To plan their course schedules, many students use a variety of informational sources such as PickaProf.com and RateMyProfessors.com to determine which classes will provide them with the best academic experience. The fact that students are willing to pay for this information highlights the importance of and demand for previewing courses before official registration periods begin. Recognizing this trend, the Senate of College Councils, the student governance organization that represents all UT students in academics, is working with the University to more directly provide students with valuable information about courses and instructors.
Course instructor surveys, which students fill out online or on paper at the end of each semester, rate the effectiveness of the course and how successfully the instructor presented the course content to students. Among other benefits, the surveys offer students an alternative to Pick-a-Prof and Rate My Professors at no extra charge. At UT, the Division of Instructional Innovation and Assessment is responsible for distributing, collecting and compiling the survey results.
The pedagogical efficacy of a professor is arguably the most important aspect of a class, so it would make sense to have information on that topic made as accessible as possible so that students can factor that important criterion into their decisions when selecting their courses for the semester. Consequently, the Curriculum Committee of the Senate recently initiated a joint effort with DIIA to improve and increase students’ awareness of survey results on UT’s Web site. New links to “course instructor survey results” and “CIS results” were placed on high-traffic pages, such as the Registrar’s Services Page (http://registrar.utexas.edu/services) and the “links” section of Blackboard. Students are encouraged to take advantage of this information before the next class registration period has ended.
The Senate and DIIA are also working on additional improvements to the accessibility of online survey results, such as linking directly from the online course schedule. If such a system were implemented, students would be able to access information on the teaching proficiency of a potential professor from the particular course page that they are already using during registration.
The Senate recently introduced and passed Student Resolution 502 in support of this initiative. If you have any thoughts on this issue, or any other issue regarding academic affairs (e.g., tuition, curricular reform, advising, etc.), please feel free to come to Senate meetings or e-mail Senate President Scott Fulford at fulfords@mail.utexas.edu.
