Online Course Evaluations

All courses offered for NIU credit are evaluated as per the Student Evaluation of Instruction policy. The online course evaluation system offers an automated way for departments to conduct student evaluations for selected course sections. Its operation is based on four core principles:

• Delayed access to results: faculty cannot view evaluation results until after the semester ends.
• Timing of evaluations: students must complete evaluations before grades are posted.
• Faculty customization period: faculty have at least two days to add personalized questions.
• Student Access period: students have at least two days to complete their evaluations.

After spring 2026 course evaluations, we will be transitioning to Anthology Evaluate. Faculty and departments will have access to Explorance Blue evaluations through June 30, 2026. A cross-divisional implementation team will be working on the transition beginning with summer 2026 course evaluations.

Explorance Blue (through spring 2026)

To access reports from spring 2026 and earlier, go to Blackboard then tools, then Blue Reports or direct to the online dashboard. If you wish to download reports for your classes, click on the link at the top called "Reports". From here, you can download reports for any single course or follow the directions below if you wish to download a report for all previous courses.

Steps to Download Course Reports

1. Scroll to the bottom of the page on the right-hand side and select the maximum number of courses to show, which is 200 items per page.
2. At the bottom of this page on the left-hand side, select the button beside "Historical Reports" so all courses beyond two years are visible. This button then turns green.
3. Scroll back up to the top and click on the box to the left of the words "Report Title" so every course is selected.
4. You will now see how many course reports you have and then select "Download PDF" which puts all reports into one PDF file. This may take some time.
5. At the top of the page, you will then see "Report Downloader" and beside that, a button called "View my downloads". Click on that and a pop-up window will appear where you can download and save the file.

Anthology Evaluate (starting summer 2026)

All credit courses will be evaluated using Anthology Evaluate online course evaluations. The platform will have the same functionality based on your role, using single-sign-on credentials. To view reports, go to the online dashboard through Blackboard, then Tools and then Anthology Evaluate (top right tile) or directly to your dashboard. In the dashboard, you can view course reports, starting with summer 2026.

If you have any questions regarding online course evaluations, please contact evaluate@niu.edu or call 815-753-1203.