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 have the responsibility 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.

Policy Elaboration/Procedures

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 may be determined:

  1. If evaluation contains language that implies a threat to the safety of the student or other member of the community, the Associate Dean for Students would be notified and may request that the identity of the source of a potential threat to personal safety be revealed.
  2. If the Learning Environment and Professionalism (LEAP) Committee receives a report about an evaluation that contains language that is in violation of the LCOM Professionalism Statement (i.e., disrespectful, defamatory, or discriminatory), the Director of the Learning Environment would be notified and may request to identify 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 LEAP committee would 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]

Policy Oversight

Assistant Dean for Medical Education (Director of Curriculum Evaluation and Assessment)

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