When finals start to wind down and class selection for the coming semester begins, many students look to RateMyProfessor.com for special insights about prospective teachers. In an NIU student poll from a sample of 55 students, it would appear the RateMyProfessor does have some weight concerning enrollment in certain credits.

When asked, “Do you use Rate My Professor to choose classes,” 35 out of 50 students polled responded yes. Of these students, 12 affirmed the site played a large role in their class selection whereas 17 said it somewhat swayed their class selection. With such an influential tool used by students, professors should offer some sort of feedback to polarizing or uninformed student reviews.

The first fundamental problem I have with the Rate My Professor, and why I have probably used it on occasion, lies in its content. Rate My Professor reviews can point students toward classes that may not challenge them. When reading a review of one current professors, despite giving a “good quality” rating overall, one reviewer stated my professor “was the most unorganized I have ever had. I hated that I never read or paid attention and got an A.”

Another review stated, “If you want to learn anything about the subject, don’t take this course. If you want an easy A for a Gen Ed, this course is perfect. The key is learning how to work the system for this course, as long as you sound like you know what you’re talking about in your essays, you’ll get an A. I barely studied or stayed awake in class and did just that.”

Working the system? We are in higher education to better ourselves, not sheepishly manipulate a system. Yes, in our college vernacular do exist certain rhymes such as “C’s get degrees.” Nevertheless, if NIU professors actively read and refuted points students make about them on the site, they may learn we are actually smarter than we lead on. Maybe classes will get harder, but the university will maintain a higher standard in education all around.

At the end of the day, my brief student sample do agree some sort of professor action is needed on Rate My Professor as 32 out of 50 wished for professor feedback to student comments.

Unfortunately, students do not have the luxury to read data from evaluations taken at the end of the semester. Would it not be prudent to be sure what the digital universe says is the irrefutable, undeniable truth? Will not the faculty of NIU stand up for their teaching methods, classes, and own personal image in the only current educational medium providing such a method? After all, students are your livelihood just as much as your advertisements.