Toward the end of each term, the university asks students to fill out evaluation surveys for their courses and professors. The surveys ask students to explain what they found engaging, helpful or challenging, but the results are kept private by the university. Students are not allowed to benefit by seeing the evaluations from their peers when deciding which course to take. Further, students never know if their own evaluations were listened to or effected any change.
It is no secret that many college students take on mounds of debt and struggle financially to attend university. Shouldn’t they at least have the reassurance that the education they’re paying for is worth it? Publicized course evaluations would allow students to make informed decisions on which courses and professors to choose when registering for classes.
In its place instead, there is a semi-popular platform for this purpose: Rate My Professors. As the name suggests, the website allows people to anonymously rate professors and schools across a variety of fields. Users can search the site and read others’ ratings and comments.
If it sounds like a positive place, it’s not. The site is filled with curse words, and it is clear many people post with rage and a vengeful spirit. (I encourage these online haters to watch the 2011 film “Cyberbully” starring Emily Osment, not just because it may remind them of the consequences of their actions, but because that movie is torture to sit through, and they deserve it.)
I am sure most would agree, especially with a year online, that teachers work extremely hard to make learning engaging and fruitful — and decidedly do not deserve to be bullied mercilessly online. Professors nationwide have taken to blogs, student newspapers and even YouTube to speak about the site’s slanderous culture, often arguing that it allows for users to make baseless accusations, bully and discriminate. According to a Slate published study, female and Asian instructors may be disproportionately low-rated, and sexist and racist attitudes are common on the site. The site’s own functionality has been used to target professors, even allowing users to rate professor’s “hotness.” Basically, it sucks, but, like most sucky technology, people use it.
Without a more official source for sharing or reviewing course evaluations, though, it makes sense that students who want to make informed decisions when registering for classes may look into sites like Rate My Professors. I have even used the platform, despite its lack of reliability, to compare different professors for the same course. While I understand how the site is essentially baseless, misguided and often cruel, it leads me to wonder why there isn’t a more official option to review peer’s course experiences.
Many could benefit from a publicized platform where course evaluations are shared. If students were required to confirm their enrollment with UO identification, and if offensive language was filtered out, troll-like, bullying content could be censored while still allowing students to authentically share their experiences. Flawed sites like Rate My Professor would have less influence were there an alternative, approved forum for students to use — not to simply rate teachers who never asked to be graded, but instead to share knowledge about courses and connect with other students. Students could make more informed decisions on class selections, and the platform would likely foster better relations between students and teachers.
Students deserve to receive the quality education they are paying for and should take full advantage of this privilege — guiding peers, communicating with professors and demanding care from your university should be commonplace at all colleges. But it is difficult to advocate for yourself when you feel your voice goes unheard; students deserve to be listened to and for their convictions to create noticeable change. Students deserve to share their course experiences for their university’s benefit and to make informed decisions regarding their own education. Students should be given the resources to do so.