Free the course evaluations

Tufts' course selection and evaluation processes are in desperate need of improvement. A significant percentage of students every semester do not complete evaluations of the courses they take. When choosing classes, students effectively have to rely on the knowledge of their advisor and word-of-mouth. This can, and does, lead to an unnecessary amount of disruption in class rosters during the add/drop period at the start of every semester. It makes sense: If students don’t know what they are signing up for, there is a good chance they may not like it.

In choosing courses, students generally go through a disorganized, haphazard information-gathering process. If a student is taking a course for their major, they can probably get a decent understanding of the course from their major advisor. Otherwise, the research process basically consists of students trying to find a friend or mentor who has previously taken a class they are interested in and hoping they can trust the advice. In 2015, it’s more than a little ridiculous that finding the right courses is no more sophisticated than finding a good babysitter in 2005.

Outside of word-of-mouth advice, students can turn to websites like Rate My Professor, which suffers from an overly simplistic five-star rating system, a tendency for only the most extreme opinions to inspire a student to review their class experience and a dearth of Tufts students who actually complete ratings.

Tufts likes to bill itself as providing a well-rounded, liberal arts education. In reality, it’s hard for a student to know anything about a class outside of the realm of knowledge of their major advisor. Though this a function of larger, systemic problems in the advising system, a comprehensive database of course evaluations would certainly help.

Tufts has struggled to get its undergraduates to complete the course evaluations at the end of every semester (response rates are usually below 60 percent). The university could alleviate this problem by only allowing students to view evaluation data when choosing courses if they thoroughly completed the previous semester’s evaluations.

By attaching direct, tangible value to the evaluations, Tufts can simultaneously improve the percentage and accuracy of evaluations that are completed at the end of every semester. What students put in to the evaluations in terms of care and effort will reflect exactly what they receive at the start of the next semester.

More knowledge of what to expect from a course could lead to fewer students dramatically altering their schedules in the first few weeks of the semester. With so much fluctuation occurring in their class rosters, it is difficult for professors to engage and invest time in their students before the conclusion of the add/drop period at the start of every semester. As a result, this is wasted time in the classroom. Access to course evaluations won’t eliminate students switching classes, but it will alleviate some of the extreme disruption in class rosters that occurs at the start of every academic term.

From the low response rates and incessant reminder emails, it is clear a significant portion of the undergraduate population does not complete the course evaluations. In order to improve the response rates and quality of the evaluations, the university should release the results to students. The university could and should provide an incentive to complete the evaluations by releasing the results only to students who have completed those from the previous semester. Liberate the course evaluations and let students see the value in completing them carefully and accurately. It’s simple, it makes sense and it will directly help the student body.