Frank Hood stood in front of more than 70 members of the Ball State University Senate to propose a bill that would hold all professors more accountable for their teaching.
The bill Hood brought forward would require teaching evaluations from every class, every semester if passed. The proposed bill was created in Student Government Association and was passed through the organization unanimously, said Hood, former president of SGA, current member of University Senate.
"This legislation received much praise and support among students and faculty, including President Gora and the provost team," Hood said to the Senate. "The use of evaluation benefits the university in quite a few ways and the more the university embraces evaluation, the better."
According to the Faculty Handbook, professors are allowed to choose which of their classes in each course they teach will evaluate them. Professors are required one evaluation during one semester each year.
The Teaching Evaluation Committee voted against the bill, which was the reason Hood said he brought it before the Senate.
The committee said its decision stemmed two reasons: the inconsistency of evaluation sheets across departments and a lack of department-specific reports on how evaluations are conducted.
Hood's want for the bill to be voted on faced opposition during the Senate's meeting. Opposing Senate members had problems with the wording of the bill and of the faculty handbook, Eric Kelly, professor of urban planning, said.
"There are language problems [with the bill] and a 70-member group cannot resolve things like that," he said. "[Hood] read two different sections out of the Faculty Handbook. The two sections didn't use the same legislative language. There were inconsistencies amongst different sections of the Faculty Handbook. I don't know what the ultimate vote for the bill would be, but I think most people would support it."
Jacinta Yanders, secretary of community relations of SGA and author of the bill, said she hopes the committee keeps up with the bill. A joint venture between SGA and University Senate would be best for this bill, she said.
"I thought [the meeting] was very interesting," she said. "I don't know. I wasn't expecting that much excitement, but it was very interesting. I'm hoping that if they get some students to work with the Teacher Evaluation Committee, then maybe with the student input they can figure out a way to get it worded right so that we can get it mandatory."
The bill is going to have six months of research and it's going to be brought back to the Senate for another consideration. The evaluation of teaching plays a prominent role in providing students with the best possible educational experience and allows professors to develop fully as teachers, Hood said.
"I'm really pleased," Hood said. "[The bill] went from being in a position where it was completely done for to being in a position where movement is going to be made. It's in a position where it's being considered again."
The bill was sent back to the committee with a message that it should be reconsidered. Hood said that he would "definitely" be following up on the bill next year.
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