Published 2013-04-11T22:23:00Z”/>
Nicholas Carr
<span style=”font-size: 12px;”>Next semester may bring fewer student to teacher evaluations after the Academic Senate unanimously approved a policy change Thursday.</span>
The changes were proposed in response to a collective bargaining agreement between the California State University system and the California Faculty Association, said Russell Mills, chair of the Academic Senate.
The agreement, which was ratified in September, requires that faculty hold evaluations for every class taught. This semester was the first that it went into effect.
Increasing the number of surveys hasn’t provided any additional benefits, Mills said.
“We don’t feel we need to have evaluations in all classes,” he said.
If the senate’s actions are approved by the administration, faculty would only be required to hold two surveys out of all their courses, which was the policy before the bargaining agreement.
This would provide departments with more flexibility in handling evaluations, Mills said.
Faculty members would be encouraged to spread out their inquiries if the courses they teach involve multiple fields or disciplines, said Statewide Senator James Postma of the Academic Senate.
The revised policy now awaits the approval of Chico State President Paul Zingg, whose decision can be expected over the summer, Mills said.
While the Academic Senate’s actions are advisory, Zingg has shown that he values the Senate’s decisions, Mills said.
“I anticipate that by fall we will have a new policy in place,” Mills said.
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<strong style=”font-size: 12px;”>Nicholas Carr can be reached at</strong><a style=”font-size: 12px;” href=”mailto:[email protected]”><em>[email protected]</em></a>
