2008 Woodie Awards
Students hold the grading pen
Chantelle Hogrefe
Issue date: 5/9/08 Section: Opinion
It is that time of year. In just a few days we will all be studying until ridiculously early morning hours, living on caffeine and junk food, pouring over dry textbooks, reviewing old homework, quizzes and tests and re-reading a semester's worth of notes.
As finals week comes crashing in around our ears, we frantically try to calculate exactly how many points we need on the final exam to maintain or improve our current grade.
Well, it may cheer you to know we are not the only ones who may be concerned about whether or not we are going to end the year with a decent grade. The professors may also be wondering how we are going to rate their performance over the past four months.
According to a recent article on MSNBC.com, those dreaded SIR-IIs we fill out at the end of the semester are now an "almost universal" occurrence on college and university campuses across the country.
Theoretically, this is an excellent concept. We are, after all, consumers, and as such, should have the right to have our voices heard.
It only makes sense that we be given the opportunity to rate our impressions of whether all that money we have spent has been of optimal benefit to us.
Problems arise, however, when the entire student body does not take these evaluations seriously.
It may be fun to go to RateMyProfessor.com and publicly air your satisfaction or frustrations with a particular professor. I cannot say with any certainty, but I would hope the administration is not relying on this rating source as a means to accurately evaluate the performance of the faculty. In the end, this form of venting should not have an impact on the livelihood of the professor.
On the other hand, those SIR-IIs that are doled out at the end of every semester just may have a negative impact on the instructor.
Many institutions factor in the student reports when determining if a professor will be awarded tenure, and a lack of consideration or a desire for revenge over some perceived slight may alter these people's lives in a dramatic way.
Think about this before you complain about having to fill out one more of these evaluations. Put aside your personal biases and forget about using it as a means to get back at an instructor for a poor grade.
Being in college and being an adult means being responsible and accountable for the role you may have played in those less than stellar marks. It also means that as a consumer of their product, you have the duty to supply the administration with accurate information.
Instead of just rushing through the SIR-II so you can get on with the summer, or the rest of your life for you seniors, take the time to give an honest appraisal of the instructor. His or her career here can, literally, be erased by a careless attitude.
As finals week comes crashing in around our ears, we frantically try to calculate exactly how many points we need on the final exam to maintain or improve our current grade.
Well, it may cheer you to know we are not the only ones who may be concerned about whether or not we are going to end the year with a decent grade. The professors may also be wondering how we are going to rate their performance over the past four months.
According to a recent article on MSNBC.com, those dreaded SIR-IIs we fill out at the end of the semester are now an "almost universal" occurrence on college and university campuses across the country.
Theoretically, this is an excellent concept. We are, after all, consumers, and as such, should have the right to have our voices heard.
It only makes sense that we be given the opportunity to rate our impressions of whether all that money we have spent has been of optimal benefit to us.
Problems arise, however, when the entire student body does not take these evaluations seriously.
It may be fun to go to RateMyProfessor.com and publicly air your satisfaction or frustrations with a particular professor. I cannot say with any certainty, but I would hope the administration is not relying on this rating source as a means to accurately evaluate the performance of the faculty. In the end, this form of venting should not have an impact on the livelihood of the professor.
On the other hand, those SIR-IIs that are doled out at the end of every semester just may have a negative impact on the instructor.
Many institutions factor in the student reports when determining if a professor will be awarded tenure, and a lack of consideration or a desire for revenge over some perceived slight may alter these people's lives in a dramatic way.
Think about this before you complain about having to fill out one more of these evaluations. Put aside your personal biases and forget about using it as a means to get back at an instructor for a poor grade.
Being in college and being an adult means being responsible and accountable for the role you may have played in those less than stellar marks. It also means that as a consumer of their product, you have the duty to supply the administration with accurate information.
Instead of just rushing through the SIR-II so you can get on with the summer, or the rest of your life for you seniors, take the time to give an honest appraisal of the instructor. His or her career here can, literally, be erased by a careless attitude.
Be the first to comment on this story