Faculty Narrative Evaluations

Students can visit https://fairhaven.wwu.edu/student-narrative-evaluations to learn about writing and submitting evaluations.

There are two ways to access evaluations in OnBase - either you will be entering evaluations where you were the instructor using a custom view or you may be accessing a student’s narrative evaluations for which you are not the instructor. 

End-of-quarter Instructor Custom View

Most often, a faculty member will access OnBase to see their custom faculty view for which they are the instructor. 

• Each faculty member has an individual link to OnBase. The Fairhaven CRM has emailed each faculty member their link.
• Click on the link in your email and bookmark the page for future access.
• If you have lost your individual link, please email the Fairhaven CRM for another copy.
• When using your custom link, you can view the custom query of narrative evaluations sorts by status and term. This is an easy way to see all of the "submitted to faculty" evaluations that you will want to view for grading and submitting purposes. Please note that "not started" are evaluations from the previous Web4U system. Only old not start evaluations will show here. *If you would like to know more about the different evaluation statuses on this screen, please review the "Evaluation Status Terms" section of this website.
• Within this view, there are additional ways to sort students. Video explaining the process coming soon.  

Find Any Student Evaluation 

Sometimes a faculty member may want to view a student’s evaluation history for classes where the faculty is not the instructor. These can be helpful in writing letters of recommendation. 

• Login to OnBase.
• Find the 9 small squares at the top left of the page. Click on the squares.
• Click “Custom Queries”
• Click “Fairhaven – Narrative Evaluation Faculty”
• You will then see “keyword” search options on the bottom left of the page. Use the keywords to search for student evaluations. You can use W# (WID), name, or any other category shown to filter your results. Make sure to hit "search" to see results.
• When results appear, you can click on any document to see the results. You are only able to edit unlocked documents where you were the instructor on record.

Once you are logged into OnBase Narrative Evaluations and you have an evaluation open to complete, follow these instructions to complete and lock a student evaluation. Student evaluations will only print on a transcript once it is completed and locked.

View this 5 minute submission demo video for a quick overview of the faculty narrative evaluation submission process.

• Preferred Name and Pronouns. Students can update their name and pronouns in the evaluation system. Check these on the form to confirm the correct name and pronouns being used in your evaluation.
• Course Description. You will see the course description under the student information. Faculty cannot make changes here.
• Student Evaluation. You will read the student evaluation in the Student Evaluation block. Faculty cannot make changes here. *If you want to return the evaluation for student edits, please see the “return evaluation to student” section of this website.
• Faculty Evaluation. You will write the faculty evaluation in the Faculty Evaluation block. Once completed, scroll to the “routing selector” in OnBase and you can “save as draft” and come back to edit later or you can “Lock Form (Complete Evaluation)” to lock the form. *For reasons to unlock a form, please see the “unlocking evaluations” section of this website.
• Submit/Save. Once you've chosen your routing option, click the Submit/Save button to execute the task. *Once an action is taken on an evaluation, it doesn't automatically refresh into a new status window (e.g. the evaluation didn't go from "submitted for faculty" to "locked" window. You can ensure a new status was taken by viewing the "evaluation status" at the top of the form and/or by refreshing to page and the evaluation will move into the correct status bucket.

Faculty sometimes return evaluations to students for edits. When this occurs, faculty have multiple ways of communicating those changes to students. A student receives an automated email whenever an evaluation is returned.

Using OnBase Notes

Notes will live in the history of the evaluation but will not print on transcripts. Using the Notes feature will notify students via email that “notes” were entered into their returned evaluation prompting them to review the requested changes.

• At the bottom of the OnBase evaluation, you will see the “notes” feature. Click on "(#) Note(s)" and a new screen will appear.
• Click Add
• Enter a note into the Note Text box.
  • Notes must remain less than 250 characters. You can add more than one note.
• When completed, hit Save.
• Click Close when completed.
• Find the Routing Options and select Return to Student.
• Click Submit/Save and the form will be returned to the student. The student will receive an email telling them the evaluation is returned and prompting them to check the Note section of the document for more information.

Using the Faculty Evaluation Block 

Use this to add more text and even draft your own evaluation before returning it to the student. Students will see any text (and drafts) you post here but they cannot edit it.

• Type your text explaining edits (and maybe even your draft evaluation) to the student in the Faculty Evaluation block.
• Find the Routing Options and select Return to Student.
• Click Submit/Save and the form will be returned to the student. The student will receive an email telling them the evaluation is returned and prompting them to open the document to read more.

There are specific rules and guidelines explaining how and why a narrative evaluation can be unlocked and edited by a faculty member. Faculty have the ability to unlock narrative evaluations within a year of the course being offered. This permission is only given to faculty for specific reasons as outlined in the Fairhaven Unlocking document. When unlocked, an evaluation returns to “submitted for faculty evaluation” status and edits can be made from there. If a faculty member unlocks a document for edits, it must be due to a reason listed on the Unlocking document. The evaluation must then be locked again to print on student transcript. The Fairhaven CRM receives an email each time an evaluation is unlocked.

Please email the Fairhaven CRM with questions.

Understanding the "status" of narrative evaluations will help you understand where the evaluation is within the OnBase system. There are two kinds of statuses - "historical" and "current". Historical statuses are statuses we used in the Banner 8 system. Some are no longer used. Current statuses are updated statuses for the OnBase system as of 2026. All statuses are listed here to help you understand the queue. 

Current Statuses 

Student Not Started

Student has taken no action on narrative evaluation. Grade should not be given.

Student Saved as Draft

Student has either saved as draft and/or has not submitted to faculty member. Grade should not be given.

Returned to Student

Narrative evaluation has been returned to the student. The student may have saved as draft again but typically, a grade is not given.

Submitted for Faculty Evaluation

Narrative evaluation is currently at the faculty step. Faculty may have saved as draft or may have not yet taken any action. Grade should be credited.

Evaluation Complete

Evaluation completed by both student and faculty and is locked.

No Record – Inactive

The form was lapsed into this status by OnBase Workflow as the student did not submit by the one-year post-term deadline. NX grade can no longer be completed for credit.

No Evaluation Required

Course does not require a narrative evaluation.

Historical Statuses in the system before spring 2026

Not Started

Student has taken no action on narrative evaluation.

In Progress

Student has either saved as draft or the evaluation was returned by faculty. Evaluation has not been (re)submitted to faculty.

No Record

The form was lapsed into this status as the student did not submit by the one-year post-term deadline. NX grade can no longer be completed for credit.

1. I took action on an evaluation and the form isn’t moving to a new status.

   When an evaluation is Saved/Submitted, it doesn’t automatically refresh and show in a new status window. However, you can use the refresh button and the evaluations will update to the correct status window. You can also check that the "evaluation status" at the top of the evaluation form shows the updated status. For example, if you've just locked an evaluation that was in "submitted to faculty," the status box will change to "evaluation complete" when the action is taken but it won't refresh in the top of the page until the full page is refreshed.

2. Who can I contact for help with the system?

   Email Fairhaven.CRM@wwu.edu with questions.

3. I’d like to give user feedback about the OnBase system, how do I do that?

   Email Fairhaven.CRM@wwu.edu with information. The Fairhaven Curriculum & Records Manger will monitor emails and take feedback that can help us improve the system for users.