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Committees to rethink course evaluations

By Wojtek Dabrowski

Students may soon be able to see the results of instructor course evaluations they fill out every semester.

Michael Doucet, Ryerson’s Faculty Association president, said two committees made up of administration, faculty and students will meet to change how evaluations are published.

The current collective agreement between the university and faculty only allows professors to see the results of evaluations their students fill out. Students can only see averages from entire faculties, such as the combined average of every professor in the faculty of applied arts.

But Doucet wants that to change.

“There are a lot of people that are not particularly pleased with [the evaluations],” Doucet said. “If the purpose of the instrument is to improve teaching, then it doesn’t do that.”

Patrick Lahman, a first-year business management student, wants to see specific results. “The questions are too general,” he said, adding he’d like to see particular characteristics of a teacher evaluated rather than an overall rating out of ten.

Carla Vitali, a second-year nursing student, said she doesn’t think professors take her evaluations seriously.

“I want to see details,” she said.

The committees will begin meeting at the end of March.

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