Duke Student Government unveiled its course evaluations website last night, a day before the Arts and Sciences Council was set to vote on the site's implementation.
Vice President for Academic Affairs Abhijit Prabhu, a senior, presented to DSG legislators the new Student Accessible Course Evaluation System (SACES), which--pending approval at today's Arts and Sciences Council meeting--will make its debut later this month when registration for the Spring 2002 semester begins.
If approved, SACES will be a part of the existing ACES Web bookbag page, Prabhu said. When looking up a specific course on the site, students will have immediate access to a rating of zero to five points for both quality of the course and of the professor.
These primary ratings will be listed underneath the course description, and a "details" link will lead students to several more extensive pages--with such ratings as work load, clarity and organization and professor's enthusiasm listed. SACES features average student ratings for all evaluating rationale, and includes breakdowns between majors and non-majors.
This semester's ratings are derived from data collected in evaluation forms that students completed last April, Prabhu said. The "fill in the bubble" forms implemented last spring allow for quick uploading of data onto the site at the end of each semester. Written student comments, however, are not featured on SACES, but are still reviewed by departments.
"SACES is an opportunity for the faculty to be graded, just as they grade their students," DSG President C.J. Walsh said.
Students have pressured the University in recent years to implement such a system. In past years, students evaluated courses at the end of each semester, but the results were not released to them.
Course evaluations are expected to increase accountability for professors, Prabhu said. The system will allow professors a chance to offer explanations for some of the ratings provided by their students.
Prabhu said he expects the Arts and Sciences Council to approve the implementation of SACES at today's meeting.
IN OTHER BUSINESS: Director of Dining Services Jim Wulforst and Duke University Student Dining Advisory Committee Chair Jason Freedman presented their 2001-2002 plans. Freedman said DUSDAC and the University are working on a meal equivalency program to alleviate freshmen concerns about paying for meals at the Marketplace that they are not eating. Possible programs include "breakfast on the run" bags and substituting lunches for breakfasts.
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