By Shawna Donnell
UHCLIDIAN STAFF

Every semester professors, lecturers and adjuncts are required to have course evaluations filled out and turned in by their students.

The evaluations are meant to be anonymous and the instructors are not allowed to see the finished forms until the semester is over. Once evaluations are turned in, the administrators of each school review them.

"[They] use them to measure teaching effectiveness," said Ashley Packard, assistant professor of communication.

The student satisfaction section of the questionnaire has a significant impact on faculty raises and promotions.

"If [an instructor] does not get a strong rating on the Student Satisfaction Survey results, [they] cannot be rated as outstanding in the teaching and educational activities," said James Sherrill, associate dean for the School of Education.

How much weight the evaluations carry depends on the status of each faculty member. For example, an adjunct is rated almost entirely on student evaluation scores.

"[For adjuncts] I read every written comment students provide," said Howard Eisner, associate dean of academic affairs.

Assistant professors are rated on every course they teach each semester. The scores contribute to the overall evaluation.

In the event a faculty member continually receives bad scores, varying measures are taken. The most common is a formal meeting with the faculty member to discuss the problem and find ways to assist them.

Tenured professors are rated on a variety of areas. Teaching and student evaluations continue to play an important role. For tenured professors there are less severe punishments.

Because tenure is a type of job guarantee, there is less the administration can do, according to Eisner.

"I don't think I am alone among faculty in saying that I feel pressure each semester to keep my evaluation scores high," said Kevin McNamara, assistant professor of literature.

UH-Clear Lake, as an upper-level university, holds teaching standards high.

"I spent 29 years at the University of British Columbia, which is a large, level I research university, before coming to UH-Clear Lake. Believe me, UH-Clear Lake takes teaching much more seriously than UBC," Sherrill said.

Top of Page | Front Page