CEP engages in several school wide initiatives designed to maintain and build upon the high standards of HSPH’s academic offerings. Through its analysis of course evaluations, the Graduating Student Satisfaction Survey, the Alumni Curricular Effectiveness Survey, and periodic external program reviews, CEP ensures the academic and professional success of HSPH students during their time at the school and beyond.
Course Evaluations
CEP is responsible for analyzing course evaluation results after each term. The annual course evaluation schedule, links and tutorials to access course evaluation reports, and additional information can be found on the Harvard Chan Course Evaluations page.
A high rating is an overall rating of 4.8 or higher (on a five-point scale) for courses with less than 70 students, and 4.4 or higher for courses with greater than 70 students. Instructors of courses that receive a high rating are sent a letter of congratulations from the chair of the CEP, and department chairs are notified of the course’s high rating.
A low rating is an overall rating of 3.9 or lower (on a five-point scale.) Consistent poor course performance (as evidenced by student evaluations, peer review, and/or other means of course review) is subject to CEP oversight. There are various forms of support that CEP is able to offer courses with low ratings as appropriate, including coordinating consultations with HSPH’s instructional design team for support in developing the syllabus.
- Winter Session Courses—Letters are sent late February
- Spring Courses—Letters are sent in late June
- Summer Courses—Letters are sent in October
- Fall Courses—Letters are sent in late January
The results of the previous year’s course evaluations and the exit survey are compiled into department education reports that are distributed by the Office of Education to department chairs in the fall.
Graduating Student Satisfaction Survey
The Graduating Student Satisfaction Survey is launched bi-annually in November and May to all graduating HSPH students. Through this survey, graduating students are asked to report their level of satisfaction with their degree program and academic support services and offices across the School. The student body is diverse in both its background and its many professional goals; to ensure every individual student’s needs are met, it is important that we get high quality feedback on how we are doing. We invite honest, thoughtful, and constructive responses to help inform decision-making across the School and to enhance the student experience for future Harvard Chan students.
The results of the survey are compiled into reports and distributed to department chairs, the Office for Student Services, the Office for Diversity and Inclusion, and the Senior Associate Dean for Educational Programs.
Alumni Curricular Effectiveness Survey
The Harvard T.H. Chan Alumni Curricular Effectiveness Survey is launched annually to all students three years after their graduation. The survey was developed to gauge our programs’ ability to prepare graduates for continued education or real-world public health careers, which is a vital step to undertake in order to ensure that academic programs continue to improve. Further, CEP works with Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH) in order to meet the Council’s accreditation criteria using results from this survey.
The Office of Education analyzes and reports on the results of the survey to stakeholders across the school, informing the processes for reviewing and implementing curriculum changes.
External Program Reviews
The CEP oversees periodic reviews of the school’s educational programs. The purpose of the reviews is to make recommendations for improvement of the programs, and to strengthen the school’s curriculum as a whole. Ordinarily, two program reviews will be conducted each academic year. The review process will involve the program completing a self-assessment questionnaire, a site visit by a review committee (of which one member is a CEP member), and completion of a written report by the review committee. The written report will be presented to the CEP which may append its own conclusions or recommendations, and then forwarded to the dean, the department chair, and the program head. Two years after the review, the CEP will follow up with the program to determine how outstanding issues have been resolved and recommendations implemented.