University Star

Online professor-rating sites could become obsolete for Texas State students as officials prepare to post teacher evaluations on the Web.

House Bill 2504 requires end-of-course student evaluations be available for public viewing online. The bill states institutions of higher education must provide the public access for course information by Aug. 15. Five faculty senators were appointed to a committee Wednesday with the task of creating a set of standard evaluation questions.

Debra Feakes, Faculty Senate chair, said the purpose of the committee is to narrow the list of viable questions to a smaller number that can be easily posted and read online. Feakes called the process difficult as student evaluation forms vary within departments.

“How do we meet the requirements of HB 2504 for every department on campus in posting teaching evaluations?” Feakes asked. “The way to do that is to make an exact set of questions.”

Associate Provost Eugene Bourgeois said an obstacle for the committee members will be reducing the questions to a manageable number.

Different disciplines within each department can keep specific questions in their student evaluations. Bourgeois said a standard set of questions will be on each form. The committee is looking at the possibility of using a Likert scale in which students would answer questions on a number scale from worst to best.

“If a question touched on the effectiveness of the faculty member in the classroom, students would have an array of choices,” Bourgeois said.

The chosen set of questions will be answered by Scantron, allowing the university to evaluate the data and easily post results on the Web for public access.

William Stone, Faculty Senate vice chair, said students could use the data online to get their peers’ opinions before enrolling in a course. He said this type of information should be available to the public.

“There will be some difficulty agreeing on the exact questions but the rewards should be worth the efforts,” Stone said.

Bourgeois said he hopes students will be more informed as Texas State officials reach the bill’s requirements.

“I think its part of the greater trend toward more accountability in institutions of higher education and allowing the public to have a lens into our operations,” Bourgeois said.