HelioCampus AC - Eval - Frequently Asked Questions (Instructor) [UW-Madison]

This document provides answers to common instructor questions about HelioCampus AC, UW-Madison's course evaluation survey tool. For student FAQs, see HelioCampus AC - Eval - Frequently Asked Questions (Student) [UW-Madison].

What is HelioCampus AC?

The Student Learning Assessment team is led by the Office of the Provost in partnership with DoIT Academic Technology, and has school/college and department partners along with Student Digital Ecosystem partners and units.

HelioCampus AC is a web-based assessment management system that facilitates the collection and application of real-time assessment data. For more information visit the Student Learning Assessment site. 

Student learning assessment is an integrated, ongoing component of academic life and the student experience at UW-Madison. Key areas include: 

To see the integrated assessment framework at UW, click here.
  • All of these are either directly or indirectly accessed from with HelioCampus AC.

When do HelioCampus AC surveys go out?

Most departments release HelioCampus AC course evaluations once a semester. Departments generally schedule end-of-semester evaluations to go out to students two weeks before the end of the semester. As an instructor, you will receive an email notification three days before evaluations are sent to students.

Departments may also send out midterm evaluations for some or all of their courses. Midterm surveys are usually sent out to students between weeks five to seven of the semester. You will receive an email notification three days before midterm evaluations are sent to students.

Your HelioCampus AC Academic Contact will determine whether or not your college or department offers midterm evaluations and the exact dates that evaluations are released.

How do I add a question to my HelioCampus AC course survey?

As an instructor, you can only create questions on your HelioCampus AC survey if these conditions are met:

  • You are listed as an Instructor for your course in HelioCampus AC.
  • Your Academic Contact set aside a section for instructor questions on your evaluation.
  • Your evaluation will not be released to students for at least 24 hours.
You must complete all steps including the Publish Survey Questions at the end of this document. If questions are not published they will not be part of the course evaluation completed by students.

   

Navigate to Course Section Question Designer

  1. Log into HelioCampus AC with your NetID credentials.
  2. On your HelioCampus AC Dashboard, find the Course Sections module.
  3. Find the course section for which you would like to add questions. Select the blue pencil icon to make edits.
    Select the blue pencil icon to the right of the course section name

  4. You will be brought to your Course Sections page. Select Survey Questions from the left menu bar.
    Survey Questions is under Course Evaluations in the left menu bar

  5. If you have not yet created any questions, you will see the No Course Section Survey Questions have been added message. Click the blue Let's Begin button.
    Message: Course section questions added will display on the Student Course Evaluation designed by an administrator. All students enrolled in [your section] will be presented with the questions added here prior to the start of the Student Course Evaluation. To begin adding questions to your course section, click the Let's Begin button below.

  6. Select the blue Edit button on the upper right side of the page.
    The Edit button is on the upper half of the page, near Export

Create a New Survey Question

On the course section question designer page:

  1. Click the blue + button to the right of your course section name.
    The add question button is to the right of the course name

  2. Select the type of question you would like to create from the left panel of the Add Question box. See HelioCampus AC - Eval Survey Form - Question Types, Settings, and Configurations (Admin and Instructor) [UW-Madison] for descriptions of each question type.
    Select a question type from the left menu bar

  3. Add your question text and, for multiple choice questions, your designated responses.
  4. Use the blue Save button to save the question.

Create a Matrix Question

Course and instructor-type matrix questions function differently than other question types. To create a matrix question:

  1. Create all of the Multiple Choice or Instructor Multiple Choice questions that you wish to use in the matrix. The questions must have the same answer options to be grouped together.
  2. Press the gear icon at the bottom left of the first question in the matrix. Select the Configure button located next to the matrix question checkbox.
  3. A pop-up will appear in which you can add a matrix title and select the Multiple Choice questions that you wish to include in the matrix.
  4. To remove a matrix, select the gear icon, uncheck the box to the left of Matrix Question, then press the blue check to confirm the change.

Edit or Copy an Existing Survey Question

You will see a list of the questions you have created so far on the course section question designer page.

  1. Select the QUESTION-[#] button.
    Select the QUESTION-Number button

  2. Select Copy to make a make a copy of your question.
    1. A new dialog box will open with a copy of your question text and options. You can modify your question type, text, or options.
    2. Save your question. The copy will not be created unless you save.
      Select Copy from dropdown menu

  3. Select Edit to make a change your question type or content.
    1. Editing will reopen your question dialog box. You can modify your question type, text, or options.
    2. Remember to save your changes.
      Select Edit from dropdown menu

  4. For more options, select the gear icon on the lower left corner of the question.
    Select the Gear icon
    1. Here, you can make a question required, assign numeric values, or edit other configuration options. (Note: Not all questions will have a gear icon.)
      1. Check the boxes next to your desired options.
      2. To find out more about configuration options, including recommendations, see Question Configuration Options.
      3. When you've finished editing, select the blue Checkmark button to save.
        Select Checkmark icon
 

Publish Survey Questions

You must publish your questions at least one day before the survey is scheduled to go out. Questions that have not been published and questions that have been published after the deadline will not appear on your survey.

  1. After you have added all of your questions, click the blue Exit button in the top right corner of the course section question designer page. If you had previously added questions, just click on Survey Questions within the Course Section.
    The Exit button is by the Course Section Question Designer title

  2. You will see a warning that your questions aren't published. If you are done adding and editing questions, click the red Publish Questions button.
    Warning message: Survey Questions are Not Published. Survey Questions for this course section WILL NOT be added until the questions are published. After you have completed adding/editing your questions, click the Publish Questions button.

  3. You will be asked to confirm that you want to publish your questions. Note that once they have been published, you will not be able to edit your questions or to add any additional questions. Click Publish to continue.
    Confirmation message: This action will publish the survey questions for this course section. Once published, the questions will become available to survey participants. This action CANNOT be reversed. Are you sure?

  4. Once you have successfully published your questions, the warning message will be replaced by a notification that you have published your questions.
    Success message: Survey Questions for this course section were published on [date]. Published course section survey questions are available to surveys starting after the course section survey questions published date.

How do I access my survey results?

  1. Log into HelioCampus AC with your NetID credentials.
  2. On your HelioCampus AC dashboard, locate the My Course Evaluations widget (i.e. window).
  3. Your courses will be listed by section. You may need to scroll down within this widget to see all the courses. While a survey is running, you can see the current response rates on this screen. Note: If you are looking for past semesters, click the three black vertical dots on the top right of the My Course Evaluations widget and choose Past Evaluations.
  4. Once results are available (4 days after grades are due), scroll over the blue button with three vertical dots to expand the menu.
    The blue button with vertical dots will be to the right of your course name

  5. Click on the gray bar graph button to view your results.
    The View Results button is gray and has an image of a bar graph

  6. View your results within HelioCampus AC or export them using the Export button in the top right corner of the results page.

Instructors can also create course evaluation reports. For more information see HelioCampus AC - Eval Results - Reports Library (Instructor) [UW-Madison]

Color Codes 

The color indicators in the HelioCampus AC Dashboard My Course Evaluations widget and on the survey results page have a percentage rate like the following:

0-24% = Red

25-49% = Orange

50-74% = Yellow

75-100% = Green

What is an HelioCampus AC Academic Contact? Who is is my Academic Contact?

The HelioCampus AC Academic Contact is a college or department level HelioCampus AC administrator who is responsible for tasks such as setting up evaluations in HelioCampus AC, creating and editing evaluation questions, and setting a distribution schedule for evaluations. You may wish to contact your Academic Contact if you have questions about a question or metric on your department's survey, or if you have specific questions about survey schedules.

Contact information will be listed in any emails you receive from HelioCampus AC, including emails sent before course evaluations are distributed to students. If you do not have or cannot find contact information for your Academic Contact, email learnuwsupport@wisc.edu.


Keywords:
AEFIS aphis afis helio campus faqs faculty tas instructors results metrics surveys evaluations course questions
Doc ID:
81158
Owned by:
Learn@UW Madison in Learn@UW-Madison
Created:
2018-03-27
Updated:
2025-04-10
Sites:
DoIT Help Desk, Learn@UW-Madison