It is standard procedure that, during the last few classes of the semester, students fill out handwritten course evaluations, rating their experiences with both the professor and the material covered. This process, however, may change in as little as two years as the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate is currently working on plans to put all course evaluations online. By putting course evaluations online, the Senate and the administration hope to significantly decrease the turnaround time between when evaluations are filled out and when professors are actually able to access them and take comments and perspectives into consideration for future classes. The evaluations would still be mandatory, with students' grades potentially being withheld for a week if they fail to fill them out — a penalty that those working on the new system hope would be enough of an incentive to encourage all students to complete them.
The Daily supports the plans for the new online evaluation system, as it will make both professors' and students' lives simpler. By allowing professors to access their evaluations immediately, instructors will be able to make improvements to their methods or materials long before the new semester begins; under the current system, it can take as much as several months before professors see their evaluations. Students will also have more time to fill out evaluations thoroughly, increasing the accuracy and detail —and thus the utility — of course evaluations.
In addition to moving the process of filling out evaluations online, some have proposed that the new system allow students to view and consider the evaluations while selecting their courses. This aspect of the proposal, while far from being decided upon, is the most attractive and potentially useful facet of the proposed change. If this system were implemented, students shopping for classes would have an accurate assessment of the workload and teaching quality in each course. This is a much−needed service, as there is currently no university−sponsored medium through which students can garner such information, and other resources, such as Tufts.jumboaccess.com (Tufts Reviews) and Ratemyprofessors.com, are often unreliable and outdated.
The proposal is undoubtedly moving in the right direction, but if the administration is going to invest time and resources into putting evaluations online, there is no reason to withhold the information from students. While the current evaluation system is purely for the edification of professors and university departments, making evaluations available to students would help improve the quality of courses at Tufts and open up a forum for students to become actively involved in deciding the content of future courses. We hope that the university will ensure that the new system is used to the fullest benefit of both professors and students.
