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Learning Environment Survey (LENS) FAQ - For Department Chairs
Where do I access reports for instructors in my department?
Reports will be available the day after grades are due each semester. An email notification of the report release will be sent from provost@uwlax.edu on the day the report release. A link in the email will go to the Explorance Blue dashboard; you can also access this dashboard at any time to see a history of any released reports.
Website: https://uwlax.bluera.com/uwlax/ (login with NetID and password, with Okta authentication).
What reports will I see as a department chair?
The full LENS reports are released to instructors, ADAs, and department chairs. Per LENS Policy, these full reports (1) include frequency responses + comments for each class, and (2) department chairs can distribute to the department personnel committee but not to the entire department. ADAs can access full LENS reports for data retention purposes. The LENS summary report is for deans/provost, plus department and university personnel committees.
What is a full vs summary LENS report?
Category |
Full LENS Report |
LENS Summary Report |
|---|---|---|
|
Content |
Includes all student comments and detailed response data for every question; responses are reported for each course |
Contains data on the motivation question and then, for each LENS area/question, a single indicator of how many responses relate to the target response/s, as set by Faculty Senate policy; data from different courses per term are not combined but multiple sections of the same course by the same instructor in a term get combined |
|
Purpose |
Primarily for instructor use in improving instruction |
Used in department- and university-level personnel review, including retention, promotion, tenure, post-tenure review, merit, and annual reviews |
|
Audience |
Instructor; department chair; department administrative support |
Instructor; department chair; department administrative support; Deans; Provosts, IAS or Faculty promotion committees for personnel decisions |
|
Distribution |
Automatically shared the day after grades are due via email to instructor, chair, and department administrative support; also accessible via Explorance Blue; full reports are not broadly distributed |
Automatically shared the day after grades are due via email; also accessible via Explorance Blue; manually added to be included in department and university-level personnel review documentation |
|
Access |
Instructor, department chair, and department administrative support have access via Explorance Blue for many semesters; may be accessed by others on a need-to-know basis |
Instructor, department chair, and department administrative have access via Explorance Blue for many semesters; may be accessed by others on a need-to-know basis |
|
Response Threshold |
Results are reported regardless of number of respondents or class size |
Data from courses with fewer than five respondents are excluded |
How do I download full LENS reports for a semester?
(You may not need to do this – your department ADA may have done this.)
- Login to Explorance Blue: https://uwlax.bluera.com/uwlax/ (login with NetID and password, with Okta authentication).
- Click on “View the LENS Full Individual Report <<TERM YEAR>> Report”
- Then “Select All” > “Download PDF”
Save the PDF files in the department's agreed upon location with appropriate permissions. Purge files at the required time.
Downloading LENS summary reports for personnel review
- Login to Explorance Blue: https://uwlax.bluera.com/uwlax/ (login with NetID and password, OKTA Authenticate).
- Click on "View the LENS Summary Report"
- Click on the PDF icon next to the instructor's name to download the summary report
Uploading LENS summary reports into Digital Measures for personnel review
In Digital Measures, from your Activities dashboard > FOR CHAIRS: Retention/Promotion Materials
- +Add New Item
- Update the Academic Year and upload files. SEI scores are only added if TAIs are not available for the candidate.
- The LENS Summary Report should be renamed to include the LastName.ReportType.Year.Month.Day (An example of file created on October 1, 2024 is Anderson.SummaryRpt.2024.10.01).
- Save.
Can I search for a specific instructor’s report or a specific course/s?
Yes. Click into the report area for the desired term and enter something in the search field to narrow down what you are looking to find.
What if I don’t see a report for one of our instructors?
Contact CATL@uwlax.edu.
NOTE as of 1/5/24 - we are reviewing how FYS 100 full reports get distributed to departments – more soon on that.