ESCI Quarterly Schedule
NOTE: Summer Sessions courses are evaluated on a shorter, rolling schedule based on session.
The ESCI Survey Request Form (SRF) derives information from the STAR/GauchoBlue System. To save time and reduce errors when requesting ESCI surveys, please ensure that all TAs in your department are properly entered into STAR by the end of Week 3.
NOTE: If you are off campus, the SRF is a secure website that requires connecting via the Pulse Secure Campus VPN. The directions for using the SRF provide you with step-by-step instructions, including annotated screenshots. Contact the ESCI office for questions or training. The Survey Request Form closes on Friday of Week 6.
Departments receive a list of requested surveys to verify and instructors receive an email notification with a list of their courses that are being evaluated. Any errors must be reported to your department’s ESCI Contact(s) for immediate resolution. The deadline is Friday of Week 7.
Instructors & TAs receive an announcement that ESCI will open for one or more of their courses. Any errors must be reported to the ESCI office by Thursday at 5pm.
- ESCI opens Monday of Week 9 and closes Friday of Week 10.
- Students receive an announcement that one or more of their UCSB courses are collecting student feedback using the online course evaluation system. Reminder emails are sent out to students periodically for surveys that are outstanding.
- Instructors receive a final email summarizing the student response rates for each of their courses (not actual responses).
ESCI reports are available to departments for downloading after the final grade deadline has passed.
For Students
Yes, all ESCI surveys are anonymous. Your UCSBnetID is stripped from your responses when you submit a questionnaire, and there is no way to connect your identifying information to a particular response. The online survey delivery system is completely independent of the survey database and processing system. In addition, once the surveys are processed the database is scrubbed of all data the following quarter.
Instructors can only access survey response rates (i.e. how many students have responded) but not who has responded or their responses.
After grades are submitted instructors receive a summarized report of anonymized student feedback.
Students receive GauchoSpace announcements and emails in Weeks 9-10 of the quarter until they complete their surveys. NOTE: Summer evaluations and emails are sent on a rolling schedule based on session.
Week 9 - Opening notice with instructions; reminder 4 days later
Week 10 - Reminder every 2 days
You have one hour from the time you start an individual ESCI questionnaire until you are timed out.
It may take a few hours for your GauchoSpace dashboard notification to disappear after completing your ESCI surveys.
Please contact the ESCI helpdesk to remove your submission from the database. Be aware that your identity will have been stripped from your responses when you clicked submit, so we will need additional information from you.
While an ESCI session is live and accepting student responses, you can screenshot or print your crossed out list of assigned surveys for your records. After each ESCI session closes, the system is wiped clean of all student records to protect anonymity.
Due to power outages and technical issues, your building's wifi may have technical issues. The UCSB campus network operations hub provides a status page to check on the wifi status of various lecture halls and buildings by referencing the Building Number.
Each department chooses or writes the questions for their departmental surveys, sometimes in conjunction with Instructional Development. You should contact your Department on issues you have regarding any questions' wording.
At this time you will likely not be able to access the ESCI Survey system. Due to technical difficulties that we are attempting to remedy, only registered UCSB students can access the system at this time.
For Faculty
How often am I reminded via email about the course evaluation surveys?
You will receive 5 automated emails about your surveys in Weeks 7-10 of the quarter, as follows:
Week 7 - a list of your courses that will, and will not, be evaluated.
Week 8 - a preview of your course questionnaire(s).
Week 9 - instructions for checking and improving survey response rates.
Week 10 beginning - reminder with same instructions.
Week 10 end - final response rate statistics and information about report distribution.
NOTE: Summer evaluations and emails are sent for one week on a rolling schedule based on session timing
Students receive GauchoSpace announcements and emails in Weeks 9-10 of the quarter until they complete their surveys. NOTE: Summer evaluations and emails are sent on a rolling schedule based on session.
Week 9 - Opening notice with instructions; reminder 4 days later
Week 10 - Reminder every 2 days
After logging in, click on "Real-Time Response Counts" in the menu bar at the top of the web page to check response rates for each class or section.
- Personally invite students to take the ESCI survey via in-class (synchronous) and email announcements.
- Explain to students why their feedback is important to you.
- Provide examples of how constructive and thoughtful student feedback has helped you improve courses in the past.
- Monitor your class response rate regularly, and subsequently encourage students to complete the survey, if needed.
- Allow time for students to complete the survey online during class (try at the beginning of class instead of the end).
Please contact your department ESCI Contact after each quarter’s final grade deadline to access your reports.
ESCI reports are sent to department ESCI Coordinators each quarter within 2 weeks after grades are due. Please contact your department ESCI Coordinator if you haven’t received your report. If you need a summary report of all of your ESCI scores from multiple classes and/or quarters, please request a summary report from the ESCI office.
For Department Staff
Yes! The Survey Request Form is the only way that we can get accurate data from academic departments about who is teaching each class or section, whether that class or section should be surveyed, and if so, which survey to use. Without this information from the department, we do not have all of the information that we need to set the system up correctly for the end of the quarter. Your help is essential!
Contact the ESCI office directly to discuss your needs with one of our Instructional Consultants.