Post-Instructional Evaluation Proposal Gains More Support

A proposal for a Post-Instructional Evaluation (PIE) for students to provide feedback for teachers is now under review by a faculty committee. The proposal, introduced last spring by Student Council, was originally met with faculty concerns about the evaluation’s vagueness and lack of clear objective.According to Dean of Students Melissa Mischke, a group of faculty members has been working to iron out the details of how PIE could be effectively implemented.“Currently, there is a subcommittee of department heads that is revamping the PIE proposal, giving it a little more structure and definition, which I think is the reason why it didn't make it last year,” Mischke said.Student Council brought up the idea of having PIE in order to make student feedback of faculty instruction available to continuously improve the course and faculty instruction in future terms, as opposed to the existent Mid-Term Evaluation To Improve Class (METIC), which is applicable only to that particular section of students.Logistics that still need to be addressed include whether the evaluations will be mandatory and if there would be any consequences for students failing to turn them in. There is also the question of whether results will be shared with department chairs or the Dean of Faculty. In addition, there has been debate regarding whether or not the surveys would be anonymous.A post-instructional evaluation of every class would produce approximately 5,000 evaluations a term, amounting to 15,000 per year. Director of Studies Laura Marshall stated that Information Technology Services is also involved in the process, as the committee must decide whether evaluations should be online or handwritten.The subcommittee is composed of Lundy Smith, John Blackwell, Eric Bergofsky and Carol Cahalane, respective heads of the English, science, mathematics, and health education departments. The group hopes to present a proposal to all department heads by the end of fall term, according to Marshall.Many faculty members, including Marshall, expressed their support in having some form of an evaluation system for instructors.“Students want to have a voice in teacher accountability, such as whether teachers are abiding by homework guidelines. For example, if there was the teacher for whom the majority of students said the homework load was unmanageable, the teacher would have an opportunity to examine it and possibly make adjustments,” Marshall said.Mathematics instructor Szczesny Kaminski agreed. “I think it’s a good idea to do it, simply because students have the right to express their view of teachers in order to improve the professional relationship between them,” he said.Math instructor Stephanie Girard said, “I am in support of the general philosophy behind the end-of-term evaluation, PIE, but feel that more time needs to be spent on ironing out the particulars, e.g. the questions, which classes it is used for,” she said.Other faculty members expressed their concerns about honesty and effort from students the potential effect of anonymity.“I’m afraid that when it comes to anonymous evaluations, kids may not feel enough responsibility to share an honest and balanced opinion,” modern languages instructor Inna Sysevich said.Although she had questions about the current system that is being developed, Sysevich also recognized the importance of having some form of student feedback. “Many different methods are being discussed, and personally I like a form of some sort kept in the department office, available to any student at any time,” she said. “That way, even though it’s anonymous, they will feel more accountable for what they say.”Students, like their instructors, were also split on the issues. Student Council Vice President Emily Lemmerman said that PIE was a constructive method of providing feedback for faculty.“It's mostly structured as a way for faculty to get more feedback, which is important because they might not hear about these things otherwise,” Lemmerman said. “The PIE will be anonymous, and happens after grades are submitted. There is currently no way of giving feedback that fulfills that.”Upper Alexandra Eckert agreed, noting the benefits of anonymity to PIE. “Especially since it's anonymous, I think people will respond well. People feel like they can be very honest when they can't be identified.”