An envelope full of pages and a box of putt-putt pencils.
That's what teachers usually leave behind for students to complete their professor evaluations. The instructor cuts class short and designates someone to bring the completed forms to this or her office when everyone is finished.
This fall, however, the Student Instructional Rating System (SIRS) is entirely online, accessible at spectrum.memphis.edu.
The switch makes the evaluations cheaper, requiring no work to deal with the paper forms, according to Ralph Faudree, University of Memphis Provost.
He also said they are more flexible and can be modified to fit different needs. For instance, they can be tailored differently depending on whether the class is lecture-based or internship-based.
Response to the new system varies, but due to general disapproval by U of M faculty, the evaluations will move back to their paper format for the spring semester.
One of the faculty's concerns is that the level of participation will drop significantly now that students aren't required to complete them in class, and instead must go online to fill them in on their own time.
"That's a good point," said Lauren Mitchell, a junior sociology major. "I'm not going to do those things if I don't have to."
If only a handful of students take the time to do it, there is concern that they won't be representative of the whole classroom, according to assistant history professor Robert Gudmestad.
"It's going to diminish the quality of responses if fewer students take part," he said.
The Faculty Senate, comprised of 40 senators representing their respective colleges, has opposed the move from the beginning.
The body passed a resolution on Oct. 3 that recommended the switch from paper to the Web be delayed while they conduct a study to assess the effectiveness of online evaluations.
Though the change went through anyway, the Academic Support Committee of the Faculty Senate under Chair John Petry has been reviewing the situation because of the "widespread concern" about SIRS going online.
"The faculty prefers (the old way), and the faculty ought to have something to say about it," he said.
Yesterday, the committee sent a survey via e-mail to all faculty asking for their opinion regarding SIRS and its future.
Some of the questions posed addressed the possibility of peer evaluations of classes and whether the faculty favored the continued use of SIRS.
Petry said the committee is hard at work.
"We want (the evaluations) to be fair and equitable to both teachers and students," he said.
"The provost is now positively responding to the needs of the faculty."
Faudree said the Senate will now come up with recommendations about the future.
Such a future may be unclear for now, but at least one student believes the online system is superior to its paper alternative.
"I think it's easier. You can do it at your own convenience," said Adam Sloan, a senior graphic design major. "People would just mark randomly in class if they didn't want to do it, but if they go online they actually want to fill it out."
