As Friday's editorial opinion ("Pop quiz: Profs, students must both be evaluated during the semester") suggested, students should evaluate and provide feedback to professors on a mid-semester basis, if not more often. That way, professors can improve their teaching techniques for that semester's students. The current end-of-semester SRTE system is inadequate because professors receive the results when it is too late to make a change for the class that provided feedback.

However, I question the solution the editorial provided, which would involve mandatory mid-semester Scantron forms for every professor. The effectiveness of student feedback from obligatory SRTE Scantron forms are weak substitutes for optional evaluations made by the professor because professors can ask the questions they want answered or request critical evaluations of teaching techniques from students. For example, a response of 3.7 on a SRTE for the question "How do I use the overhead?" does not tell a professor as much as the response "focus the overhead better" on an evaluation designed by the professor. SRTE's are good for evaluating professors on a numerical scale, but practical feedback comes from evaluations made and distributed by professors at their own will.

Of course, not every professor is willing to take the initiative and ask for student feedback. Ironically, the ones that need it the least are the ones that ask for it the most. However, students have the responsibility to take an active stance in their education and approach professors with feedback if the professors have not asked for it themselves. In my classes, I have found that most professors are sincere about improving their teaching techinques and are open to student feedback.

However, if students don't feel comfortable criticizing an instructor or asking that instructor to provide a mid-semester evaluation, they can come to the Undergraduate Student Government and we'll approach that professor for them (remember, one of the roles of USG is to be a bridge between students, faculty and administration). A better solution than obligatory mid-semester Scantron forms is for USG or the administration to encourage professors to voluntarily ask for critical evaluations during the semester.

And students, we don't have to wait for a fixed time to provide feedback; we should feel free to offer those evaluations of a rolling basis. Speak up: Our tuition pays for our education!