B. Guidelines for Teaching Personnel

Teaching personnel can view their teaching records, provisional reports, final reports, and instructor cumulative reports through the SFQ system.

Conducting SFQ in class

Teaching personnel can ask students to complete the SFQ surveys in class. This section aims to provide some information and guidelines on how to conduct SFQ surveys in class using mobile apps effectively.

Preparation

1. Check the availability of the Wi-Fi network
   Basically all teaching venues, library and laboratories in HKUST are covered by campus Wi-Fi (i.e. eduroam). However, if you are conducting SFQ in other campus locations ^Note, please check the Wi-Fi coverage in advance.
2. Make sure the SFQ survey of your section is open for data collection
   If you plan to conduct your survey outside the default survey period, please update the survey period through the administrative staff of your department.
3. Inform students
   Let students know in advance of your plan to conduct the SFQ in class. 

During the class

1. Before the students complete the SFQ survey, explain to students the purpose of the evaluation and enlists their co-operation. Assure the students that no individual identity will be disclosed during reporting.
2. Ask students to log in to the SFQ system using their HKUST accounts.
3. Tell them to find the course code shown on the webpage.
4. Leave the room while the students start to complete the questionnaire. Students usually would take about 5-10 minutes to complete a standard SFQ survey.
5. See help from the Department administrative staff if further assistance is needed for the students.

After the class
The survey remains open until it reaches the end of the survey period. Hence, students who did not complete the survey in class can still complete the surveys after classes. They will also be reminded regularly through emails to complete SFQ if they have not done so.

 

Report Retrieval
Teaching personnel are given access to the SFQ reports only after they have submitted their course grades. Please refer to the SFQ Report Types for more information.

C. Guidelines for Unit Managers (UMs)

Departmental Unit Managers shall be able to complete the following tasks on the SFQ system.

Manage Curriculum

UM(s) can assign organization units to different surveys for users to view and manage the survey settings.

Manage Survey

1. Verify the survey settings: UM(s) can verify the name(s) of teaching personnel and the number of students enrolled to the course on the SFQ system, which are retrieved from the Student Information System (SIS).
2. Change the survey status: UM(s) can change the survey status to “omitted” if the course is not eligible for SFQ. Since all courses should be evaluated online,  please state the justification on the SFQ system if the Department decides to omit the surveys.
3. Confirm the survey settings: UM(s) can change the pending status of the survey to “Confirmed” to make sure that all relevant information is accurate before sending the survey to students.
4. Change the survey period: UM(s) can set or extend the periods for the evaluations to take place accordingly.
5. Confirm the report groups: UM(s) can assign different report groups to each surveys, to make sections in the same report group to be calculated within one single pool.

Download SFQ Reports

UM(s) can retrieve and download SFQ reports in different types among different survey exercises.

Manage Access Rights

UM(s) can assign your colleagues with different roles and assign teaching personnel as a reader to view other reports that are not in their teaching records.

D. Policy for SFQ Exclusion

Background

The practice of excluding students who were found to have committed cheating or plagiarism from participating in the Student Feedback Questionnaire (SFQ) is established to protect faculty from potential biased evaluations. By excluding responses from students of the substantiated cases, the SFQ results can better represent the overall feedback and eliminate any undue influence caused by exceptional circumstances.

Exclusion Criteria

Starting from Fall 2025-26, only proven cases of cheating or plagiarism (as defined in paragraph 3 under the “Regulations for Student Academic Integrity”) filed on the ARO Student Academic Misconduct Record by the last day of each term, as stated in the HKUST Academic Calendar, will be processed.

Exclusion will only apply to the specific course in which the act of dishonesty occurred during the relevant term. Exclusion requests on cases filed in any previous terms will not be entertained.

Procedures

1. Cases submission: Invigilators or instructors who consider that a student has engaged in academic misconduct should adhere to the existing case reviewing and reporting procedures specified in the “Regulations for Student Academic Integrity” and send the duly completed and signed “Report on Student Academic Misconduct” (Form EX-17) to the ARO to file the record. By signing the Form, the concerned students acknowledge that they will be excluded from the SFQ final reports for the relevant courses.

2. Review and approval: No approval process or application is required for SFQ exclusion.

3. Submission deadline: Only cases that have been filed on the ARO Student Academic Misconduct Record using the duly signed EX-17 form by the last day of each term (not the last day of classes), as stated in the HKUST Calendar, will be processed for SFQ exclusion.

4. Exclusion arrangement: ARO-AQA will proceed with the exclusion at the end of each term by retrieving the relevant ARO Student Academic Misconduct records. The survey responses from the reported students who were found to have committed cheating or plagiarism will be excluded from the SFQ reports at the end of each term.

5. Special arrangement for other requests: Late case reporting or special arrangements will not be entertained.

Resources:

Guideline for SFQ Exclusion
EX-17 form “Report on Student Academic Misconduct"

Note: You can visit the HKUST Hotspot Locations webpage for a detailed list of Wi-Fi coverage. Please note that Wi-Fi is available at HKUST Business School Central and KT-30 the The Millennity.