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Watermark is the online portfolio management tool used by faculty and academic administrators to easily store, organize, and report information about their teaching, scholarly activities, and service. Faculty assemble their portfolios for their evaluation processes, taking full advantage of Watermark by inputting professional data and uploading pertinent documents on an ongoing basis.
Faculty also use Watermark as an archival tool where they can easily upload evidence of their teaching effectiveness, articles, presentations, and other scholarly and creative contributions, as well as records of service.
Below are several resources to assist with the portfolio submission and review processes. For further information, check out the Office of Faculty Affairs Canvas course which includes modules covering all levels of faculty review and evaluation. And if you’re still needing support, feel free to reach out to us in the Office of Faculty Affairs.
Using Watermark for the RTP/PTR Portfolio Review Process
- Using Watermark for Portfolio Preparation and Submission
- Accessing Your Portfolio Evaluation Information and Adding a Response
- Adding Additional Materials for Review
- Running Your SRI (Student Ratings of Instruction) Report
- Understanding the SRI Report
- Using Watermark for Faculty with Reassigned Time
- Using Watermark to Submit Reassigned Time
- Using Watermark for the Reduced Teaching Load Process
FAQs: General Information
Make sure you are using the correct password. If you have recently reset your password, you need to use your new password. The password for logging on to Watermark is the same password you use to log on to your MSU Denver computer.
Make sure you are only entering your username for the MSU Denver NetID. Do NOT include “@msudenver.edu”, or “winad\” or “admin\”.
If you are still having issues, email us at [email protected].
Yearly Data and Scheduled Teaching data will be imported into Watermark after the end of each semester. The import process will begin after the official date that grades are due from faculty (according to the Academic Calendar) and takes up to 10 working days to be completed. Then, after the faculty evaluation data is finalized by the Office of Institutional Research (OIR), the Scheduled Teaching data will be updated with faculty Student Ratings of Instruction (SRI) data. This process may take up to 3 weeks to be completed.
The Yearly Data and Scheduled Teaching information that is imported into Watermark from Banner only goes back to the 2005-2006 academic year.
There are two ways to access your SRIs and Official Student Comments for individual course sections. The SRIs and Student Comments are listed in your Portfolio, so one way is to run the Portfolio report. The second way is to run the SRI Report.
Right-click the hyperlink and select the Open Hyperlink option from the menu. If you are not logged into a computer that is connected to the MSU Denver network, you will be prompted twice for your login credentials. You should use the username and password that you use to login to your computer that is located at MSU Denver.
Watermark will not allow you to upload a file that is larger than 50MB. If you would like to link to a file that is larger that 50MB (i.e., audio or video files) that is accessible on the web or that you have stored in Yuja, you can create an HTML page or Microsoft Word document that contains a link to the file (web) or the embed code (Yuja). You can then upload the HTML file or Word document to Watermark FS where you would have uploaded the audio or video file.
If the file is under 50MB, it may be the browser you are using. If you are using the Safari browser, we have noticed a problem with it uploading files to Watermark FS. Try using Firefox (http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/) or Internet Explorer (http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/internet-explorer/products/ie/home) as your browser when using Watermark.
When attempting to open a PowerPoint (.ppt or .pptx) file using a hyperlink within a Watermark report, sometimes a dialog box that is waiting for you to enter your credentials (to have access to the file) is displayed behind the Microsoft Word display window. To access the dialog box, hold down the Alt (option) button on your keyboard and then click the Tab button to scroll through the various windows you currently have open on your computer. After you have accessed the dialog box, you should use the username and password that you use to login to your computer that is located at MSU Denver. The only difference is that you will need to add “admin\” before your username (e.g., admin\yourusername). For detailed instructions about opening files using the hyperlinks within Digital Measures reports, please see the Accessing Files Using Digital Measures Reports tutorial under Tutorials.
When you run a report using Watermark, it is best to leave the file in the original file format. For example, if you run the report as a Word document, saving it as a PDF will break all of the hyperlinks. Additionally, when using a Mac computer, if the file is in a Rich Text Format (.rtf) and you save it as a Word document (.doc or .docx) all of the hyperlinks will break. To fix the issue, re-run the report and save it to your computer leaving it in the original file format.
FAQs: Portfolio Preparation & Submission
You will need to designate which annual review year you are completing by performing the following steps:
- Click the Portfolio and Narrative Submission link on the Activities Database Main Menu.
- Click the ADD A NEW ITEM button to create the Portfolio and Narrative Submission screen item for your current review year.
- Note: If you already created a Portfolio and Narrative Submission screen item for this review year, you should see it listed under the Items added to and Narrative Submission heading. To edit it, click the pencil icon under the EDIT heading to re-open it.
- Under the Section I heading, complete Step 1:
- Enter the date your Portfolio is due in the Date Due – Portfolio field.
- Select the Type of Review (Year 1, Year 2, etc.).
- Click the SAVE AND RETURN button to save the Portfolio and Narrative Submission screen item.
- Click Reports to run your Portfolio report. Note: For information about how to your Portfolio in Digital Measures, please review the Watermark FS Users Guide to Portfolio Preparation.
When you run reports in Watermark FS, you need to select a large enough date range (in step 2) to have all of your data included on the reports. You should select a Start Date that encompasses the information as far back as you want to report and an End Date that is as far into the future as you would like to report. For example, if you want to include data as far back as 1995, then select the year 1995 from the Start Date drop-down menu. Similarly, if you have written books and/or articles that will be published in 2022, and you want to include them on your Portfolio, select the year 2022 from the End Date drop-down list.
The Narrative is the discussion of your teaching, scholarly activities, and service. You will use the Portfolio and Narrative Submission Screen to upload your Narrative file. After you create your Narrative, you may upload it into Watermark FS in any file format you wish. Word or PDF would be the file types accessible for most reviewers to read. Note: For more information about how to write your Narrative, please review the “Guidebook for Portfolio Preparation” on the Academic and Student Affairs website. For information about where to input certain types of activities in Watermark FS, please review the information provided for faculty who are preparing a Portfolio under the Tutorials section.
f you are using a Mac computer, you will want to ensure that the following software is at the latest version listed below and that you have all of the software below installed:
• Safari 6.0 or Firefox 15
• Microsoft Word 14.2.3 or higher
• Acrobat Reader (current version)
*** Please contact the Technology Services Helpdesk at 303-352-7548 if you need assistance with updating or installing the software listed above. ***
Note: When attempting to open a PDF file, if it opens and displays as unreadable symbols, click on the URL address bar to activate it and then click the Enter or Return key. The document should then display properly. If that does not solve the problem, you may try using Firefox as your default browser.
The service activities will display in chronological order based on the End Date, so you will need to add a date to the End Date field for each service activity in order to have the list display in the correct order. If you are still involved in a service activity, simply leave the End Date field blank, and the items will display at the top of the list with the date in this format: (year – Present) e.g., (2020 – Present).
The screens that have an option to list multiple Collaborators/Investigators/Authors/Presenters (i.e., “Research in Progress”, “Presentations”, “Intellectual Contributions”) are slightly different than other screens when designating a file as an “Additional Portfolio Material.” Whenever there is an option to list multiple contributors, the “Include in Portfolio Additional Materials?” drop-down list that allows you to designate the Item number for the file is in the data entry box with each contributor’s name. This allows different faculty to give the same file a different Item number within their respective “Additional Materials for Review.”
You will need to select either “Published” or “Accepted” from the drop-down menu for the Current Status field.
You should upload your final Portfolio onto the Portfolio and Narrative Submission screen item that you create for your current review year. However, a link to your Portfolio Report will not display on the reports you run. A link is not necessary, because the evaluators will access your Portfolio from either the Departmental Portfolio Review Report or Summative Portfolio Review Report that will be sent to them.
SRIs
There is a report in Watermark that enables you to run the Student Ratings of Instruction (SRI) for a given date range. The report displays the SRI numbers along with links to the student comments.
The following documentation explains what the numbers in the SRI report mean.
Faculty will be able to access SRI data for a given semester approximately 5-7 weeks after that semester has ended and grades are posted. Following is a table with the expected dates for when SRIs will be available in Watermark for the upcoming semesters.
| SRI Semester | Date SRI Data Available |
|---|---|
| Fall Term | Late January |
| Spring Term | Late June |
| Summer Term | Late September |
Course Evaluation Period Formulas
Students will use EvaluationKit to submit electronic SRIs during the evaluation period listed in the chart below. Students can access the electronic SRIs in several ways:
- Through a link provided in an email message they will receive at the beginning of the evaluation period.
- By using the EvaluationKit mobile application. Instructions on how to use the mobile application can be found in the initial email communication students received.
- By visiting Blackboard Learn where students will be prompted to complete evaluations that are currently active or can access the link on the My Institution tab of Blackboard Learn.
| Course Duration | SRI Evaluation Start Date | SRI Evaluation End Date |
| 1 day | First day of class | 4 days after Class ends as defined on the class schedule |
| 2 days | First day of class | 3 days after class ends as defined on the class schedule |
| 3 days | 1 day after class starts | 2 days after class ends as defined on the class schedule |
| 4 days | Day following the “W” Withdrawal Deadline | 2 days after class ends as defined on the class schedule |
| 5 days | Day following the “W” Withdrawal Deadline | 3 days after class ends as defined on the class schedule |
| 6 days | Day following the “W” Withdrawal Deadline | 3 days after class ends as defined on the class schedule |
| 1 week | Day following the “W” Withdrawal Deadline | 3 days after class ends as defined on the class schedule |
| 2 weeks | Day following the “W” Withdrawal Deadline | 1 day after class ends as defined on the class schedule |
| 3 weeks | Day following the “W” Withdrawal Deadline | 2 days prior to class end date as defined on the class schedule |
| 4 weeks | Day following the “W” Withdrawal Deadline | 4 days prior to the end of class as defined on the class schedule |
| 5 – 15 week courses | Day following the “W” Withdrawal Deadline | 4 days prior to the end of class as defined on the class schedule |
| 16 week (full semester) courses | 12 Days after the “W” Withdrawal Deadline | 14 days prior to the end of class as defined on the class schedule (8 day prior to the start of finals week) |
Not all courses will have student evaluations. The following is a list of courses that will not receive a student evaluation:
- Courses that do not have a defined Section Start and Section End Date Defined in Banner
- Subject Code “ATH” Courses (Intercollegiate Athletics Courses)
- Subject Code “VUB” Courses (Veteran’s Upward Bound Courses)
- Subject Code “MAT” (CCD Remedial Math Courses, evaluations are done by CCD)
- Subject Code “STA” (Study Abroad Courses)
- Schedule Type “K” Courses (Cooperative Education)
- Schedule Type “N” Courses (Internship;Clinical Internship)
- Schedule Type “D” Courses (Student Teaching)
- Section Attribute CCCR Courses (e.g. PSY2, ENG2, ECO2, and others) (interinstitutional registration, evaluations are done at UCD/CCD home institution)
- Any Math Peer Study / FYS Math Peer Study course with a course number: 0008, 0011, 0012, 0031, FY11, FY12, FY31
- Any 0020 course (Attendance only non credit course) used for attendance tracking purposes only (e.g. MUS-0020)
If you are teaching a class that meets on campus, please dedicate 15 minutes of class time for students to complete the electronic SRIs during this evaluation period. Remind students to bring a mobile device (e.g., laptop, tablet, smartphone) to class on the day you plan to dedicate time for the SRI collection. While your students are completing the electronic SRIs, be sure to step outside of your classroom to provide adequate privacy. If any students forget to bring a mobile device, encourage them to visit a nearby computer lab to access the electronic SRI. A list of computer labs can be found at: https://www.msudenver.edu/studentlabs/hoursofoperationandlocations/
If you are teaching a UCD/CCD pooled course, ask UCD/CCD students enrolled in your course to check their MSU Denver e-mail for the electronic SRI link. Alternately, UCD/CCD students will be able to access the electronic SRI through Blackboard Learn. We will work with UCD and CCD to ensure that all of the information necessary to access MSU Denver systems is provided to these students before the evaluation period. However, if a student cannot access the MSU Denver systems, please refer the student to the ITS Helpdesk at 303-352-7548 or support.msudenver.edu.
Finally, please be sure to explain the purpose of SRIs to your students and emphasize that their responses will assist in continuous improvement of MSU Denver courses. If you have any questions, please contact the Center for Teaching, Learning and Design at 303-615-0800. If you need technical assistance, please contact the ITS Helpdesk at 303-352-7548 or support.msudenver.edu.