University of Virginia Library

Academic Affairs
Begin Evaluation

By Stefan Lopatkiewicz
Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

"We're working on a book that
will be as much for the benefit of
the faculty as well as for the students,"
said Jackson Lears, chairman
of the Student Council's Academic
Affairs Committee, in discussing
the '1969 curriculum evaluation
booklet.'

Mr. Lears expressed optimism
that this year's booklet, which is
scheduled for publication in spring
prior to preregistration, will be
superior to that of last year, the
first of its kind attempted, which
he described as "loss than meaningful."

Two Weaknesses

He pointed out two weaknesses
of last spring's booklet which he
said his committee would eliminate
this year. The first of these was a
lack of sufficient participation in
the evaluation, as only three per
cent of the students receiving the
appropriate forms responded to
them. The other major weakness, according to Mr. Lears, was a static
presentation of the survey's results
in the publication.

Mr. Lears said that to overcome
the first of these problems, it has
already been arranged to distribute
the evaluation forms to students
through their professors in classrooms,
today and tomorrow

Depending On Departments

"We're depending heavily on
departmental participation for
this," he said, and noted that
Fredson T. Bowers, dean of the
Faculty of Arts and Sciences, has
been a major force in making possible
the new system of sampling
student opinion on the subject. "If
it weren't for Dean Bowers, we
couldn't have gotten this distribution
system," he said.

Mr. Lears said he expected a 90
per cent response on the evaluation
forms under the new system.

Second Solution

To solve the second problem of
last year's booklet, the Council's
Academic Affairs Committee has
changed the formats of both the
evaluation form and booklet this
year. As opposed to the dry, number
system by which courses were
evaluated last year, a subjective
consensus, including some of the
most relevant comments, said Mr.
Lears, will make up this year's
booklet.

This year's evaluation form
includes spaces for subjective evaluations
of both courses and their
instructors. The forms of last year
emphasized the rating of courses
and instructors by a numerical
system, and left subjective comments
optional.

Instructor Evaluation

In addition, Mr. Lears said, instructors
will this year participate
by evaluating from their point of
view the amount of reading, papers
and quizzes in their courses.

Instructors have also been informed
through a memorandum
distributed to them through their
departments to ask for any specific
comments from their students that
they are especially interested in
hearing.

Long Run Value

"In the long run," Mr. Lears
commented. "We will have a book
that will be valuable to students in
choosing subjects and to the faculty
in determining what is wrong with
their courses and how they can
improve them.

"This year's booklet will not
only be very readable, but will be
more meaningful than before."

Mr. Lears said that, in preparing
this year's booklet, the Council's
Academic Affairs Committee is
working in conjunction with the
English and government and foreign
affairs departments' curriculum
committees, which the two departments
initiated on their own.