UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Friday, September 23, 1994
5A
Faculty evaluations to be revised
By James Evans Kansan staff writer
Students are able to voice their opinions about their professors in faculty evaluation forms handed out at the end of every semester.
But many students said they felt their evaluations were not given much weight in the evaluation process.
"I don't really feel they do much," said Scott Burns, Overland Park junior. "I feel like student opinions aren't worth much to the faculty."
To change students' impressions of faculty evaluations, student leaders and faculty have been working since the summer to change the way the evaluations are used in analyzing professors' performance.
The faculty has been open to giving students a voice in the overall evaluation process, said Sherman Reeves, student body president.
"They are definitely working with us," Reeves said. "The KU proposal
has become the cutting edge."
All Board of Regents institutions are analyzing the faculty evaluation process to create a system-wide policy.
The main student voice in changing evaluation policies is the Student Advisory Council, which is made up of the student body presidents of the six Regents institutions.
Reeves said one recommendation suggested that student representatives be given the opportunity to look at departmental data from evaluations at the end of each semester.
"The deans of different schools will sit down and discuss how the student evaluation forms are being used." Reeves said. He said the discussions would make separate departments more accountable in using student evaluations in the overall faculty evaluation process.
Reeves said the evaluation process would be improved for students because the use of the evaluation would be stated on all evaluation
forms.
John Davidson, professor of physics, has worked on the recommendations. He said he didn't believe the revised evaluation forms would change students' opinions about the process.
"I know that students often times feel the evaluations are not worth the time or the trouble to fill out correctly," Davidson said.
Davidson said the faculty would take the completed evaluation forms more seriously if students filled them out in a serious manner.
"If students are really honest about what they are going to say on the evaluation ... the faculty will be more likely to move a teacher out of the classroom if necessary," Davidson said.
Davidson suggested that student organizations, such as Student Senate, make students aware that it was important to fill out the forms correctly.
He said students would see action from departments if this occurred.
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