The Red and Black

Issue date: 4/29/09 Section: News

JACKSON

It's almost the end of the semester and students know the drill all too well. Before turning in final papers or projects this week, they also will be asked to complete anonymous course evaluations.

These voluntary evaluations - comments on how to enhance the course - are a priority to the University, administrators said, but an incident two years ago raised questions about whether student anonymity should be breached to protect a faculty member.

In 2007, a student was cited for writing "disparaging" comments that physically threatened a professor and targeted his sexual orientation on two occasions.

According to a Red & Black report, a complaint was filed with the Office of Judicial Programs. A handwriting document examiner used the student's exam to confirm the complaint and the student received a warning to follow University conduct regulations in the future.

"We think that was an isolated case," Tom Jackson, vice president for public affairs, said in a phone interview last week. "We haven't had any instances in which a faculty member was physically threatened since then."

Jackson said faculty receive the same protection as students from the University, and similar cases will be handled in a consistent manner. He said the University Code of Conduct has not been altered or revised since the incident. Any comments that disrupt the teaching evaluation process or harass based on presumed knowledge of the professor's sexual orientation may result in a citation and possible punishment.

"We want students to be confident that their evaluations are confidential," he said, "but a specific case, like in 2007, was treated differently because the student violated the University's policies and maybe even criminal law."

Christine Miller, assistant dean and director of the Franklin College Office of Information Technology, said approximately half the departments in Franklin use Web-based models for course evaluations.

"There is no way to link a student with an evaluation," she said in reference to both paper and online versions, "but we will forward it to legal authorities to investigate if it poses a serious threat to a faculty member."

Miller said she wishes online evaluations produced the same level of student participation as the paper versions - which students complete in class rather than during their own time. But budget constraints make paper versions costly, she said. Students should not worry about their evaluations affecting their grades because faculty do not see the results until after grades are posted, she said.

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools