Every regularly scheduled course at Berkeley is to be evaluated by students every semester. The forms used for this evaluation are determined by the department and/or the college.

In addition to student evaluations from courses, a number of other sources should be considered, including letters from colleagues and former students, course materials, results of peer observation, a statement on teaching, and so on.

In the Academic Personnel Manual, section 210 (PDF) are the following guidelines. "In judging the effectiveness of a candidate’s teaching, the committee should consider such points as the following: the candidate's command of the subject; continuous growth in the subject field; ability to organize material and to present it with force and logic; capacity to awaken in students an awareness of the relationship of the subject to other fields of knowledge; fostering of student independence and capability to reason; spirit and enthusiasm which vitalize the candidate’s learning and teaching; ability to arouse curiosity in beginning students, to encourage high standards, and to stimulate advanced students to creative work; personal attributes as they affect teaching and students; extent and skill of the candidate's participation in the general guidance, mentoring, and advising of students; effectiveness in creating an academic environment that is open and encouraging to all students, including development of particularly effective strategies for the educational advancement of students in various underrepresented groups."

These guidelines were reiterated and expanded on by the Berkeley Committee on Teaching in 1987. 

Guidelines for handing out evaluations in your class are available online.

last updated on 3/20/07