Student Surveys of Teaching
Student Surveys of Teaching (SSTs) at the University of Kansas are a critical tool used to gather feedback from students about their classroom experiences and their instructors' effectiveness for each course.
General Information
Student Surveys of Teaching are conducted each semester to:
- Improve teaching quality
- Inform faculty evaluations
- Recognize teaching excellence
- Support institutional decision-making
SSTs are anonymous and voluntary.
Surveys are sent to all students enrolled in KU Lawrence classes near the end of each course. Students receive a unique survey portal link via KU email and can also access it in the global navigation of their Canvas accounts.
Starting Spring 2026:
Students will complete one survey per instructor per course, replacing the previous process of one course survey plus one survey per instructor.
The current survey instrument is available in the Quick Links on the right sidebar. The pre-2026 instrument is available here.
General Information
The open and close dates for Student Surveys of Teaching are available for the given semester at:
https://kansas.sharepoint.com/teams/StudentSurveysofTeaching
SSTs of all KU-Lawrence campus courses are distributed through KU’s Qualtrics platform. Distribution timing is based on course length (from start date to end date), end date, and term:
| Term and Course Length | Category Name | OPENS (days before Course End Date) |
|---|---|---|
| Fall/Spring, 1 day | 1 Day | 0 |
| Fall/Spring, 2-14 days | 2-14 Day | 1 |
| Fall/Spring, 15-28 days* | Short | 5 |
| Fall/Spring, 29-97 days | Middle | 10 |
| Fall/Spring, 98+ days & non-LAW** | Full non-LAW | 25 |
| Fall, 98+ days & LAW | Full LAW Fall | 32 |
| Spring, 98+ days & LAW | Full LAW Spring | 39 |
| Summer, any length | Summer | 5 |
*Short courses ending on the last day of finals follow "Full" timing.
**Non-LAW only.
Survey duration and reminders:
- Full courses: Open 19 days. Reminders on days 8, 15, and 19.
- All other courses: Open 14 days. Reminders on days 8 and 14.
Example: A 50-day course ("Middle") ending November 30 opens November 20 (Course End Date – 10). Reminders go out November 27 (day 8) and December 3 (day 14).