As a member of the Mason community, you are strongly encouraged to participate in student evaluations of teaching. Your feedback on courses you take is critical to instructors and administrators as they consider ways to improve your class experiences.
FAQs
How do I know when evaluations are open?
- You will receive notification via email and within Blackboard.
How do I access the evaluations?
- Both the email and Blackboard notifications will contain a link to the evaluations for your courses. In addition, you can log in at https://gmu.bluera.com/gmu.
I have more than one instructor in a course. Can I evaluate them individually?
- Yes. You will complete a separate evaluation for each instructor when there is more than one instructor for a course.
Are my responses confidential?
- Yes. Responses are reported in aggregate and your instructor will not be able to identify your responses. The only time a student would be identified is if a comment is made that raises concerns about the health and safety of the student or instructor. At that time, administrative staff, not the instructor, would be made aware of a student’s identity.
I had multiple evaluations to complete and mistakenly evaluated one course when I thought it was another one. Can I redo the evaluation?
- No. Once an evaluation is submitted in Blue, it cannot be reopened. The course and instructor name is listed for each evaluation in Blue. Students should preview and verify their responses before submitting.
I made a mistake when I filled out the survey. Can you reopen/reset the evaluation?
- Once the evaluation has been submitted in Blue, we are unable to reopen or reset it. If you wish to provide notification regarding the incorrect submission, please contact the associated department/school which offers the course.
I forgot to fill out my evaluation before the deadline and I want to provide feedback about the instructor/course. Can you reopen the evaluation?
- Once the evaluation has closed in Blue, we are unable to reopen it or extend the deadline. If you wish to provide feedback about a course/instructor and the evaluation has closed, please contact the associated department/school which offers the course to provide your feedback.
I am not able to submit my evaluation, it is only allowing me to save it.
- After you’ve entered your responses, you will need to click on the ‘Next’ button. This will take you to a summary page so you can view your selections and any comments you may have entered before submitting the evaluation. You should see on this summary page that the ‘Submit’ button is now made available to you.
Why are evaluations closed before the final exam period?
- Evaluations are administered before the final exam period to minimize the likelihood that final grades will influence student feedback as per recommended practice and approval by the Effective Teaching Committee of the Mason Faculty Senate.
How can I show that I have completed an evaluation?
- When you submit the evaluation for a course, Blue will automatically send you an email confirming the evaluation has been submitted. This email can be used to show you have completed the evaluation.
When do instructors get the results?
- Results are shared after final grades have been submitted.
Does anyone other than my instructor look at the evaluations?
- Yes. The reports are used by department chairs, deans, and hiring committees among others.
Why are emails about Blue and SETs showing up in the ‘Other’ tab of my Outlook inbox?
- Automated Blue emails may be getting filtered by your Outlook mailbox into an ‘Other’ folder instead of your ‘Focused’ folder. To ensure all communications are received, please right-click the message and select ‘Always Move to Focused’ so that all future messages from Blue will be delivered to the ‘Focused’ folder.
Note: Focused Inbox studies the history of your email use, and takes into account the types of messages you receive, the content of those messages, and the users you communicate with the most. It then determines which emails you are most likely to read and respond to and places them on a centralized list. You can then switch between this list and another one, labeled “Other,” containing all of the emails that do not meet its standards. Outlook’s sorting algorithm is not always perfect. By moving certain emails from ‘Other’ to ‘Focused’, Outlook will adjust its algorithm accordingly.