty/School nominees for making changes to TVD information.

After the verification and preparation of data, staff members are sent an email invitation to submit their additional (optional) item via the SELT survey block in LEO front page.

Units and teaching staff are included in SELT surveys, subject to the following requirements:

1. Information on the unit and lecturer/tutor has been verified by the respective Faculty or School nominee on the Teacher Validation  Database (TVD).
2. the unit is a coursework unit that has an enrolment of 10 or more students on the banner system

In all units the names of teachers for the units must be verified by your respective Faculty or School nominee for online surveys of units/teaching. CEI has conveyed to the Heads of School, Associate Deans (Learning & Teaching) and their nominees the importance of verifying information on the TVD system, and emphasized the consequences of wrong or missing information for staff teaching in their areas of responsibility.

At the appropriate time, all staff teaching in ACU are able to access the TVD to view the units (if any) that they are linked to for the relevant study period, and therefore all staff should alert the respective Faculty or School nominees when they notice any omission or error.

To ensure your name is associated to the correct unit, please liaise directly with your Faculty or School nominee who has the responsibility to verify information on the TVD system for the next cycle of unit/teaching evaluation.

The SELT report with your name will be generated only if a minimum of 5 students have provided feedback on your teaching (i.e., section B in the survey). If this threshold is not met (i.e., less than 5 students provide feedback on your teaching), you may wish to contact the Head of School to view the SELT report for section A of the survey.

Teaching staff receive an email notification from CEI, inviting them to request an additional (optional) item for their SELT survey. Instructions on how to request are provided in the email. Please be aware that late requests for an optional item will not be accepted. It is crucial that you request your optional item by the set deadline. Any delay in this process has serious implications for conducting and reporting all SELT surveys in the university for a study period.

The SELT request period dates are determined by the published dates on the university web pages for the end of teaching periods (semester, terms, etc.), and for the release of exam results. These dates are approved by the Academic Board.

SELT surveys will only be conducted for coursework units which have enrolments of 10 or more students in accordance with the Evaluations of  Learning and Teaching procedures.

No, teaching staff cannot view a sample student survey in the online evaluation system.

Access to SELT surveys or reports is based on the LEO log in details (either as a staff member or as a student). This is to ensure only the relevant students are responding to SELT surveys, and only the relevant staff have access to SELT reports.

When you change roles within LEO (e.g. switch role to student after logging as a staff member), it does not affect the LEO log in details and you will only have access to SELT surveys as teaching staff.

To provide feedback please contact CEI@acu.edu.au

Contact CEI@acu.edu.au for all enquiries related to SELT surveys.

The SELT survey, being the formal means of collecting student feedback on units and teaching in units for various purposes, was developed through the standard ACU protocol.

The process included: the collection of feedback from students and academic staff on past/current survey practices; the review of online evaluation of units and online evaluation of teaching that were introduced in 2012; advice from senior staff in faculties and other areas of the university; wider consultation through the University Learning and Teaching Committee (ULTC) membership; and recommendation from ULTC to the Academic Board for approval.

The SELT tool (questionnaire) was trialed during semester 1 of 2015 for surveying student views in selected units. SELT has been implemented for all coursework units during the 2015 second half survey cycle, in accordance with the Evaluation of Learning and Teaching Policy and the Evaluation of Learning and Teaching Procedures.

- SELT survey questions

In addition to the SELT core items, staff members are able to include one personalised question in the survey. Student responses for this additional/optional item are included in the SELT summary report.

At the start of the request period for additional (optional) item, staff will receive an email invitation from CEI, inviting them to request an optional item for their SELT survey; the email will contain a unique link to request an optional item.

Alternatively, staff can request an optional item via LEO during the specified request period; for further information on how to request an optional item for a SELT survey via LEO click here.

The additional item forms the fifth Likert scale item in section B of the survey relating to your teaching (see SELT core items). All items in section B start with the stem “Overall, [Lecturer/Tutor name]…”; therefore the optional item should follow the stem and focus on an aspect of an individual’s teaching practice/behaviour that they wish to seek feedback on. Like the other items in this section, the students have the option of selecting one of the following responses to this optional item: Strongly Agree, Agree, Neutral, Disagree or Strongly Disagree.

Some examples of optional items include:

Overall, [lecturer/tutor]...

• provided clear instructions for completing the assignment task.
• provided opportunities to demonstrate and share my [specific knowledge/skill] in classes.
• teaches in ways that emphasize the relevance of this unit to my future profession.
• supports the learning experience of online student.
• shows interest in my welfare and learning by reaching out.
• helped to increase my confidence in……[specific aspect of knowledge/skill development].

Students will receive an email invitation from CEI, requesting them to complete their SELT survey(s). The email will contain a unique link to the SELT survey(s).

Students can access the SELT surveys via the emails sent by CEI, as well as through the Evaluations block in LEO.

Response rates are an area of ongoing concern to staff and institutions alike. It is a requirement from TEQSA that institutional surveys receive response rates of 35% or more.

The strategies that are used in ACU include:

• Communication from the Provost to staff and to students on the importance of the feedback process.
• Individual emails to students to invite and to remind their participation in surveys.
• Live updates to staff on response rates during survey periods to teaching staff members.
• Faculty weekly response rate reports.
• Positive incentives to students for participating in surveys.
• Reminders through screen savers in ACU computer labs and signage on all campuses.
• Campus level promotion, by student association executive at evaluation stalls and through class visits, in the first week of survey period for a semester.
• PowerPoint presentation and video for staff to use in their classes.
• Marketing information such as bookmarks in the library for students and staff posters.
• Social media posts.
• Early grade release strategy for semesters.
• Student evaluation access on LEO.
• Staff and students guides.

Students have said that they are more likely to complete the surveys if they are reminded in class, and if they see some value in completing the surveys.  CEI will continue to work towards developing a stronger marketing campaign which promotes student participation in online evaluations.

• The most important way to ensure a good response rate and receive feedback from students is to communicate the importance of unit evaluations to improve their student experience and quality of teaching at ACU. Please encourage your students to complete their online evaluation surveys. Students also need to be informed that the whole evaluation process is completely confidential.
• Discussing what you have learnt from feedback in previous units and how this has caused change will encourage students to complete the survey.  Openness about diversity of expectations and experiences in the classroom will enable students to share their experience.
• Sending your students a reminder message via LEO to complete their SELT survey.
• Utilise CEI's marketing tools in your classes such as the PowerPoint slides.

Yes, each staff member will receive a link which will allow them to view the number of invited and number of responses for each survey which includes the name of that staff member. Staff members can also log into LEO and view their real-time response rates for their survey(s). Please note that the facility to view live response rates becomes available after the survey has been open for one week during a semester. For information on how to check response rates on LEO click here.

(IMPORTANT NOTE: Staff members will not be able to identify the status of any students or who has completed the evaluation.)

The Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) in Australia has indicated that 35% (a little over 1/3) of student population should have responded to the surveys that an institution submits as evidence for the quality of teaching/learning in that institution.

For instructions on how to access your current and previous evaluation reports, please click here.

Lecturers/tutors will receive an email notification indicating the reports are ready to be viewed, and the email will contain a unique link to their reports. Reports can also be accessed via LEO – click here for step-by-step instructions.

Click here to view the SELT survey schedule (optional item request period, survey start and close dates, report release dates, etc)

No, CEI generates all reports after the SELT survey periods have closed for a particular survey cycle (i.e., first half cycle or second half cycle).

For more information on interpolated median values click here. 

You may also find useful information in relevant policies and procedures.

Once the SELT surveys close for a specific study period, CEI undertakes necessary preliminary data verification and releases interim reports. The SELT survey schedule indicates approximate reporting times. Relevant staff will receive an email with a link to their interim report(s).  Access to interim reports is removed when final reports are released, and the web link in the interim report email will no longer work.

Final reporting is undertaken twice each year, for all study periods within the First Half or Second Half of the year. Final reporting requires significant data verification. Relevant staff will then receive another email containing a link to their final report(s).

No, access to surveys or reports is made available based on the LEO log in details. This is to ensure only the relevant staff member has access to reports.

The Head of School (or equivalent) may decide to share summary information from part A of the survey report with others teaching in the units, as part of the quality enhancement/assurance process.

In accordance with the Evaluation of Learning and Teaching procedures, SELT reports will be available to relevant Head of School (or equivalent), Associate Dean (Learning and Teaching), the Executive Dean and the Provost.

Reports can be saved either as an HTML file or as a PDF file. Reports may also be printed directly from the web interface. Staff are encouraged to download and save their SELT reports,

See FAQ 15

1. Requests should be made at least a month (ideally 2-3 months) prior to the date the survey data will be needed. The relatively long lead time is necessary in order to accommodate the tasks associated with such a request (data extraction, collation, analysis, verification, etc.) along with the standard survey processes that must take place as scheduled.
2. The initial request for data will need to be through the Faculty office, the Associate Dean – Learning and Teaching (ADLT) or equivalent and sent to the CEI (CEI@acu.edu.au) email account. The reason for this protocol is that CEI staff are responsible for (a) ensuring data security on behalf of the University, and (b) maintaining an appropriate mechanism for enabling restricted access to reports based on confidential student feedback processes. Given that the exact organisational structure within a Faculty can change at any given point in time, CEI is unable to keep track of all the changes that place across the University (including, who has been assigned the responsibility for the review of a specific course). Authentication of the request is assumed when it is made via the respective Faculty office.
3. The above request process is currently being reviewed to enable a streamlined means of obtaining required data for course reviews. Changes (if any) to the process is likely to be implemented in 2022.

The Course Experience Questionnaire (CEQ) was a benchmarking survey administered at all Australian universities (see QILT webpage for details on current benchmarking surveys). The Office of Planning and Strategic Management (OPSM) liaises on behalf of ACU, and the results of national benchmarking surveys are made available to ACU staff through the Data Hub. Further information is available at SharePoint site (Office of Planning and Strategic Management - Home (sharepoint.com)).