In recent statements, Penn State President Graham Spanier said he has become more receptive to the idea of letting students see data from the teacher evaluations collected each semester.
"Although I once felt that course evaluations should not be published because of their role as a tool for faculty improvement, I am now more open to the possibility of public access to teaching evaluations," Spanier said in an e-mail.
He voiced similar feelings at a class presentation on leadership last week.
"Students should have the opportunity to sign up for classes with faculty who have an outstanding track record in the classroom, and it might be helpful to develop a system that allows for more openness," he also said in the message.
But Spanier, along with Rodney Erickson, executive vice present and provost, maintain that the main purpose of Student Rating of Teaching Effectiveness (SRTE) forms is to help faculty enhance the quality of their teaching.
Administrators also use SRTEs for promotion and tenure decisions, annual performance reviews, salary increase allocations and broader curricular changes, Erickson said in a separate e-mail.
Ian Rosenberger, who took over as Undergraduate Student Government president this week, said he was "thrilled" to hear Spanier's recent comments.
Leading up to the April 2 election, Rosenberger and USG Vice President Takkeem Morgan campaigned to make SRTEs available to help students with course selection.
"It's a beast of a goal," Rosenberger said. "A lot of people think that it's not so feasible. Now it's a matter of selling that idea to everyone who needs to hear it."
Rosenberger said he was looking at the system at Northwestern University, where the results of course and teacher evaluations can be accessed at the university's library and on its Web site. He said he was planning to visit Northwestern in mid-May to gather information about the school's methods.
Any disclosure of SRTE data at Penn State would have to be approved by the University Faculty Senate, Erickson said.
The administrators also said they want to guard against any system that would devolve into a gossip mill.
"I would hate to see some sort of Web-based system whereby students randomly take potshots at faculty, such as has occurred at some other universities where faculty are suing students for libel regarding some of the comments that have been made on these posting sites," Erickson said. "No one wins in that sort of circus."
