Policies and Procedures


Effective Spring 2018

The Student Perceptions of Teaching Survey (SPOTs) is composed of nineteen questions. Eight original questions (Q1, Q2, Q8, Q9, Q10, Q12, Q13, & Q15) were established by Chancellor's Memorandum, CM-95-06. The remaining eleven questions were designed by FIU.

The SPOTs will only be administered online.

All instructor information must be updated in Panthersoft to reflect correct course information two weeks before the evaluation period begins. Once the deadline to update information in Panthersoft has passed, a list of all courses to be included in the assessment process will be posted on the SPOTs sharepoint. This list will include all faculty and instructors who will be evaluated for each course.

The following courses will be eligible for assessment:


  • All courses with component C (Class Lecture) or L (Lab) that have an enrollment greater than three.
  • Courses with component O (Other) and enrollment greater than three will also be considered eligible for assessment if their Catalog Number ends between 920 and 939 (e.g., 4920, 6936, 5939). These Catalog Numbers correspond to "Colloquiums/Symposiums/Workshops" and "Special Topics/Seminars".
  • Dynamic courses with components C or L that have an enrollment greater than three and are at least 2 weeks in length.
  • Any course with enrollment greater than three which has obtained approval from the Provost for evaluation.

Courses that do not meet the above criteria will not be evaluated. In addition, course sections that are cross-listed with another course, but do not meet the enrollment criteria of three or less will not be evaluated.


Administering the SPOTs

All SPOTs will be administered online via my.fiu.edu or the FIU Mobile App. The SPOTs administration schedule is based on course length as follows:

Courses scheduled during the Regular Session


  • Courses that are 16 or more weeks in length: SPOTs will open 4 weeks before the last day to submit grades.
  • Courses that are 10 to 15 weeks in length: SPOTs will open 3 weeks before the last day to submit grades.
  • Courses that are less than 10 weeks in length: SPOTs will open 2 weeks before the last day to submit grades.

All SPOTs evaluations for regular session courses will close the day before grades are officially due.

Dynamic Courses


  • Courses that are 6 or more weeks in length: SPOTs will open 3 weeks before the last day of class.
  • Courses that are 2 to 5 weeks in length: SPOTs will open 1 week before the last day of class.

All SPOTs for Dynamic courses will close on the course end date specified in Panthersoft.

Regular Session Courses for the College of Law

The College of Law utilizes a different Academic Calendar. As a result, SPOTs for Regular Session courses for the College of Law will be administered as follows:


  • SPOTs evaluations will open 5 weeks prior to the last day of class and close 3 weeks later (12 days from the last day of the course as indicated on Panthersoft). This will accommodate the College's reading and exam periods.

Students and instructors will receive an email on the day SPOTs open with instructions on how to access and complete the surveys. Students who do not fill out the SPOTs will receive weekly reminders. Instructors will receive one additional reminder the day before the surveys close.

Students will be given the opportunity to evaluate every instructor listed in the Panthersoft course schedule under the following roles: Primary Instructor, Secondary Instructor, and Course Assistant. Course schedulers and Administrators will not be assessed.

Class time should be provided to students to complete the SPOTs. However, the instructor should not be present in class while the SPOTs is being completed.

SPOTs Results and Feedback

Instructors will receive an email the day after grades are due with a link to view their individual SPOTs results and comments. In addition, in accordance with the Chancellor's Memorandum, a summary report with the eight state mandated questions will be complied and made available on the Office of Institutional Research web page: http://aim.fiu.edu/faculty-evaluations.htm

SPOTs Liaisons

Every college is currently assigned at least one SPOTs Liaison. If you have any further questions regarding the policy, please contact your college liaison. If you are unsure as to whom your college liaison is, please see the list found on the faculty evaluations main page, opir.fiu.edu, under "College Liaison".

In addition, please contact your college liaison when attempting to retrieve current and past evaluations. All liaisons have been granted access to our SharePoint site which houses all course evaluation reports beginning from AY 2006-07. Please keep in mind that the reports will only reflect data which was submitted for processing and those that did not generate errors.

* Due to security measures and data confidentiality, all college/department liaisons must be regular full-time university employees (e.g., USPS, A&P and/or Faculty). Staff members classified as anything other than those previously mentioned will not be eligible for appointment.