Two Evaluations Pile Cited Have Died

Han u ^ "*"** Two evaluations Pile cited have died out Maintains faculty evaluations successful in spite of discontinuation By DEBBIE YARD and BRUCE OSBORNE the old evaluations and published a booklet called the distribution of evaluation forms in his residence hall In a recent interview with The Breeze, Student "Keyhole" that included answers to questions and or building," Pile said. Each resident will receive an Government Association President, Darrell Pile selected comments on each teacher, Moorman said. evaluation and the senator will pick it up from the supported his plan for a student evaluation of faculty The evaluation program at Tennessee was resident later, he said. members by citing successful programs at three discontinued several years ago because of time Commuters would probably receive their universities. An investigation by The Breeze found demands on the student coordinators and because of evaluations through the mail, Pile said. that two of those schools discontinued their programs costs, according to a letter Pile received from the The evaluation program at UVA publishes a several years ago. student body president there. booklet annually containing student viewsjxi courses Pile contacted the University of Tennessee, the Pile explained the contradiction by saying that the and professors, according to Ward Hagar, managing University \of Southern Mississippi, and the SGA's procedure here would not involve as much editor of the publication. University pi Virginia to inquire about their time or money because it is being limited to general evaluation programs. studies, courses required beyond major courses, and "I think they're worthwhile," said William It was brought to Pile's attention that evaluation Ellwood, secretary of the UVa faculty senate, who JMU has a smaller population than the University of proposed the nrogram about eight years ago. programs are no longer in existence at Mississippi or Tennessee. Tennessee. Pile could not estimate the cost of publishing such "Distortions sometimes do occur...but if students Pile maintains, however, that the programs were a document, but said that this information would be do them seriously, the faculty does take them successful in that they available later. seriously," Ellwood said. Evaluations "introduce an 'neither reported that they had given up evaluations "The evaluation process will be much more element of control by the students." because of lack of student appreciation nor manageable if we start out with a fraction of the Student evaluations "take an awful lot of work " inaccuracies of the evaluations." population," Pile said "If this works out well, he added. Student evaluations at Mississippi "died of sheer maybe next year all courses can be evaluated instead UVa's student evaluation staff is filled by old student inertia...about eight or 10 years ago," of just general studies." volunteers. The staff consists of an editor, a according to Dr. Charles Moorman, the vice The proposed evaluation program will be most managing editor and associate editors for each president of academic affairs there. profitable to freshmen or transfer students who need different school, Hagar said. However, the letter Pile received from the student to pick up general studies courses, he said. Pile is awaiting response from the University of body president at Mississippi indicated that the "Upper-class students can pick up the information Indiana, and the University of North Carolina at failure was due to lack of faculty involvement. they need through the grapevine. Chapel Hill as to how they run their evaluations he The administration was "thoroughly in favor" of "Each senator at JMU will be responsible for the said. SGA will begin evaluations in Dec. e ^Bteeze Unless alternative suggested Vol. 56 Tuesday, November 7, 1978 James Madison University, Harrisonburg, Virginia No. 19 By BRUCE OSBORNE and DEBBIE YARD If faculty members do not suggest an alternative program, student-supervised teacher evaluations are scheduled to begin next month, but not without some hesitation from at least one faculty member. "The (student relations) committee (of the faculty senate) was left sort of in the dark" after reading an article in the Oct. 20 issue of The Breeze which implied that the SGA was definitely going through with its evaluation program, Dr. Virginia Andreoli of the psychology department said after a faculty senate meeting Thursday. SGA President Darrell Pile had spoken with the committee a few weeks ago and had given the impression that faculty input would be sought, she said. But The Breeze article said the SGA was going ahead with the program without hearing from the teachers, she said. Therefore, the committee is in a "state of limbo" and did not discuss possible alternatives at its last meeting. The Breeze article "should have been no surprise to the committee," Pile said Thursday in an interview at his office. The student president told the committee prior to the article's publication "if they could come up by December with a better means of dealing with the problem, it was quite possible the SGA would forego the evaluations," he said. "We wan t suggestions from the faculty," Pile said,"but, come hell or high water, at the first Senate meeting in December, the senate will decide which method is the best method." "My hopes are, that by having a sample evaluation form ready in time for this week's Student Relations Committee meeting, we will have something concrete to critique," he said. "Our faculty will have input through its Student Relations Committee," Pile said. "As a matter of fact, their biggest input will be that the questions used in the evaluations will be taken verbatim from present evaluation forms which were written by professors." Evaluation forms have been collected from almost every department and the SGA's curriculum instruction committee is in the process of picking 10 to 12 questions to use on its evaluation form, Pile said. If the program is implemented, student evaluations of faculty and courses in the required general studies areas would be published by the SGA. Student relations committee members believe there may be more appropriate ways to deal with academic problems than evaluations, Andreoli said. Some method is desired bv the students to put pressure on the •'. administration, but evahiationswill not accomplish what the SGA wants, she said. The committee "would like to work very much with the SGA and with students" on this issue, she said. "We're still waiting to hear and talk" with Pile again. "There is not better means...of informing students of academic problems with professors than through evaluations," Pile stated after returning from a national convention on student services at which he attended three workshops on teacher evaluations. Andreoli said that students should be made more aware of the grievance procedures already in existence. "Present grievance procedures are done quietly," Pile said. "Students do not know when they sign up for a course how many grievances have been filed" on a teacher. Andreoli said she agrees with Pile's "sentiment," but she "THE SWIMMER," by Polly Holden is one of Artworks Gallery in Zirkfe Hease. See story, \$ onlinmd on I'age il many student works taeing exhibited in the page 11. PMH ty HMW ctafNi Page 2. THE BREEZE. Tuesday, November 7, 1978 Meeting illegally closed to public By MAUREEN RILEY Byrd said he wasn't aware be locked down in what's legal Byrd said. committee." - The city-university that his copy of the Freedom and what's not." "We iust did what we felt In the first and second relations committee meeting of Information Act was out of Objections to the press we should do to get things off meetings there was a was illegally closed Thursday, date. He said he received his attending the committee the ground." he continued. "deadening silence," with the when Committee Chairman, copy from Norvell Lapsley, meetings had also been ' 'We needed to get to know one press there, he said. "It was John Byrd, used an old copy of city attorney. By closing the expressed previously. another better and that's much better tonight, without the Freedom of Information meeting to the press, Byrd At the last meeting, two exactly what we did," Byrd the press," Byrd continued. Act to bar the press. said he was just following committee members said. Byrd was assigned as The Freedom of Lapsley's interpretation of the requested the press be banned He said they had a "very spokesman for the committee, Information Act defines under Freedom of Information Act. from future meetings. A more pleasant conversation" at the in order to inform the public what circumstances a "I'm not a lawyer. I have informal atmosphere, less meeting, and talked "very what happened during the meeting can be legally closed to rely on the city attorney," tension, and more freedom to much in generalities.'' They meeting, the other members to the public. Byrd said. speak out within the discussed the growth of the who could be reached would The copy of the Act Byrd "I goofed," said Norvell committee, could be achieved college and its impact on the not comment on the meeting used would have given him the Lapsley, city attorney. He without the press at the community, but "took no because they said Byrd would authority to close the meeting, said Byrd got the wrong meetings, they said. action" Byrd said. give out the needed except a 1978 amendment information about closing the Byrd made the motion to The best thing that was information. requires that a "study meeting from him. call the meeting into a closed accomplished at the meeting, According to Byrd, the committee," such as the city- "I was in a hurry," session. Chuck Vaughn, a according to Byrd, is that the committee probably won't university relations 'Lapsley continued.

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