The Student Government Association proposed legislation that would give students the chance to find out more about their professors before they sign up for classes.
Vice President Carrie Cozad said the legislation, which would implement mandatory, online professor evaluations, must pass through University Senate before it can be approved by the president and the Board of Trustees.
Senators at Wednesday's SGA meeting discussed how the evaluations, which are part of Campus Alliance's platform, will help students choose classes and Ball State University save money and time.
Sarah Austin, On-Campus representative for Park Hall, said students could use the online evaluations as a tool to view what their peers have to say about professors. Austin said the service would be more effective than the Web site www.ratemyprofessor.com because it would have more student input.
"This would just be a better way for all students to be able to see what the professor is like and whether they want to have that professor," she said.
At-Large Chairwoman Michelle Voss said not all professors are required to submit evaluations for each of their classes. Some departments ask professors to provide evaluations from one class per semester or year, even if they teach more than one class, Voss said. If evaluations are not made mandatory in every class, professors can choose to be reviewed by classes they know they will receive better reviews from, she said.
"When [professors] teach, say, a 100-level class with 200 students that they don't care very much about, they don't do evaluations in that class because they know that they'll get unfavorable evaluations," Voss said.
Secretary of Community Relations Jacinta Yanders said mandatory evaluations would give students the opportunity to have their voices heard by their professors and departments.
"The department heads aren't necessarily in the classrooms everyday," Yanders said. "But the students are, so they know how the professors are doing."
Voss said in addition to making evaluations mandatory, putting them online would cost less and help the environment by saving paper.
To make sure students' handwriting remains anonymous, department secretaries must type up every evaluation before it can be reviewed, she said. However, an online system would provide instant feedback, Voss said.
Yanders said the evaluations should not cost Ball State any extra money because the university already has software called Digital Measures, which has an online evaluation component. The nursing department is planning to conduct their professor evaluations with a digital program, she said so SGA sees no reason why the university could not use the same program.
University Senate will meet at 4 p.m. Dec. 4 in the David Letterman Communication and Media Building, Rm. 125.
Read More
Three Air Jam teams take home the win
October 12, 2012Nineteen teams shimmied, shook and flipped for a sold out John R. Emens Auditorium on Thursday night during the 25th annual Air Jam.
Bill Clinton Speaks at North Central High School
October 12, 2012Former President's Speech Could Have Effect on State Senate Race
