Students must fill out a teacher evaluation for each class at the end of every semester.

Though the actual evaluation forms differ by college, the format for each is similar. Most forms are Scantron-style with varying questions about the quality of the teacher at the top and room for individual comments at the bottom.

There has never been a desire to make the forms identical throughout different colleges, said Vice Provost Earl Seaver.

The first people to see the filled-out evaluations are the individual faculty members after the class is over, said Harold Kafer, Dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts. The forms later are seen by a personnel committee of elected faculty members of each department of each college.

As part of a teacher evaluation process, forms also include an evaluation of the teacher’s syllabus writing and curriculum development.

Students’ evaluations are especially important for each teacher’s annual merit review, though the they are just one piece of the puzzle, Kafer said.

“Perhaps the most important aspect of the teacher evaluations is individual faculty members look at the information and try to improve,” Kafer said. “We want our students to be engaged in the process of teacher evaluation.”

Joel Stafstrom, associate professor in biological sciences, said he takes student evaluation forms very seriously. He also wishes he could see his students’ feedback sooner in the semester, instead of at the end.

“I look over the comments very carefully and I take what [the students] say very seriously,” Stafstrom said. “If they say that my handwriting is poor, I try to work on that. If they tell me my jokes are bad, I’ll get a better writer.”

Stafstrom also said he sometimes sneaks questions regarding what students think about his classes into tests as extra credit.

Junior English major Amanda Osmanski said she is glad to be given the chance to evaluate her professors, but does not think her input is taken into consideration. She questioned what happens to the forms and said she wonders if her voice is heard.

Students such as freshman business major John Haseman do not think the evaluations are a waste of time.

“Since I’m a freshman, I’ve never filled out the evaluations before, but I think they’re a good idea,” he said.

Some students, such as sophomore history major Tawny Bates, feel teacher evaluation forms simply come at a bad time.

“Most of the time I just bubble in answers on a Scantron because by that time I just want to get the hell out of the class,” Bates said. “But if I like the professor or hate the professor, I’ll let them know.”

To see what NIU professors think of online teacher evaluation sites such as www.ratemyprofessor.com,