The dream of giving students detailed course information with the click of the mouse has moved one step closer to reality.
The Undergraduate Council and the ASUO coordinators began work Thursday morning to make professor biographies and course syllabi accessible to students before they enroll in the class.
ASUO Executive Projects coordinator Tambi Boyle and University Affairs coordinator J.R. Fitzpatrick presented a proposal to the council that would potentially link that information to Duck Hunt and enhance the scheduling process for University students.
Those two, along with members of the Undergraduate Council, comprise a committee that will examine what options are available and devise a plan for action.
“To my understanding, the Undergraduate Council has been looking for a way to get this information across,” Boyle said. “We’re informing students in a different way. Since the Internet has become this big thing, it makes sense.”
Since fall term, the ASUO has been working to provide course evaluations on Duck Hunt for students to view. That section of the plan is now being completed by the University computing center.
If everything goes as planned, students registering for fall term will be able to see how previous students rated the class and professor compared to other University classes.
While many courses already publish syllabi and professor information on-line, this proposal aims to expand and streamline the process to all University classes.
“We’re trying to develop a plan that would bring all these tools together,” Fitzpatrick said.
Although movement has been initiated, it will be a few years before the ball stops rolling.
“It’s not something that is going to be done overnight,” Fitzpatrick said.
Initial hopes are set on having a good plan, or at the very least a good idea, in place by the middle of this term. However, the end result will probably not be seen for a few years.
“Nothing will probably be finalized by the end of the term,” Boyle said. “It will be a few years before everything is up and running.”
The council appeared receptive to the expanded plan, Fitzpatrick said, and Boyle added that its members seemed excited to finally have a plan in the works.
“This is a way to empower the students so they have more information,” she said.
Empowering the students entails providing information from course descriptions to professor office hours, degrees and e-mail addresses.
Jocelyn Edel, a sophomore business major, expressed doubt that many students will actually utilize the program.
“I don’t know how many people would actually take the time to look at that,” she said. “Unless you don’t really know what the class is about, then it could be helpful.”
Boyle said that she hoped students would utilize the on-line services as supplemental information, while taking what they know as background information before going to meet the professor.
At this point in time, however, the committee is beginning to schedule meetings in order to feel out the options.
“Right now, it’s basically trying to keep the open dialogue going,” Fitzpatrick said.