University of Virginia Library

Brief Introductions

In addition to the departmental
evaluations, there are introductory
essays on the three schools whose
courses make up the booklet.
Unfortunately, these essays tend to
be superficial. The College one, for
example, totals only five paragraphs
and offers little in the way of
suggested improvements and then
when there are suggestions made
they do not receive the
explanations and justifications that
seem appropriate. Time pressures
are again a factor here and maybe a
series of articles in this paper on the
respective schools by the three
editors would be a better
mechanism. In any event, the
expertise which the editors develop
as a result of their work on all the
courses offered by their schools
should not be allowed to go to
waste.

The first year seminar program
is evaluated for the first time this
year, certainly a welcome addition.
However, because of the nebulous
character of the seminar titles in
many cases, it would appear to be
necessary to provide some further
indication of the content of the
course. The evaluations which
appear in the booklet are limited to
short summaries of the response to
the instructor. Also, while mention
is made of thy fact that a different
form was used by the committee
for the seminars, one is not given
any further indication of the nature
of that form.