The Student Senate at NC State is exploring the possibility of making class evaluations public to students who are considering what classes they would like to take.
The ClassEval system at NC State exists to give students the opportunity to evaluate their professors and teacher assistants at the end of the semester and are used by academic departments as a way to review professors for various reasons, including tenure.
Diya Sashidhar, the academics committee chairwoman of Student Senate, wrote in an email that the academics committee is hoping to discuss the possibility with the Evaluation of Teaching Committee to make a portion of the Class Evaluation results public to the student body, but it is still only a possibility at this point.
The Student Senate’s reasoning behind this idea comes from the recent change in the university’s official drop-date deadline. In the fall of 2014, the UNC Board of Governors voted to change the previously six-week drop-date policy down to 10 days.
With students having less time to choose whether or not a class is too difficult for them, some members of the Student Senate feel it is necessary they have enough information beforehand to choose the right classes.
Currently, a student has 10 days into the semester to drop a class without receiving a withdrawal mark, or a “W,” on his or her transcript.
The change also gave students less time to add a course without permission. This semester students only had until Jan. 12 to add a course without permission from the Student Advisory Committee.
In order to get some student feedback about the idea, the Student Senate conducted a survey on the Wolfpack Students Facebook page.
“Four-hundred-ninety-five of 591 students said they are likely or very likely to complete course evaluations knowing students will have access to them,” Sashidhar said in an email.
The idea to make a portion of the Class Evaluation results public to students is still in the planning states. The Student Senate still has to discuss the idea with higher-ups at the university, and then the bill must go to a vote in the Senate.
Websites such as Rate My Professor and Koofers currently exist to allow students to read student feedback about classes they are planning to take. These websites allow former students to rate professors and leave comments.
The Senate is currently discussing whether or not it would be a good idea to share a portion of the ClassEvals on these websites because many students already check them to see how their professors rank among their previous students.
Farrah Hazheer, a sophomore studying human biology said she thinks making the evaluations public would help with participation rates.
“When [students] find out the ClassEvals are going on a website like Rate My Professor or Koofers, they’ll be more likely to fill them out,” Hazheer said.
