Reviewed Aug 2001, Feb 2002, March & Aug 2003, Jan 2004, Mar 2005, Apr 2006, Aug 2007, Aug 2008
Student orientation for all beginning students will include review of all program policies. This includes receipt of a copy of the Student Faculty Handbook acknowledged by signature.
The evaluation process is an integral part of the educational mechanism at the University of Detroit Mercy Graduate Program in Nurse Anesthesiology. Evaluation is present during all phases of the educational program and encompasses all students, all clinical and didactic faculty, courses, the program itself, and graduates.
The Education Committee chair schedules evaluation activities, ensures they are completed confidentially, communicates the results, and monitors the adequacy of measures taken to address problems. The Academic Progression Committee chair monitors student performance in classroom and clinical areas, and makes recommendations on academic progression to the program director.
Evaluation of students occurs in both the clinical and didactic areas. Evaluation of student performance in clinical will include verbal evaluation, daily written clinical evaluations, peer review during clinical anesthesia conferences, and quality of preparedness during morning clinical anesthesia conferences, CAC, and journal club. Students will be verbally evaluated during their first weeks in clinical. A verbal evaluation will be given by the clinical instructor after each case or at the end of the clinical day. Written evaluations will begin after the first few weeks of term 2. Written evaluations should be completed on a daily basis summarizing the student's performance. Instructors are encouraged to write evaluations on a case-by-case basis for more complicated cases or if the student's performance on a given case is unsatisfactory or exemplary. It is the responsibility of the student to provide an evaluation form to the clinical faculty member. It is also the student's responsibility to obtain the completed clinical evaluation from the instructor. The student is responsible for the return of the original copy of clinical evaluations to the designated faculty member. We cannot evaluate (and students cannot pass clinical internship) unless we receive filled-out evaluations for at least 70% of assigned clinical days. If written evaluations are not being returned, the student should inform the clinical coordinator at the site and the program office. It is the responsibility of the faculty member to complete the form and also to discuss the day's cases with the student.
Student clinical evaluations are based upon the clinical objectives. Students may add written comments to the evaluation forms, which must be shared with the respective clinical instructor. The clinical faculty should initial their acknowledgment of the student's comment. All comments by the student not initialed by the instructor will be disregarded. The student will receive the carbon copy of the evaluation and the original should be turned in or mailed to the program office. Evaluations from affiliates are usually collected by the affiliate clinical coordinator and sent directly to the program.
The Academic Progression committee chair or designee composes a summary statement of all clinical evaluations and this summary is shared with the student during the evaluation interview. Meetings for summative evaluation are scheduled with each student at the end of each semester. A pass/fail grade will be assigned to clinical at this time. Clinical evaluation summaries will be compiled at mid-term by the Academic Progression committee chair if there is evidence that the student is failing to progress satisfactorily. If clinical evaluations indicate that the student needs improvement or is not meeting the clinical objectives outlined for the term at any time, a meeting will be scheduled. Subsequent meetings may be held depending on the needs of the student. The Academic Progression committee chair may consult with the committee members, the clinical coordinators, or the program administrative faculty to discuss appropriate responses to any weaknesses developing in a student's clinical progress.
All students are expected to complete a written self-evaluation prior to meeting with the committee chair or designee. During this meeting, the student's self-evaluation is reviewed and the student is encouraged to add any written comments to the evaluation summary form. The Academic Progression committee chair or designee utilizes the interview as an opportunity for the student to develop and communicate professional objectives. All student evaluation forms are kept in a secured file in the program offices.
Didactic evaluation of students occurs each semester. The most common method for evaluation is by exam. Additional exams, quizzes, work sheets, papers, patient simulations or essays may also be utilized for evaluation. Additional course work or examinations may be required of students by the instructor or director whenever that student's progress is deemed unsatisfactory. (See Academic Policies).
Faculty are evaluated in both the clinical and classroom domains. Clinical faculty evaluations are completed annually and anonymously. The comments are reviewed with the clinical coordinators. Annual site visits to each afficiate clinical site also serve as a form of evaluation of clinical faculty.
Didactic faculty are also evaluated by the students at the end of each semester via the University online course evaluation process http://www.udmercy.edu/evaluate. The results of these evaluations are shared with each faculty member. A designated time will be specified for completing evaluation forms during final examination week.
Student's comments and ratings will be summarized and compiled for use by the program in such a way that confidentiality and freedom of expression of each student is preserved. Compiled, typewritten comments and ratings will be reviewed by program administration and shared with the faculty members, plus any appropriate committees.
Evaluation of the program will occur via several methods. The program will be under the continuous review of the Advisory and Education committees, which function to continually assess the program strengths and weaknesses and to work on the written self-study required for accreditation. Each committee acts to continuously evaluate the area of the program that is its responsibility and to generate ideas and strategies for change.
Policies and procedures of the program will be reviewed and updated annually or more frequently as needed. The results of this periodic review of policies will be shared with the community of interest including students and faculty.
Program administration will schedule exit interviews for all graduates during their last term. All graduates evaluate the program as a whole during these interviews. Confidentiality and freedom of expression are encouraged and will be preserved. Results in summary form will be shared with faculty and all appropriate committees.
A post graduate program evaluation form will be mailed to graduates and their employers one year following graduation. The program administration will review the returned forms and summarize their findings in writing on an annual basis. The summary will be forwarded to the Education committee for review to serve their on-going evaluation of the curriculum.
Affiliation site evaluations are to be completed annually. Each student will complete one evaluation for each affiliate site which they have attended. All student comments will be compiled in such a way that confidentiality and freedom of expression for each student is preserved. All comments will be reviewed by program administration and shared with the clinical coordinator at each site and any appropriate committees.
Return to Table of Contents.