Evaluation of the Curriculum
Policy 550.00
Policy Statement
It is the professional responsibility of the student to participate in the ongoing improvement of the Larner College of Medicine (LCOM), its curriculum, and its learning environment. As such, all students are required to participate in the evaluation of courses, faculty, peers, and the learning environment. Students must complete a confidential evaluation at the end of a required course. All evaluations are aggregated and provided to the course director, the Student Education Committee (SEC), and faculty after student grades are released. De-identified evaluation data are analyzed and shared for curriculum quality improvement purposes and may be used for medical education research to improve curriculum and its delivery.
Policy Elaboration/Procedures
All evaluations are confidential and are expected to be respectful, professional, and constructive. Student evaluations are protected so that student identity cannot be determined by faculty or administration from within the evaluation system. However, there are two circumstances in which the identity of the student completing the evaluation may be determined:
- If an evaluation of a course, faculty member, or peer contains language that implies a threat to the safety of the student or other member of the community, the Associate Dean for Students will be notified to request the identity of the student author be revealed to address a potential threat to safety.
- If the Learning Environment and Professionalism (LEAP) Committee receives a report from any source that an evaluation contains language that may be in violation of the LCOM Professionalism Statement (e.g., disrespectful, defamatory, or discriminatory), after review, the Director of the Learning Environment may be notified to request the identity of the student author to learn more and to provide professionalism training, guidance, and support that is non-punitive and aims to bolster the efficacy of the student feedback. The Director of the Learning Environment and the LEAP committee (if involved) will not reveal the student’s identity to the reporting faculty member, the course director, or the course staff.
Student completion and submission of end-of-course evaluations is mandatory in required courses. Completion of evaluations will be monitored by the Office of Medical Education and are considered a professional responsibility of medical students. Repeated failure to complete required evaluations, or repeated violations of the LCOM Professionalism Statement related to evaluations, will result in professionalism concerns that may lead to sanctions, up to and including academic advancement, scholarship, and leadership opportunities, and/or referral to the Fitness Committee.
Applicability of the Policy
All Medical Students
Related Larner College of Medicine Policies
Not Applicable
Related University of Vermont Policies
Not Applicable
Related Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) Standard(s)
- 8.3 Curricular Design, Review, Revision/Content Monitoring
- 8.7 Comparability of Education/Assessment
History
- 4/15/2014 Policy Adopted/Affirmed [Medical Curriculum Committee]
- 8/18/2015 Policy Revised [Medical Curriculum Committee]
- 5/24/2016 Policy Revised [Medical Curriculum Committee]
- 8/10/2017 Policy Revised [Medical Curriculum Committee]
- 12/20/2017 Policy Revised [Medical Curriculum Committee]
- 7/9/2018 Policy Revised [Medical Curriculum Committee]
- 3/17/2020 Reformatted [Medical Curriculum Committee]
- 7/19/2022 Policy Revised [Medical Curriculum Committee]
- 9/18/2023 Policy Revised [Medical Curriculum Committee]
- 8/20/2024 Policy Revised [Medical Curriculum Committee]
Policy Oversight
Assistant Dean for Medical Education (Director of Curriculum Evaluation and Assessment)
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