During the final day of classes last semester, I remember walking out of the classrooms of the Student Wing and Lecture Hall feeling disgruntled. While I had made it through another semester of instruction from professors whose ability ranged from barely adequate to mind-blowingly brilliant, I was bothered by something: Half of my professors for the semester did not offer student evaluations of teaching.
Two of the professors who had taught, tested and tortured me for an entire 15 weeks offered no platform for me to express my opinions on the semester, and no opportunity to provide compliments or feedback that could improve their teaching. How was it that these professors were getting away without using evaluations?
As it turns out, professors at Binghamton University are not required to give student evaluations of teaching on a year-to-year basis. Evaluations by students are only necessary while a teacher is in the process of getting tenured or promoted, but the average professor is under no contractual obligation to offer evaluations.
Under Section VII of the Faculty-Staff Handbook titled “Instructional Policies: Student Evaluation of Teaching,” it reads, “The Office of Institutional Research and Assessment administers a Student Opinion of Teaching (SOOT) questionnaire for courses upon request from instructors. SOOTs are only one of many possible approaches to student evaluation of teaching, and are themselves voluntary.” Based on this University policy, it is left to the discretion of BU professors to offer end-of-semester evaluations or not. While students at this university are evaluated by professors each and every semester, these teachers are, in turn, not required to be evaluated by their students.
Not offering evaluations is an absolute missed opportunity for professors. Beyond that, it conflicts with the core ideas that a higher institution of learning should hold: to learn, and to expand students’ knowledge not only of the world around us, but knowledge about themselves.
The aim of evaluations is for students to give their opinions of the teaching throughout the semester and offer any suggestions that might improve future students’ proficiency in the subject. However, the policy of the University conveys the idea that professors have no room to grow, and no changes that need to be made in order to better their role as our teachers, thereby undermining the same principles that our school stands for.
Additionally, this protocol creates the sentiment that students’ voices do not matter to the University. Evaluations are one of the few platforms that students have in order to express the ineffectiveness of a teacher. As no one is better attuned to professors’ abilities than students themselves, one would think that the BU administration considers evaluations to be of vital significance. Yet, rather than listening to our opinions, the lack of a requirement for student evaluations leaves students’ voices unheard, almost suggesting that substandard teaching is satisfactory to BU.
The fact that student evaluations of teaching are not mandatory at this University is disappointing and defies the principles that BU claims to represent. Both effective and ineffective instructors need to be given the opportunity to learn how to improve, something that will not be done as long as professors are getting away with not administering evaluations. Just as students are expected to better themselves throughout their time at BU, teachers, too, need to be held to this standard. Without a change of policy, students’ voices will continue to be overshadowed by professors’ lack of accountability.
Emily Houston is a sophomore double-majoring in English and political science.