’lhe Scarlet is Black, March lo. luvs—page 4

 

New system can
still be improved

Amidst considerable controversy within the faculty and
with almost negligible student interest, the faculty approved
this week a new faculty evaluation system that is sure to
have, in the next few' years, far-ranging effects on EPC-
faculty relationships and the whole question of student
involvement in faculty promotion and tenure.

While we feel the faculty made the proper decision in
rejecting the present system, the new system, based on an
end»of-course evaluation form to be distributed to all
students, raises many questions. How will the “hard” data
be used? How reliable is statistical information by itself?
Will it be adequate?

THE SYSTEM presently in use is flawed. Any EPC
member who has had to interview students for classes they
took three years ago and can only respond “I don’t
remember, I don’t remember,” will verify that fact.

And 40 randomly selected students can hardly provide as
valid and as representative a response as a complete, blanket
sampling of all students.

BUT THE PRESENT system has one clear advantage
over the newly approved one. It elicits subjective rather than
objective responses; it requires the interviewee to think
about and verbally respond to a question rather than simply
check a box.

We cannot help but believe that the kind of reﬂective,
considered responses prompted by the present system
remains a valuable part of the faculty evaluation process.
While the new system is clearly an improvement over the
present system, it seems as though it might be improved
even more

THERE IS a danger in relying solely on statistical data.
Numbers are subject to infinitely varying interpretations.
And a simple tabulation of the responses may, in itself, prove
very little. There must be some way of including the in-
tangibles, some way of building into the evaluation
procedure a method by which a student's gut feelings about
a course can be measured. There is.

We advocatea combination of the two systems, combining
the newly voted system with some aspects of the present
one. The SGA proposed to the faculty a similar plan, but
they recommended that both systems be employed con-
currently. This seems wasteful, for the two would certainly
overlap to a considerable degree. Yet the basic idea is sound:
subjective comments are valuable in the process of faculty
evaluation.

WITH implementation of the new evaluation system, the
student EPC's, which handle most of the interviewing under
the present system. will have a greatly reduced role in the
evaluation process. Yes, they will still be responsible for
collating and summarizing the data gained from the
evaluation forms, but this will probably entail nothing more
than reading a detailed computer printout and restating it.

Why not have the EPC continue interviewing students?
That way, the thoughtful student opinions which are so
important in obtaining a full picture of a professor’s teaching
performance will still be solicited. Because the interviews
would be much shorter in order to avoid duplicating
questions already in the standard evaluation form, less time
would be required for each interview.

THUS. it would be possible to interview more than 40
students. Of course, a procedure must be worked out so
students would not be interviewed three years after taking a
course, but that could be easily done.

The alleged purpose for passing the new evaluation
procedure was to increase and improve student input into the
faculty evaluation process. By combining the soon»to-be
implemented system with the most favorable aspect of the

present system, this can be even better achieved.
’ Exclusive

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The Ofﬁcer Rickhrd Tumor,

Letters to the editor

There’s still hope for hockey at Grinnell

To the editor: As a long since
departed Grinnellian and recently
converted college hockey “freak,”
I enjoyed your recent article (sea.
Feb. 24) on ice hockey at Grinnell.
The article illustrates well the
dedication that hockey players
give to the game, regardless of
playing conditions, but I detected a
hint of pessimism about the
present magnitude and future
potential oi hockey at Grinnell,

I thought the example of the
hockey revolution that occurred at
the University of New Hampshire
in the last 10 years might serve as
an example and inspiration to the
developing program at Grinnell.

Ten years ago UNH did not even
have an indoor arena. All games

*

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Signed, though Signatures will not
be printed if so requested.

"Good lickin’
Blues Band”

were played at an antiquated
outdoor facility with makeshift
seating for about 200-300 people.
The UNH hockey team. over a
period of 2ch years, had rested in
the depU’lS of the “second cousin”
Division II of the ECAC (Eastern
College Athletic Conference).

However, following construction
of an indoor arena and the arrival
of the present head coach, UNH
moved into Division I [lithe ECAC
and the hockey program since that
time has been transformed into one
91‘ the strongest Learn sports at the
university.

Spectator support has increased
phenomenally, Teams prior to the
mid 1960's could not expect to
attract more than a few hundred
supporters. Now it is impossible to
get a season ticket ireserved seat)
in the 4.500 seat arena in less that 5
years. I have No. 198 on the waiting
list for season tickets and was told
I might be able to get them for the
1986787 season.

UNH has made the ECAC
Division I playoffs for the last 8

 

years against the toughest Eastem-
college hockey powers, Boston
University, Clarkson College and
Cornell University. This
culminated lastyear in a trip to the
NCAA collegiate hockey cham-
pionships. where UNH lost a tough
semi-final round game 473 in
overtime to No. 1 ranked
Wisconsin.

Some smaller schools, such as
Clarkson, Union and Bowdoin also
have surprisingly strong hockey
programs in ECAC Division I and
Division 11. So I hope that the
Students, administration and
sports establishment at Grinnell
will support the hockey club, even
though it may not yet have the
glamour or appeal of “big time”
college hockey, at least to
the point of provid rig a regulation»
size rink and su ficient financial
support to allow the Grinnell team
to compete with dignity with other
schools. John F. Burger. '62
(Assistant Professor of En—
tomology. University of New
Hampshire)

 

1

 

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