From:   Jo Lynch, SAIS coordinator
 
RE:     Spring 2003 Semester On-line SAIS 
 
Date:   April 15, 2003

 
Thank you for participating in the on-line SAIS during the Spring 2003 semester. 
Students may enter the system from Wednesday, April 16 until 5:00 p.m. on Friday,
May 9, the last day of the examination period.  Please forward the following
information to your students.
 
All students must log on to the SAIS website:
http://web.utk.edu/~sais/
then click on the link:
"Spring 2003 Semester Online Evaluations"
 
A screen will appear asking the students to enter their NetID and password.  The
NetID may be found on the "people search" of the UT homepage or
http://accounts.utk.edu/uact/help.netid.html.
 
After entering their NetID and password, the students will see a listing of courses
that are participating in the Spring 2003 Semester on-line system that they are
eligible to evaluate.  Only students currently enrolled in the course(s) are
eligible to evaluate the course.  In addition, students will only be able to
evaluate the instructor one time.
 
At the course listing screen, the students should then click on the section number
of the course for which they are evaluating.  Next the SAIS form (A-J or X) selected
by the instructor will appear.  The student should then complete the questionnaire. 
If you are administering departmental or individual questions, you must supply these
questions to your students.  The space to answer the supplemental questions follows
the SAIS questions.  At the bottom of the screen, the students will then submit
their responses.  After pressing "Submit," the computer will indicate that the
student has successfully completed evaluating your course.  The student will then
need to "Quit" the system, unless he or she has more than one course to evaluate. 
Then the student should press "Continue."
 
As with the pencil and scan form version of SAIS, all student answers are
confidential.  Once the system closes, all identifying information is severed from
the student's NetID, therefore making the system anonymous as well.  Data security
for the on-line system includes a password-protected, encrypted web site allowing
access only to authorized users.  In addition, the system will time-out after 20
minutes of inactivity for security purposes.  Last, the completion of the on-line
questionnaire is optional; students are free to leave any or all of the questions
unanswered.
 
Should students need assistance while completing the on-line SAIS, a link to the
SAIS e-mail and office phone number are listed on several screens throughout the
on-line evaluation process.  If a student has difficulties, please encourage him or
her to contact my office directly, for often the problem can be resolved much faster
than if he or she waits to address the issue with you at the next class meeting.  In
addition, if I may answer any of your questions, please contact me (jolynch@utk.edu)
or at 974-4373.
 
Thank you for agreeing to participate in the Spring 2003 Semester on-line SAIS.