After a semester of late night cramming, stress and never-ending term papers, students now have the opportunity to lash back at those professors who have made the last three and a half months hell.
The teacher evaluations seem to be the only way for students to voice their opinion about professors, but many students wonder how much of an impact these evaluations actually have.
"These evaluations mainly matter in terms of promotions and raises," said Janann Sherman, chair of the history department. "Theoretically, a professor could loose their position because of an overwhelming number of bad evaluations, but I have never know that to happen."
The evaluations are now just as common at the end of the semester as study guides. Students anonymously answer questions like "Was this teacher thoroughly knowledgeable in this subject?" or "Did this class make a significant overall contribution to your education?" The evaluations are sent to the department chair and the faculty member under evaluation. If the professor is up for tenure or a promotion then the evaluations are looked at by the department chair, a department committee, a college committee, the college dean and the provost of The University.
"The evaluations serve two functions â€" an unofficial one and an official one," said Ralph Faudree, provost of The University. "The unofficial purpose is for the faculty member who can look at it and find things to improve upon. The official purpose is for the department chair who mainly looks at the written comments on the back for consideration in determining salary increases, tenure or promotions."
So what happens when a department chair receives a large number of bad evaluations for a specific professor?
"If that happens then the department chair would first work on a specific plan to help the teacher," Faudree said. "The plan might consist of having another faculty member visit the teacher, or video taping the teacher in class, anything that would help give more feedback.
"I once had a faculty member who got a lot of bad evaluations where students said he was too arrogant and not personable. After working with him we found out that he was just stiff and didn't feel comfortable in front of students. He made it a point to start telling jokes and being more accesible and after that he started getting really good evaluations.
"So the main purpose of the evaluations is to identify the problems that teachers have and help them make improvements. But a professor can lose their position because of an overwhelming number of bad evaluations over several semesters."
However, most department chairs look at these evaluations as an imperfect measure.
"The evaluations are not the most accurate measure, as far as judging a professors performance," Sherman said. "But they are a good source to use as far as looking for patterns is concerned. If a teacher is consistently falling short then we take that into consideration. Overall, the evaluations can make a difference but not one individually."
If a student really has a problem with a professor then Faudree advises students to file a complant with the department chair or, if they are a major in that area, talk to an advisor.
"The best thing students can do is to voice their opinion if they have a problem with a professor,' Faudree said. "Because chances are that a lot of other students have that same complaint and if we see a pattern then the complaints have a much larger impact."
If students really want to warn other students about horrible professors then they should visit www.ratemyprofessor.com or www.myprofessorsucks.com.
"I would advise all students to visit these Web sites and voice their opinions and read about other professors before they register," said John Dickey, a clerk for student government association.
