At the end of the semester, students are asked to fill out teacher evaluation forms, but what are these forms, and why must we fill them out? Do they have any real bearing on the teacher, and do teachers even read them and care?

There are two forms that students are asked to fill out during the professor evaluations, a fill-in-the-bubbles sheet for peer faculty to evaluate the professor, as well as a yellow paper for written comments. "The bubble sheets are sent to the University of Washington for their scantron (a machine that analyzes the answer sheets). The results are then sent back here and the top four questions are left on file for students," said Hild Peters, Academic and Faculty Services Manager.

The professors never see the results of these sheets. They are reviewed by faculty advisers as a way of getting an idea of what students think about the professor in question.

However, this may be a hindering obstacle rather than a much needed appraisal from the student body.

"Students can focus more on the teacher than on the course," said UAF Provost Paul Reichardt. "There's a lot of controversy about these evaluations. Can students accurately judge course material when they are beginners in the field? There are a lot of factors that must be taken into account, personality, stage presence, etc." Reichardt talked about an experiment in which a university hired actors to teach people. The results seemed to correlate: It does matter who is doing the presenting."Because this could be viewed as a popularity contest, it's not the sole criteria (for professor review)," Reichardt explained.

Although the student evaluations may give important insight into what the students feel about the professor and course, it is not the only factor taken into consideration."There's a peer evaluation of teaching, classroom observations, course material evaluations, or whatever the unit feels is most valuable," Peters said.

Depending on how the teacher's numbers turn out, they could face non-retention." If the numbers are low then there's a possibility that a mentor or peer will observe and give tips," Peters said. Although some students may not care about the evaluations, most teachers seem to be interested in the feedback students give.

"The most important aspect is to provide feedback so the professors can improve as well as see how students perceive course," Reichardt said.

Wes Schaefer, a junior studying military science, did not take to the evaluations well." I think they're a waste of students' time. Not all teachers leave while we're filling out the sheets. This makes it awkward."

The yellow comment sheets are given directly to the professors once grades have been posted." It makes you feel good or not, depending on the feedback," said Reichardt, who used to be a chemistry professor.

Although Reichardt and Peters do not see a way of making the forms mandatory, they feel there is a good amount of participation now. All the students should know that this is their own way of having a say in teaching styles and strategies. While some professors may choose to ignore the feedback and do whatever they feel is correct,"the good ones will change their course depending," Reichardt said.