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Faculty of Arts and HumanitiesDean's Office, Faculty of Arts and HumanitiesJakobi 2, r 116-121 51005 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa EST0Institute of History and ArchaeologyJakobi 2 51005 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa EST0Institute of Estonian and General LinguisticsJakobi 2, IV korrus 51005 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa ESTInstitute of Philosophy and SemioticsJakobi 2, III korrus, ruumid 302-337 51005 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa EST0Institute of Cultural ResearchÜlikooli 16 51003 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa EST0Institute of Foreign Languages and CulturesLossi 3 51003 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa EST0School of Theology and Religious StudiesÜlikooli 18 50090 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa EST0Viljandi Culture AcademyPosti 1 71004 Viljandi linn, Viljandimaa EST0Professors emeritus, Faculty of Arts and Humanities0Associate Professors emeritus, Faculty of Arts and Humanities0Faculty of Social SciencesDean's Office, Faculty of Social SciencesLossi 36 51003 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa EST0Institute of EducationJakobi 5 51005 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa EST0Johan Skytte Institute of Political StudiesLossi 36, ruum 301 51003 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa EST0School of Economics and Business AdministrationNarva mnt 18 51009 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa EST0Institute of PsychologyNäituse 2 50409 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa EST0School of LawNäituse 20 - 324 50409 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa EST0Institute of Social StudiesLossi 36 51003 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa EST0Narva CollegeRaekoja plats 2 20307 Narva linn, Ida-Virumaa EST0Pärnu CollegeRingi 35 80012 Pärnu linn, Pärnu linn, Pärnumaa EST0Professors emeritus, Faculty of Social Sciences0associate Professors emeritus, Faculty of Social Sciences0Faculty of MedicineDean's Office, Faculty of MedicineRavila 19 50411 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa ESTInstitute of Biomedicine and Translational MedicineBiomeedikum, Ravila 19 50411 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa ESTInstitute of PharmacyNooruse 1 50411 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa ESTInstitute of DentistryL. Puusepa 1a 50406 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa ESTInstitute of Clinical MedicineL. Puusepa 8 50406 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa ESTInstitute of Family Medicine and Public HealthRavila 19 50411 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa ESTInstitute of Sport Sciences and PhysiotherapyUjula 4 51008 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa ESTprofessors emeritus, Faculty of Medicine0associate Professors emeritus, Faculty of Medicine0Faculty of Science and TechnologyDean's Office, Faculty of Science and TechnologyVanemuise 46 - 208 51003 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa ESTInstitute of Computer ScienceNarva mnt 18 51009 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa ESTInstitute of GenomicsRiia 23b/2 51010 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa ESTEstonian Marine Institute0Institute of PhysicsInstitute of ChemistryRavila 14a 50411 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa ESTInstitute of Mathematics and StatisticsNarva mnt 18 51009 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa EST0Institute of Molecular and Cell BiologyRiia 23, 23b - 134 51010 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa ESTTartu ObservatoryObservatooriumi 1 61602 Tõravere alevik, Nõo vald, Tartumaa EST0Institute of TechnologyNooruse 1 50411 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa ESTInstitute of Ecology and Earth SciencesJ. Liivi tn 2 50409 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa ESTprofessors emeritus, Faculty of Science and Technology0associate Professors emeritus, Faculty of Science and Technology0Area of Academic SecretaryHuman Resources OfficeÜlikooli 18, ruumid 302 ja 304 50090 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa EST0Area of Head of FinanceFinance Office0Area of Director of AdministrationInformation Technology Office0Administrative OfficeÜlikooli 17 (III korrus) 51005 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa EST0Estates Office0Marketing and Communication OfficeÜlikooli 18, ruumid 102, 104, 209, 210 50090 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa EST0Area of Vice Rector for DevelopmentCentre for Entrepreneurship and InnovationNarva mnt 18 51009 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa EST0University of Tartu Natural History Museum and Botanical GardenVanemuise 46 51003 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa EST0International Cooperation and Protocol Office0University of Tartu MuseumLossi 25 51003 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa EST0Area of RectorRector's Strategy OfficeInternal Audit OfficeArea of Vice Rector for Academic AffairsOffice of Academic AffairsUniversity of Tartu Youth AcademyUppsala 10 51003 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa ESTStudent Union OfficeÜlikooli 18b 51005 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa EST0Centre for Learning and TeachingArea of Vice Rector for ResearchUniversity of Tartu LibraryW. Struve 1 50091 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa ESTGrant Office
Address by the vice rector for academic affairs on course feedback
Dear students and members of the teaching staff,
On 15 April, several media channels wrote about the court case between a UT alumnus and a member of the teaching staff over an insulting comment in the confidential course feedback questionnaire.
Understandably, this has shaken the trust in the feedback system and pointed to problems we want to avoid in the future. On the other hand, it is clear that the university cannot develop without substantial feedback.
The collection of feedback has been and continues to be confidential. This means that when displaying the feedback results, the university does all in its power not to enable the identification of the respondent, including by not displaying the results in case of fewer than five respondents. The member of the teaching staff can ask an insulting comment to be removed, but not demand the name of the respondent. Within the university, it has not been and will not be possible to link the respondents to their responses, even if someone asks for that.
It is our fault that our statement of anonymity left the impression that the data cannot be linked to the person even by technical means. We promise to express ourselves more clearly in the future.
However, the question is not just about the choice of words.
The university has collected course feedback for over 15 years and so far, no conflict had lead to a court case. Thus nobody had requested linking the data to a particular respondent and it had been never done. This proves that in a normal situation, confidentiality works. Thus I dare to assure the students that as in the past, also in the future your responses will be used confidentially, only for the development of teaching.
But how did we end up in the situation described above? As you may have read from the media, it started by an insulting comment written by the student. It is up to the court to decide how insulting a comment must be for the court to demand the identification of its author.
On behalf of the university, I want to remind the students that the goal of collecting feedback is to develop teaching. I hope that everybody, at least people studying at a university, understands that insulting is not the way to achieve that. What we need is relevant constructive criticism.
The university has created the feedback system and takes responsibility for that. In this responsibility, we rely on the wisdom and mutual respect of the university members. Such a system involves risks, as it depends on thousands of users. When 13,000 students give feedback on approximately 5,000 courses each year, something can go wrong. But without feedback, we cannot learn and develop.
Feedback by the teaching staff to students is one of the most important aspects of teaching and we also evaluate that in our feedback questionnaire. It is as important that teaching staff members get feedback on their work. Feedback can lead to improvement only if it is honest, not insulting. It is up to all of us to use the system created for the development of teaching at the university in a responsible manner.
See also the good practices of giving feedback: https://www.ut.ee/en/current-students/good-practices-giving-feedback.
Aune Valk
UT Vice Rector for Academic Affairs