Course valuations

What can I do?

Once you have finished studying a course, you can fill in a course evaluation. Completing the course evaluation is a responsibility you have as a student! If too few students complete course evaluations, it is difficult for the courses to be made better. It is therefore important that both you and the others on your course exercise your power after every course you complete and express your opinion on what has been good and what has been less good. Complete the course evaluation via the course homepage, which you will find  via the start page of the student web.

What does a student representative do in relation to course valuations?

A student representative is chosen by those attending the course when the course begins. He or she helps to collate the results of the course valuation. The student receives payment for this work, which is administered by the department which coordinates the course. The student representative should do the following in relation to the course valuation:

• Complete the course valuation themselves and look at other responses submitted once the response period has ended.
• Hold a discussion on the quality of the course and the results of the valuation with the students who are studying/have completed the course. It is important that the student representative does not simply express their own thoughts and views, but firmly establishes them with the other students. A discussion may also be held with only the students while the course is underway. Discussions may also be held with students who were previously student representatives or previous valuations may be examined.
• Together with the course leader, the student representative has the final responsibility for the “student comments section” of the valuation report. Summarise or touch upon all the free text comments which seem relevant in the valuation report – both good and bad. It is important that unfounded or irrelevant criticism is removed. Report in good time and ensure compliance with the Swedish Data Protection Act (PUL). No information can be provided about individuals. The use of offensive terms or careless language is also not permitted.
• Highlight possible improvements to the course. Talk to the course leader and/or director of studies and tell him/her your comments and thoughts on this.

To log in as a student representative, go to http://slunik.slu.se, and click on the Student representative ("Studentrepresentant") link.

What does SLU do?

SLU uses an electronic course valuation system (Evald). Once the response period has ended, the results of the general questions and comments are summarised. These are then available in SLUnik. This means that the results are published on the Internet and can be read by all. The course valuations are important for education monitoring at course level and also in order to provide you with information about courses, so that you are able to make your choice of courses on a broader basis.

SLU also carries out other surveys of student opinion on education and student welfare environment. Once you have completed your study programme with a degree, we would like you to provide your opinion on your time studying as a whole.

What does the law say?

Quality assurance procedures are the shared concern of staff and students at higher education institutions (Swedish Higher Education Act, Chapter 1, Section 4). Higher education institutions shall enable students who are participating in or have completed a course to express their experiences of and views on the course through a course valuation to be organised by the higher education institution (Swedish Higher Education Ordinance, Chapter 1, Section 14, Subsection 1).

The higher education institution shall collate the course valuations and provide information about their results and any actions prompted by the course valuations. The results shall be made available to the students (Swedish Higher Education Ordinance, Chapter 1, Section 14, Subsection 2). Find out more about course valuations in the regulations for education, section 10. Quality assurance procedures (pdf 91 Kb).