When faculty members across Cornell University first began discussing a new Student Evaluation of Teaching (SETs) process, they focused on a better way to gather unbiased student feedback about how course material was presented. Their recommendation included both a new core set of questions and a new software solution.

The School of Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR) was one of the first groups to launch the new SETs questions and system. Dan Elswit, who recently retired from his role as the school’s Director of Administrative Applications, was a key contributor to the project’s success among ILR faculty and students.

“I think one of the reasons the project team of representatives from Central IT and the Office of the Vice Provost for Academic Innovation chose the ILR School was that our needs are somewhat straightforward. We use the same questions for all the classes, which would make development and adoption easier, but overall, we were a good microcosm for many of the processes and issues that might arise. We also had every reason to want to do something different, because we were no longer satisfied with what we had,” said Elswit.

“And in this case, the project team rocked it. They really pulled it all together and brought it home. This is the best experience I've had in 29 plus years working in various capacities on projects with CIT."

Elswit was also candid about the give-and-take that occurs during a new system or process implementation. He said the ILR team did not get everything they wanted, but they were willing to work with the project team and the project team was willing to work with the ILR team.

“We got all the things we really cared about, and the project team was always there, available to discuss things, practically at any time, day or night,” he said. “They were thoughtful, and they reached out to us to confirm things on a regular basis if they had any questions.”

That collaboration and communication was central to the success of their launch. Elswit felt the ILR team was empowered to make significant contributions to the technical requirements and implementation details where appropriate.

He said, “In previous projects I’ve worked on with CIT, it sometimes felt like the project teams were almost afraid to tell us when something had changed and they could not actually fulfill our request.”

Elswit believes stakeholders, sponsors, and other partners want to know as soon as something comes up that might impact a project, rather than postponing what may seem like bad news. Elswit said, “We know once you get into a project, that real life may change the equation and you need to adapt.” 

Cornell IT Project Manager Michelle Jackson said that even though changes had to be made to the original SETs project plan, our teams maintained consistent and transparent communication to ensure there were no surprises.

"By providing an environment that had transparency, collaboration and clear communication at its core, the weekly meetings became a safe place for team members to share ideas and possible solutions when various challenges were presented," said Jackson. "The mutual respect and trust that the two teams shared on this project were undeniable and were key to the initial pilot launch being so successful!"

For more information about the new SETs and the ILR School's experience as an early adopter, read the IT news story, "Changing the Student Evaluation of Teaching Experience."