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CTEC Guidelines

Find guidelines related to courses that are evaluated through CTECs, the evaluation process and the dissemination of evaluation results.

Eligible courses:

  • Evaluations will be set up for each 100-,200-,300-,400-, and 500-level class with five or more students officially enrolled in the class. The minimum for the Bienen School of Music is four enrolled students.
  • Classes must also have at least one instructor listed in CAESAR in order to be evaluated.
  • 399-0, 499-0, and 590-0 classes are not evaluated.
  • Naval Science classes are included through special request.
  • Inquire with ctec@northwestern.edu regarding additional exceptions.

Instructor evaluations:

  • If a class has more than one instructor, all instructors will appear on the evaluation form for the class, but will receive individual reports. Only students registered in a given class in CAESAR will have access to the evaluation form for the class.
  • If the instructor is not listed in CAESAR on the primary scheduled component (i.e. lecture rather than discussions), the instructor will not be included in the evaluation process.
  • Teaching Assistants must also be listed on the class (primary scheduled component) in CAESAR in order to be included in the evaluation process.

Schools included in the CTEC process:

  • School of Education and Social Policy
  • Medill School of Journalism
  • Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences
  • Bienen School of Music
  • School of Communication
  • McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science
  • The Graduate School (contact ctec@northwestern.edu for a list of participating programs)
  • School of Professional Studies
  • Kellogg School of Management (subject to separate evaluation policies and publishing guidelines, contact Kellogg for more information)
  • Pritzker School of Law (subject to separate evaluation policies and publishing guidelines, contact Law for more information)
  • NUQ

Suggestions for students:

When evaluating classes, keep in mind that CTEC responses are read not only by students, but by instructors and administrators as well. Your instructors will read your responses and use them to improve the learning experience at Northwestern

Please consider the following points when entering your essay comments:

Direct your comments specifically to this class in a constructive and succinct manner regarding the instruction and content of the class. Do not use offensive, abusive and profane language. References to religion, ethnicity, gender, physical appearance, and age are not appropriate to evaluation of the class.

Only comments to the final summary question will be published to the Northwestern community in CAESAR. Any comments that do not follow the guidelines above may be removed before publication.

CTEC evaluations are collected by the Office of the Registrar. Instructors will not see results until after all grades have been posted for the current term. To protect confidentiality, any link between your name/netID and your submitted evaluations is omitted from evaluation reports.

Student access:

  • Students will have access to evaluate classes for a standard 2 week period towards the conclusion of the class (in the case of early classes), or the end of the term prior to the grading deadline.
  • Students will not be allowed to enter the site after it has closed; however, a student may finish an evaluation if they entered the site before the midnight deadline and is in the process of completing an evaluation.
  • All students registered in a class through CAESAR will have access to the evaluation site using a netID and password. Students not officially registered in the class will not have access to the evaluation site.
  • When the evaluation period begins, the CTEC office will send a message to all students providing instructions for entering evaluations. Reminder messages will be sent throughout the evaluation period to those who have not submitted all active evaluations.

Instructor access:

  • Instructors will have access to their class evaluation forms for one week prior to student access, and can add custom additional questions. Instructors will be notified by e-mail when this is available.
  • All class evaluation forms included in the evaluation process will remain open for the entire evaluation window (typically two weeks). Instructors should not post or distribute grades to class members before the evaluation period has closed.

Summer Quarter evaluations:

  • Evaluation periods during the summer term may vary due to multiple start and end dates of different sessions.
  • Please contact the CTEC Office with any questions about Summer Quarter evaluations: ctec@northwestern.edu

Eligible courses:

  • Evaluations will be set up for each 100-,200-,300-,400-, and 500-level class with five or more students officially enrolled in the class. The minimum for the Bienen School of Music is four enrolled students.
  • Classes must also have at least one instructor listed in CAESAR in order to be evaluated.
  • 399-0, 499-0, and 590-0 classes are not evaluated.
  • Naval Science classes are included through special request.
  • Inquire with ctec@northwestern.edu regarding additional exceptions.

Instructor evaluations:

  • If a class has more than one instructor, all instructors will appear on the evaluation form for the class, but will receive individual reports. Only students registered in a given class in CAESAR will have access to the evaluation form for the class.
  • If the instructor is not listed in CAESAR on the primary scheduled component (i.e. lecture rather than discussions), the instructor will not be included in the evaluation process.
  • Teaching Assistants must also be listed on the class (primary scheduled component) in CAESAR in order to be included in the evaluation process.

Schools included in the CTEC process:

  • School of Education and Social Policy
  • Medill School of Journalism
  • Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences
  • Bienen School of Music
  • School of Communication
  • McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science
  • The Graduate School (contact ctec@northwestern.edu for a list of participating programs)
  • School of Professional Studies
  • Kellogg School of Management (subject to separate evaluation policies and publishing guidelines, contact Kellogg for more information)
  • Pritzker School of Law (subject to separate evaluation policies and publishing guidelines, contact Law for more information)
  • NUQ