Teacher evaluations do make an impact

Megan Bowen
Staff Writer
May 6, 2004, Page 1

The time has come when students get a chance to grade their professors.
Teacher evaluations take place at the end of every semester. These evaluations consist of several questions dealing with the professor’s teaching skills, attitude, relationship to students, assignments and tests. The students fill in the circles ranging from “Strongly Agree” to “Strongly Disagree.”
Many students feel that these evaluations are just a waste of time and have questions about what happens to the forms after students fill in their opinions.
The envelopes are sealed and handed in by a student after they leave the classroom. The evaluations remain anonymous to the professors.
Kathy Sand, Faculty Office Manager and Head Secretary, said that once the envelopes are handed to her, she scans them and the evaluations are turned into numerical data. She says this takes three or four days to do.
Following scanning, this data is sent to the Institutional Research office for analysis. This is where Rebecca Gonzales’ role in the process begins.
“After the results are given to me, I turn them into a statistical analysis,” Gonzales said. “From here, they go to Academic Affairs.”
Director of Academic Affairs Nan Weilage said that the analysis becomes a summary sheet. Each course has an individual ranking and all the courses together get an overall ranking. Each department keeps a copy in their file to use in faculty reviews.
“These definitely are considered in the reviews,” Weilage said.
While faculty does get reviewed every year, the first, third and sixth year reviews are considered more important than most years. Student evaluations play a major role in these reviews.
The evaluations are then handed back to the professors, but if everyone involved in the process is busy, this can take up to two months. Giving the sheets back to the professors is designed to help them improve in weaker areas.
Not only does the evaluation go back to the faculty member, a cover sheet that explains it and the overall evaluation of the faculty is attached. Professors do not see others’ individual reviews, they are only shown the general results.
Kathy Sand said that handwritten comments by students are also given to the professors once grades are turned in.
After learning how the evaluation process works, students have some ideas on how to improve it. A number of students said that they felt the evaluations were too broad.
One student commented on how the questions are the same for every course. For example, a music professor and a math professor have completely different forms of teaching, yet the same questions are asked about the way they teach.
“I think they’re vague,” junior Jason Sillasen said. “I never see anything happen with them.”
Students suggested asking for actual, written answers from students, instead of just filling in circles. They feel this might be a more efficient way of seeing if students feel the professors are doing a good job.

Datatel program coming to Doane

Tosha Rae Long
Staff Writer
Mar. 11, 2004, Page 1

The signing of a contract between Doane College and Datatel in September 2002 marked the beginning of a long journey toward technological bliss.
Datatel is a computer software program Doane will be using for administrative purposes. Every office will be able to utilize this software, including human resources, business, payroll, personnel, student life, etc.
This program will allow for students to register online, check financial aid packages, check grades and search for classes.
The switch in systems came after the old system, Poise, which Doane has been using since approximately 1988, went out of business. This event set in motion what would turn into a three year project.
“We were due [for a system upgrade]”, said Rebecca Gonzales, institutional research specialist. “That is a long time for a computer system to last, 15 years.”
The project began with a year long process of deciding which software to purchase. Many faculty members were involved in choosing Datatel.
“It was the best all around,” Gonzales said. “It was the best software for Doane. We are light years from where we were.”
In order to implement software of this magnitude, many factors must come into play. According to Gonzales, the effort has been unanimous.
“I think that everyone has been involved,” Gonzales said. “It has been a huge undertaking. All the offices, student life, everyone has helped. It has really been a team effort.”
July 2003 marked the first milestone in implementing Datatel with the Business Office, the first to come online.
Admissions switched in October 2003, and Payroll is predicted to convert in June 2004.
The Doane-Lincoln campus started registration yesterday with the new software.
Currently, faculty is being trained to register students.
According to Gonzales, as of April 7, Crete campus students will be able to register with the new software. By July 1, the entire program should be live.
“It is going to be better for the students and for the faculty,” Gonzales said. “It is going to provide you with a better service, because isn’t that the whole point?”
The road to employing Datatel has been a long one Gonzales said, one that she is definitely ready to finish.
“The whole thing will be up and running July 1,” Gonzales said. “And on July 2, I am going to take a nap.”

Second annual Doane image survey released

Sara Mettlen
Staff Writer
Feb. 26, 2004, Page 1

Doane’s Office of Communication and Marketing presented the results of its second annual image survey to the Cabinet on Feb. 17.
From last year’s results, goals were set for areas that needed improvement.
“All of our short terms goals were met,” Marketing Director Jody Vondra said. Vondra; J.S. Engebretson, executive director of Communication and Marketing; and Rebecca Gonzales, director of Institutional Research, created the survey.
The survey is part of the Integrated Marketing Effort started in 2000, after receiving a grant from the Teagle Foundation.
Administered in March 2003, the survey was distributed by sending all users an e-mail through the Doane intranet.
The e-mail contained a link to an Internet address where the survey could be taken.
Of 965 undergraduate students from the Crete campus, 296 participated in the survey or 24.5 percent. Also, 38 of 77 full-time faculty responded or 49.4 percent.
Vondra said that it will not be clear if the long term goals are being met until five years of taking the surveys.
One area that saw improvement was communication between the administration and faculty and students.
The survey showed that 46 percent of students feel they are “always” or “usually” informed of decisions made by the administration, up 11 percent from last year’s results.
One area that showed a need for improvement is the cost of attending. Forty one percent of Crete students ranked the cost of attending as a mediocre 3 on a scale of 1 to 5, 1 being poor and 5 being excellent.
The image of the Greek system received considerably lower ratings than other programs.
Forty percent of the faculty gave the image of the Greek system a poor 2 or 1 rating, and only 8 percent gave a positive rating of 4 or 5.
Conversely, 32 percent of students gave the image of the Greek system a rating of 4 or 5, however, 25 percent of students gave the Greek system a 2 or 1 rating and 25 percent reported no opinion. Also, 100 percent of the Cabinet rated the Greek system a 4 or 5.
Tim McArdle, president of Inter-Fraternity Council, accentuated the Cabinet’s response.
“They [the Cabinet] see a lot of the good things the Greek system brings to the college,” McArdle said.
McArdle also said that it seems like the Greeks get into trouble because a lot of them live in the quads, where a majority of problems occur.
He said that most people do not see the good things, such as community service, that the Greek organizations do.
As for the faculty’s views on the Greek system, McArdle said that the faculty only sees the Greeks in class, so they judge them as individuals or in small groups, not the big picture.
Overall, the results were not surprising to McArdle.
“It’s no secret that a lot of people on campus don’t like the Greek system,” McArdle said. “We’re always trying to improve our image.”
The results of this image survey were used to set goals for the survey that will be administered in March.
“Because it is such a new instrument and the image questions were new, it will be interesting to see the changes,” Vondra said.