RateMyProfessor.com doesn’t make the cut for Student Body President Rob Hayden.
Instead of finding helpful information about his Spanish teacher, he found a chili pepper icon, which deemed the professor as “hot.”
PickaProf.com could be helpful-if every student got involved instead of just two or three. But it doesn’t look like that will happen.
So where can students go for information on their professors that could help them identify which professors would help them succeed in the classroom?
Hayden decided to bring the issue to the Student Senate to find a way to have a source of information for students. However, Hayden wants to consider several factors for this database.
He acknowledged that administrators and department and school heads use the information in student evaluations in consideration of a professor’s professional career. Hayden also noted that evaluations are sometimes affected by a student’s final grade and that this can lead to malicious attacks. Publishing evaluations online could also cause some students to be hesitant about giving honest answers.
The best way for Hayden would be to publish a list of “top teachers” in the same way as student honor rolls are published. This would keep evaluations anonymous, but still provide students with valuable information. It would also give the solution a positive light, something Hayden wanted to keep in mind because the issue can be a sensitive one.
Another suggestion by Hayden would involve just publishing the data gathered from evaluations that only dealt with numbers and not written portions.
“In a sense, teachers would be scored and receive a grade,” he said. This GPA of sorts would allow students the chance to express themselves honestly and also allow relevant information to be published for students’ use.
But for either suggestion, cooperation by faculty would be needed to get the data from the student evaluations. If faculty refused to turn over the information, Hayden also said Student Senate could find a way to start their own evaluations.
Many senators agreed with Hayden that a database or other place of information would be beneficial to students.
Cox Senator Eric Park says providing a link to a teacher’s information on access.smu.edu when enrolling would be a good place. He said he often finds himself trying to click on a teacher’s name to find out more when he’s there. Park also suggested publishing comments accompanied by the grade earned in the course. Park said this would help determine if a person’s evaluation was only influenced by their grades earned in the course.
Student Body Vice President Patrick Kobler wants any published evaluations to be a “system that holds professors accountable.” But Hayden fears the negative connotation the word “accountable” brings to mind. He believes a positive spin on the issue is needed.
