AEFIS - Eval - Getting Started with Online Course Evaluations (Admin)

This document provides resources and instructions for getting started as an AEFIS administrator for course evaluations. All AEFIS course evaluation KBs say AEFIS - Eval in front of each title.

AEFIS LLC (Assessment, Evaluation, Feedback & Intervention System) is a web-based assessment management platform that facilitates the collection and application of real-time assessment data. For more information about the transition to online course evaluations visit the Digital Course Evaluation Surveys.

Overview of AEFIS Course Evaluations

There are three steps to complete to create AEFIS course evaluations.

Create a survey template - the template has all of the course evaluation questions. Once completed, this step only needs to be repeated if questions change or need editing, or you have a second template.
Schedule a survey - each template needs a survey schedule. If you have one template for your entire department, only one survey schedule is needed each semester. Plus you can set it to run automatically each semester.
Survey - the survey instance is where you assign each course section that needs to complete an evaluation. This step must be completed each semester.

For each of the steps above, further details are listed below.

Accessing AEFIS

Unlike student and instructor accounts, AEFIS administrator accounts are NOT created automatically. To request a new AEFIS administrator account, see AEFIS - Users - Requesting a User Account.

After your account has been set up, you can log into AEFIS at https://aefis.wisc.edu.

Initial Setup

When you first get access to AEFIS, you should perform some initial setup tasks.

Set the appropriate academic contact for your department. This information will appear only in AEFIS emails to faculty. See AEFIS - Eval - Setting an Academic Contact (Admin) for instructions.
If your department needs to survey small-enrollmemt classes (e.g. less than five students), update your minimum response requirements. See instructions at AEFIS - Eval Results - Changing the Minimum Response Requirement (Admin).

Creating a Survey Template

Survey Templates are where you set up the questions that you are going to release to students or survey participants.

To set up a new, blank Survey Template, see the instructions at AEFIS - Eval Survey Template - Creating a Survey Template (Admin).
After you have created your Survey Template, you can add questions by following the instructions at AEFIS - Eval Survey Template - Editing Title and Details (Admin).
We recommend that you add a roll-up question to the survey, so that you and/or instructors have the option of adding course-specific questions to the survey later. See AEFIS - Eval - Survey Questions - Adding course section specific questions (Admin).
Add custom metrics to your survey. See AEFIS - Eval Survey Template - Creating Survey Metrics (Admin).

Setting up a Survey Schedule

After you have completed and published your Survey Template, you can set up a Survey Schedule. Survey Schedules determine when your survey will be sent out. Also the Survey Schedule name is the name of the survey students view. You can create a new Survey Schedule every semester or, if your survey will not be changing from semester to semester, you can set the schedule to run every semester (recommended).

Set up your Survey Schedule following the instructions at AEFIS - Eval Survey Schedule - Creating a New Survey Schedule (Admin)

Managing and Assigning a Survey Instance

A Survey Instance is what most users think of as the actual survey. It is created after you publish your Survey Schedule.

You can perform administrative tasks at the Survey Instance level, such as changing release dates, excluding instructors from evaluation, and adding section-specific evaluation questions.

To update settings including survey release dates, see AEFIS - Eval - Survey Settings (Admin).
Your AEFIS survey will include the general, department-level questions that you set up in the Survey Template. To add course-specific questions, see AEFIS - Eval - Survey Questions - Adding course section specific questions (Admin)

Most importantly, you must assign your Survey Instance to the course sections in your department that you wish to survey. If you do not assign the survey, students will not be able to take it. Course sections must be assigned anew every semester.

To assign course sections to a survey, see AEFIS - Eval Survey Instance - Assigning Course Sections to a Survey (Admin).
For courses that are cross-listed between two or more departments, only the primary department should assign the survey unless prior arrangements have been made. Read more about assigning cross-listed courses.
In some instances, you will want to exclude specific course instructors from being surveyed. See AEFIS - Eval Survey Instance - Excluding Instructors from Questions (Admin).
After you assign your course sections, you may want to run the course survey assignment audit to confirm that you didn't miss anything. See Course Survey Assignment Audit - Admins.

Creating Reports

The Course Section Trend Analysis is the most common report run by UW-Madison AEFIS administrators. This report will generate the results for each instructor in your department along with a departmental average for comparison. See AEFIS - Eval Results - Course Section Trend Analysis Report (Admin) for more information.
To export a report that includes student comments, see Student Course Evaluation Comment Analysis Report.

Additional Resources

Check out the Academic Technology calendar for upcoming AEFIS trainings. In-person trainings and Q&As for AEFIS administrators are held several times per year.
To see all of UW-Madison's AEFIS documentation, visit the AEFIS topic AEFIS on the KB.
For information on the digital course evaluation initiative at UW-Madison, visit the Provost's Course Evaluation Survey page.
For technical questions, email learnuwsupport@doit.wisc.edu.