Students rule the university. Without them, the university would cease to exist.
Students all learn differently and professors all teach differently - thus the creation of professor evaluations. The evaluations offer a common ground for students to provide open, honest and anonymous feedback to their professors without the fear of it affecting their grade.
However, every now and then there is that one professor who just grinds your gears and at the end of the semester who does not offer an evaluation. Sure you could write a letter to the department, but you just never want to think about that class or professor again.
The former Student Government Association slate Campus Alliance hoped to change that by mandating all professors to offer evaluations for all of their classes as opposed to the current rule that requires only one evaluation per year.
Legislation was written and passed SGA unanimously and then was dismissed by a panel of eight faculty members.
Instead of being dropped completely Thursday, former SGA President and current Daily News columnist Frank Hood introduced it to the floor and tried to save the legislation. Now, the legislation simply needs reworking because the professors say the discrepancies between evaluations render the process impractical.
The most obvious solution to this is to make one generalized evaluation form that all professors must hand out to all classes, or have them fill out online. Then individual departments and colleges can mandate a separate, more course specific evaluation to ensure all elements of the faculty members' teaching is up to par.
Although this would require some additional work, the benefits outweigh the drawbacks. Students would have a chance to voice opinions about every teacher they've had, the university would gain more information about its professors and most importantly the teachers receive more feedback.
No matter how long you've been a teacher, or working in any career for that matter, there is always room for improvement. Professional development never ceases and professors should take this opportunity to try and grow as teachers and rethink their teaching methods to try and reach the most students.
Students are here to learn and professors are here to teach. Students are held accountable by grades and diplomas. Teachers are held accountable by evaluations.
Teachers should be evaluated for every class taught just as students are evaluated for every class taken.
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