The first line of page 2 and onward goes far below the horizontal line

Question

I am new in this forum with a problem that I really need to get fixed. The first line of all pages after page 1 goes far below the horizontal line of the header. I need first line for all pages to start from the same distance as in page 1. I appreciate any help on this. The document is given below:

\documentclass[12pt]{article}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsthm}
\usepackage{amscd}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{graphicx}%
\usepackage{fancyhdr}
\usepackage{lastpage}
\usepackage{soul}
\usepackage[margin=1.0in]{geometry}
%\usepackage[margin=1in,headsep=.3in]{geometry}
\usepackage{layout} 


\theoremstyle{plain} \numberwithin{equation}{section}
\newtheorem{theorem}{Theorem}[section]
\newtheorem{corollary}[theorem]{Corollary}
\newtheorem{conjecture}{Conjecture}
\newtheorem{lemma}[theorem]{Lemma}
\newtheorem{proposition}[theorem]{Proposition}
\theoremstyle{definition}
\newtheorem{definition}[theorem]{Definition}
\newtheorem{finalremark}[theorem]{Final Remark}
\newtheorem{remark}[theorem]{Remark}
\newtheorem{example}[theorem]{Example}
\newtheorem{question}{Question} \topmargin-2cm

\textwidth6.8in

\setlength{\topmargin}{0in} \addtolength{\topmargin}{-\headheight}
\addtolength{\topmargin}{-\headsep}

\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{0in}

\setlength{\parindent}{0em}
\setlength{\parskip}{1em}

\oddsidemargin  0.0in \evensidemargin 0.0in \parindent0em

\pagestyle{fancy}
\lhead{} 
\rhead{}
\chead{\large{\bf Teaching Evaluation} \\
S. M. Khurshid Alam, PhD} 
\lfoot{\today} 
\rfoot{\thepage /\pageref{LastPage}} 
\cfoot{}

\newcounter{list}

\begin{document}
\newpage
\pagestyle{fancy}
\fancyhf{}
\fancyhead[L]{}
\fancyhead[C]{{\bf \large Teaching Evaluation} \\
S. M. Khurshid Alam, PhD}
\fancyhead[R]{}
\renewcommand{\headrulewidth}{1.5pt}
\fancyfoot[L]{\today}
\fancyfoot[C]{}
\fancyfoot[R]{\thepage /\pageref{LastPage}}
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

\textbf{University of Windsor} \\
University of Windsor conducts its course evaluations online or on-campus depending on the type of course delivery. Students in courses offered through Distance Education complete the Student Evaluations of Teaching (SET) form online. On the other hand, students in courses offered through traditional in-class delivery, Partial Distance Education, or any other blended delivery/flexible learning format complete the SET form on campus. The SET are administered during the last two weeks of class prior to the beginning of the final exam period. Each evaluation has two parts, namely, evaluating the instructor, and rating the course.

\textbf{Evaluating the Instructor}:
Students are asked to evaluate the instructor on a scale of $1$ (Extremely Poor) to $7$ (Outstanding) from a total of $12$ questions. The questions are as follows: \\
\textbf{A. The instructor...}
\begin{enumerate}
\item presented material in an organized, well-planned manner
\item  used instructional time well
\item  explained content clearly with appropriate use of examples
\item was a clear and effective speaker
\item  communicated enthusiasm and interest in the course material
\item  stimulated your interest in the subject and motivated your learning
\item  attended to students' questions and answered them clearly
and effectively
\item  was open to students' comments and suggestions
\item  was sensitive to students' difficulties
\item  was approachable for additional help
\item  was accessible to students for individual consultation
(in office hours, after class, open-door, by e-mail, phone)
\item  The overall effectiveness of the instructor was
\end{enumerate}       

\begin{table}[ht]
%\begin{sidewaystable}[ht]
%\small
\footnotesize
%\scriptsize
%\tiny
\caption{Teaching Evaluation Summary}
\begin{center}
\begin{tabular}{|l|c|c|c|c|c|}
\hline
Course No.--Section: Course Name & Term & \vtop{\hbox{\strut Instructor}\hbox{\strut Score}} & \vtop{\hbox{\strut Course}\hbox{\strut Score}} & \vtop{\hbox{\strut Number}\hbox{\strut Enrolled}} & Responses \\ \hline
03-65-205--01:Statistics for the Sciences & Winter 2017 & NA & NA & NA & NA \\ \hline
03-65-205--02:Statistics for the Sciences & Winter 2017 & NA & NA & NA & NA \\ \hline
03-65-205--02:Statistics for the Sciences & Winter 2015 & NA & NA & NA & NA \\ \hline
03-65-205--03:Statistics for the Sciences & Winter 2015 & NA & NA & NA & NA \\ \hline
03-65-205--91:Statistics for the Sciences & Summer 2012 & NA & NA & NA & NA \\ \hline
03-65-205--02:Statistics for the Sciences & Winter 2012 & NA & NA & NA & NA \\ \hline
03-65-205--01:Statistics for the Sciences & Fall 2011   & NA & NA & NA & NA \\ \hline
03-65-205--91:Statistics for the Sciences & Summer 2011 & NA & NA & NA & NA \\ \hline
\end{tabular}
\end{center}
\label{Table evaluation}
\end{table}   

\end{document}

Answer 1

If you look in your .log file, you will find this:

Package Fancyhdr Warning: \headheight is too small (12.0pt): 
 Make it at least 28.85002pt.
 We now make it that large for the rest of the document.
 This may cause the page layout to be inconsistent, however.

Because you have a two line header, the default vertical space allotted for the header is too small. fancyhdr sees this on page 1, and fixes it for the remaining pages, and this is the cause of the difference in the output you see. Redefining the \headheight length will make the layout consistent.

However, when you're using the geometry package, you shouldn't be doing all the page layout stuff manually. Instead, use geometry to set the margins, headheight and headsep, for example as in the code below. Modify the lengths to suit your requirements.

Some other points:

• I think it is usually recommended to use the parskip package instead of manually setting the \parskip to zero.

• You define the headers and footers twice, which is a bit pointless, so I removed one of them.

• \bf has been deprecated for about 25 years, use \bfseries instead.

• I suggested a new version of the table, using less rules.

• You could consider using either \section and similar commands, instead of manual formatting with \textbf, or perhaps define your own macro.

• It is generally recommended to use \centering instead of \begin{center} .. \end{center} for centering of tables/figures in floats, see Should I use center or centering for figures and tables?

\documentclass[12pt]{article}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsthm}
\usepackage{amscd}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{graphicx}%
\usepackage{fancyhdr}
\usepackage{lastpage}
\usepackage{parskip} %%% added
\usepackage{booktabs} %%% added
\usepackage{soul}
\usepackage[
  left=25mm, % left margin
  right=20mm, % right margin
  top=20mm, % top margin
  headsep=5pt, % space between header and text
  headheight=29pt % vertical space for header
]{geometry}

\usepackage{layout} 

% from https://tex.stackexchange.com/a/19678/586
\newcommand{\specialcell}[2][t]{%
  \begin{tabular}[#1]{@{}l@{}}#2\end{tabular}}


\theoremstyle{plain} \numberwithin{equation}{section}
\newtheorem{theorem}{Theorem}[section]
\newtheorem{corollary}[theorem]{Corollary}
\newtheorem{conjecture}{Conjecture}
\newtheorem{lemma}[theorem]{Lemma}
\newtheorem{proposition}[theorem]{Proposition}
\theoremstyle{definition}
\newtheorem{definition}[theorem]{Definition}
\newtheorem{finalremark}[theorem]{Final Remark}
\newtheorem{remark}[theorem]{Remark}
\newtheorem{example}[theorem]{Example}
\newtheorem{question}{Question}

\fancyhf{}
\fancyhead[L]{}
\fancyhead[C]{{\bfseries \large Teaching Evaluation} \\
S. M. Khurshid Alam, PhD}
\fancyhead[R]{}
\renewcommand{\headrulewidth}{1.5pt}
\fancyfoot[L]{\today}
\fancyfoot[C]{}
\fancyfoot[R]{\thepage /\pageref{LastPage}}
\pagestyle{fancy}

\newcounter{list}

\usepackage{lipsum} % just for example


\begin{document}

\textbf{University of Windsor}

University of Windsor conducts its course evaluations online or on-campus depending on the type of course delivery. Students in courses offered through Distance Education complete the Student Evaluations of Teaching (SET) form online. On the other hand, students in courses offered through traditional in-class delivery, Partial Distance Education, or any other blended delivery/flexible learning format complete the SET form on campus. The SET are administered during the last two weeks of class prior to the beginning of the final exam period. Each evaluation has two parts, namely, evaluating the instructor, and rating the course.

\textbf{Evaluating the Instructor}:
Students are asked to evaluate the instructor on a scale of $1$ (Extremely Poor) to $7$ (Outstanding) from a total of $12$ questions. The questions are as follows: 

\textbf{A. The instructor...}
\begin{enumerate}
\item presented material in an organized, well-planned manner
\item  used instructional time well
\item  explained content clearly with appropriate use of examples
\item was a clear and effective speaker
\item  communicated enthusiasm and interest in the course material
\item  stimulated your interest in the subject and motivated your learning
\item  attended to students' questions and answered them clearly
and effectively
\item  was open to students' comments and suggestions
\item  was sensitive to students' difficulties
\item  was approachable for additional help
\item  was accessible to students for individual consultation
(in office hours, after class, open-door, by e-mail, phone)
\item  The overall effectiveness of the instructor was
\end{enumerate}       

\begin{table}[ht]
%\begin{sidewaystable}[ht]
%\small
\footnotesize
%\scriptsize
%\tiny
\caption{Teaching Evaluation Summary}
\label{Table evaluation}
\centering
\begin{tabular}{ll *{4}{c} }
\toprule
Course No.--Section: Course Name & Term & \specialcell{Instructor\\Score} & \specialcell{Course\\Score} & \specialcell{Number\\Enrolled} & Responses \\ \midrule
03-65-205--01:Statistics for the Sciences & Winter 2017 & NA & NA & NA & NA \\ 
03-65-205--02:Statistics for the Sciences & Winter 2017 & NA & NA & NA & NA \\ 
03-65-205--02:Statistics for the Sciences & Winter 2015 & NA & NA & NA & NA \\ 
03-65-205--03:Statistics for the Sciences & Winter 2015 & NA & NA & NA & NA \\ 
03-65-205--91:Statistics for the Sciences & Summer 2012 & NA & NA & NA & NA \\ 
03-65-205--02:Statistics for the Sciences & Winter 2012 & NA & NA & NA & NA \\ 
03-65-205--01:Statistics for the Sciences & Fall 2011   & NA & NA & NA & NA \\ 
03-65-205--91:Statistics for the Sciences & Summer 2011 & NA & NA & NA & NA \\ \bottomrule
\end{tabular}
\end{table}   

\lipsum\lipsum

\end{document}

Answer 2

Your problem ist due to the fact, that you have a floating element (\begin{table} ... \end{table} in your document. LaTeX moves it around in your document, in order to get the best possible page breaking/wrapping/filling.

Unfortunately, you don't have enough text, to show, that everything is alright.

I have added package lipsum to generate blindtext and fill your document. I also added the command \lipsum[1-5] to add five extra paragraphs of text directly before and after the table.

(in office hours, after class, open-door, by e-mail, phone)
\item  The overall effectiveness of the instructor was
\end{enumerate}       

%% NEW: some more text
\lipsum[1-5]

\begin{table}[ht]
%\begin{sidewaystable}[ht]
%\small
\footnotesize

and later on:

03-65-205--01:Statistics for the Sciences & Fall 2011   & NA & NA & NA & NA \\ \hline
03-65-205--91:Statistics for the Sciences & Summer 2011 & NA & NA & NA & NA \\ \hline
\end{tabular}
\end{center}
\caption{Evaluation table.  Please fill out any box.}
\end{table} 

%% New: even more text.
\lipsum[6-10]  

\end{document}

BTW: the \label-command should/must be placed directly after the \caption-command.

Here is the outcome