Issue date: 2/4/09 Section: News

Students fill out evaluations each semester even though they do not affect tenured teacher's positions. Gary Bulla, professor of biological sciences, is a tenured professor, but said he takes student comments seriously. (Kelly Crement / The Daily Eastern News)

The extra white space left at the end of teacher evaluations for students' comments is a major component in the student-teacher relationship.

Some students rely on these comments to make the classroom and learning experience better in hopes that the professor reads and takes them into consideration.

Gary Bulla, professor of biological sciences, said he absolutely takes all the comments he receives from students seriously.

"(Evaluating) is good because it highlights problems in the course, about things that are not taught as well," he said.

As a tenured teacher, Bulla said the evaluation system has a flaw when tenured teachers do not take student comments seriously.

Academic tenure means a professor's position is considered to be on a permanent basis without a renewal of contract.

"Once you are tenured, student comments do not have as much effect at times," Bulla said. "If (faculty) are not tenured, the consequences would be identified, and then they should carefully consider modifying the way they are teaching the subject."

Faculty evaluations must be done throughout the campus community because of Eastern's membership with the University Professionals of Illinois.

Provost Blair Lord, vice president for academic affairs, said faculty evaluations are a part of the bargaining agreement the university has with the faculty union.

The contract between the union and university states: "At least once academic term, each employee who teaches a course or other instructional activity shall have his/her teaching effectiveness evaluated by students in accordance with methods specified in the approved statement of Departmental Application of Criteria."

"They are supposed to be done," Lord said. "We are primarily a teaching institution, which means that instructional obligations are mostly important."

Lord said student evaluations bring a variety of merit opportunities such as raises and faculty tenures.

"Student evaluations play a role in this," he said. "It is continuously incentive that faculty pay attention to student evaluations and for them to be taken seriously."

Besides faculty evaluations, students are also able to critique their professors on Web sites such as ratemyprofessors.com.

Sometimes these Web sites are not fully legitimate, and some students wonder if faculty evaluations can be made public on a university-monitored Web site.

Mary Bianchi, junior foreign language major, said she would prefer to use a monitored site when it comes to faculty evaluations.

"It would seem more valid than ratemyprofessor.com, and have facts and percentages," she said.

If faculty evaluations were made available for students to view, Bianchi said she would use them to help choose what classes to take.

Lord said in order for faculty evaluations to be posted on a monitored university Web site, an agreement has to be made with the faculty union.

"For us to make those evaluations publicly available, a formal agreement with our faculty union has to be made," he said.

Bulla said he really never thought about faculty evaluations being made available to students, but said he does not oppose it.

"It might be useful for students to know just how difficult a class is going to be when coming into it," he said.

Bulla said he does not think this will affect a faculty member when it comes to students enrolling in their classes.

"I do not think it will affect him or her because those courses are already in place based on student enrollment," he said. "They have to eventually take the course from someone."

Bulla said at times, the faculty receives a negative evaluation from a student who is just mad.

"Some students are just going to be mad because they realize that the course is more rigorous then what they expected," he said. "We just have to find a balance within these comments."

Kara Connolly, junior family and consumer sciences major, said she believes some professors take faculty evaluations to heart.

"I have had some who say 'please write stuff,' then I hear horror stories about teachers that are just bad semester after semester," she said. "For some it does not matter how bad their evaluations are, they are not going to make a difference."


Jessica Leggin can be reached at 581-7942 or at jmleggin@eiu.edu.

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