Class quality
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The document discusses quality control measures for software training classes provided to students. It outlines how class and instructor evaluations will be used to ensure high quality. Classes with low enrollment will be cancelled to make efficient use of resources. Special request classes will require a minimum of 8 students and up to 4 hours of prep time. Graduate assistants and trainers will take on cross-training to teach additional classes and maximize resources.
Class quality
- 1. - 1 - SOFTWARE TRAINING FOR STUDENTS QUALITY CONTROL Class Quality The quality of each class will be measured by the overall instructor and class evaluation. At the end of each class the participants are asked to provide feedback and to assign a numeric evaluation on a 5 point scale (5 being the best) to the instructor and the class. It will be expected that all instructors and all classes will receive an evaluation above a 4.0. The feedback will also be monitored to address any issues that a participant may share in the open comments section. If an instructor receives alarming feedback or an average score below a 4.0 the instructor will meet with the supervisor to address these issues in a one-on-one meeting. Together they will formulate and document a plan to encourage a more successful outcome the next time the instructor teaches the class. If this does not happen, the student trainer will not be permitted to teach the class again. If the student receives poor evaluations in other classes the student will be placed on probation and the supervisor will work with the student to improve teaching techniques and monitor preparedness. If the evaluations do not improve, this would be grounds for termination. Responsible Fiscal Spending Price of a Public Class While Software Training for Students strives to offer a variety of classes to students, we must also recognize that we cannot overspend on specific classes at the risk of minimizing or losing well-attended courses that are linked to degree- credit course work or future job placement. The price per seat of an STS course is based on the combination of development time, instructor preparation time, delivery time, special software or hardware, lab rental and any time invested in hiring a trainer specifically for a course topic. The costs of most of the STS classes are between $20 - $28 per student. If the price per student is higher than $40 then its existence should be questioned. If the class is one of the top 5 STS classes than it should probably continue. If not, the class should be dropped. Cancellation of Public Classes The new STS registration system allows us to determine if classes will have little to no enrollment and therefore worth canceling. Classes with small enrollments should be cancelled because the costs of the room, trainer’s time and class prep would not be distributed evenly. It would be better to cancel the class and encourage those students to register for the next offering of the class. That next offering would be guaranteed to run.
- 2. - 2 - This fall, 91.5% of our attending participants pre-registered. It is also important to note that 40% of the students who registered did not attend. This allows STS to gain a clear projection of anticipated attendance by viewing the registration list. STS does not wish to cancel many classes as they are a great source of future customers and the more classes we cancel the greater chance our customers will be less satisfied with our service. Our target should be to cancel classes with 3 or less attending participants. Because approximately 40% of registered participants do not attend, a class will be cancelled if 5 or fewer students are registered 24 hours prior to the class. This will be a guideline rather than a rule as the supervisor will consider each class individually and make the decision on a class by class basis. Special Requests Classes that are tailored for specific academic classes are good exposure for STS and useful spending of STS money as they directly relate to the mission. Special request classes, however, can also be less cost efficient if requests place a strain on our resources (e.g. we custom tailor a class for a group of 5 students). To prevent special requests from ill-proportionately consuming STS resources we will encourage customers to have at least 8 or more students in class and we will be willing to provide up to 4 hours of development/prep time. Maximizing Resources Getting the most out of our existing resources is not only good practice, but it is also a critical part of maintaining a quality program when resources are limited and potentially shrinking. Graduate Assistant The graduate assistant will be asked to become more involved with special projects. Projects that increase the visibility of STS and are new and unique will be assigned to the graduate assistant. Cross Training While many of the STS trainers teach a variety of different programs, cross training across multiple systems will be encouraged. At the beginning of each semester, students will work with their supervisor to develop a plan for what new classes they plan to add to their repertoire and how they will go about learning new programs. In the future, a plan will be developed to link successful cross training to pay increases. http://www.doit.wisc.edu/training/student/staff/main/index.asp