OFFICE OF THE DEAN, DIVISION OF UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION

OFFICE OF THE DEAN, DIVISION OF GRADUATE EDUCATION AND POSTDOCTORAL AFFAIRS

May 20, 2026

ALL ACADEMICS AND STAFF AT UC SAN DIEGO

Dear Colleagues,

As you are aware, UC San Diego is transitioning to a new holistic approach to the evaluation of teaching and mentoring. The motivation behind this transition is to move away from student evaluations as the sole source of evidence of teaching and mentoring excellence and toward a structure that gives a more complete picture. The Holistic Teaching and Mentoring Evaluation Oversight Committee (HTOC) oversees and supports this process. The 2026–27 academic year will be the final pilot year, with the whole campus transitioning to holistic review for files reviewed in 2027–28 (i.e. files submitted in summer 2027). This message is intended to share our progress and to keep the campus informed as we move through this transition.

What does Holistic Teaching and Mentoring Evaluation Mean?
In the holistic evaluation approach, candidates submit a structured teaching and mentoring statement as well as a portfolio of materials to support their statement.  Department, college, school and campus reviewers evaluate these materials against established holistic criteria. Click the links below for more information.

Holistic Review Rollout: Early Adopter Support
As the campus gears up for the transition, we’ve continued supporting units and faculty who want to pilot the holistic review process by holding workshop series for reviewers and candidates in both winter and spring. Thus far, leadership and candidates from 23 departments have participated in these workshops in preparation for opting into holistic teaching evaluation one year early.

If you missed these workshops, here is a recording of the first session (for candidates and reviewers), and you can find additional materials on the resources page of the Holistic Teaching and Mentoring Evaluation Website. We will offer the workshops again in the 2026-27 academic year to help units and candidates prepare for the campus-wide launch of holistic teaching and mentoring evaluation in the 2027-28 academic year.

Student Evaluation of Teaching (SET) updates
Based on feedback from departments and faculty, we’ve also made changes to the Student Evaluation System (SET) to improve usability and provide departments with more flexibility in how results are accessed and reviewed.

Briefly, updates include:

Ongoing Support
In the next academic year, the HTOC in partnership with the Teaching and Learning Commons will continue engaging with all units to ensure the campus is prepared for the transition to holistic review. Members of the Holistic Teaching and Mentoring Evaluation Oversight Committee are available for department visits. Please contact holistic-teaching@ucsd.edu to request a visit.

For more information, please see the Holistic Teaching Evaluation Website: https://holisticteaching.ucsd.edu/.

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to the Holistic Teaching Oversight Committee at holistic-teaching@ucsd.edu.

Sincerely,

John Moore
Dean, Division of Undergraduate Education

Judy Kim
Dean, Division of Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affairs

Christine Alvarado
Interim Associate Vice Chancellor, Educational Innovation
Co-Chair, Holistic Teaching Oversight Committee

R. Sekhar Chivukula
Distinguished Professor of Physics
Co-Chair, Holistic Teaching Oversight Committee