The end of the semester is near, which means it’s time for student evaluations at the University of New Mexico.
Student evaluation averages are a factor in determining promotion and tenure for faculty or rehiring lecturers, according to the College for Arts and Sciences handbook.
Professors who are on track for tenure have their performance assessed based on their teaching evaluations, service on committees and their research, the handbook said.
Non-tenure instructors and lecturers are only evaluated for rehiring the next semester by two criteria — teaching and their service on committees. Therefore, student evaluations hold more weight in their reviews.
Aeron Haynie is the director at the Center for Teaching and Learning, which aims to further undergraduate learning. The center encompasses student tutoring and support for faculty and graduate teachers at the University.
“It is our position that student evaluations can provide important insight for professors, as they sit in the classes day in and day out,” Haynie said. “However, they have to be viewed in their full context.”
Haynie said student evaluations, at their best, can provide constructive criticism and valid insights to improve professors’ performances. However, the ugly side can be negative reviews that are personal attacks on a professor.
Student evaluations have moved off of paper and are now, for the most part, completed online across campus. Haynie said that the results are more polarized, as only students who really enjoy or hate a course complete the surveys.
Her concern regarding lower student participation in surveys means the results are more likely to be skewed.
“The significant lowering of evaluations that get completed every year makes them statistically less valid in my mind,” Haynie said.
Danielle Prokop is a freelance reporter with the Daily Lobo. She can contacted at news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @ProkopDani.
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