Posted on 05/24/2015 3:17:18 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
In what is apparently a vogue of Republican state legislators exercising misplaced vendettas against college professors, Iowa Sen. Mark Chelgren recently made headlines when he introduced Senate File 64, “an Act relating to the teaching effectiveness and employment of professors” at Iowa public institutions.
Each year, the bill stipulates, any faculty who fails “to attain a minimum threshold of performance” based solely on student evaluations would be automatically fired regardless of rank or tenure. Lest you think that firing professors based on a questionable assessment metric affords them too much dignity, rest assured there is more. Some beleaguered governing body would also publish the names of the five professors with the lowest acceptable evaluations, and the student body would then “vote on the question of whether any of the five professors will be retained.”......
.....When, for example, a diner at a restaurant pairs tilapia with zinfandel, and then raises a holy fit about how disgusting her tilapia tastes, the manager has little choice but to restrain the irate sommelier and comp the food, even though it is the customer’s fault the food was “bad.” The staff would not dare suggest the customer try a different wine, because that rude attitude would be yet more fodder for a scathing Yelp review; e.g., “If I could give this place negative stars, I would!”....
(Excerpt) Read more at slate.com ...
Stand up comics might be a big improvement over some bitter Marxist humanities professors.
This is the cost effective way.
Though perhaps less entertaining.
SENATE FILE 64
BY CHELGREN
A BILL FOR An Act relating to the teaching effectiveness and employment of professors employed by institutions of higher learning under the control of the state board of regents.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
Section 1. Section 262.9, subsection 25, Code 2015, is amended to read as follows:
a. Require that any professor employed by an institution of higher learning under the control of the board teach at least one course offered for academic credit per semester.
(1) Collaborate with the institutions of higher learning under the board’s control to develop and adopt the criteria and a rating system the institutions shall use to establish specific performance goals for professors and to evaluate the performance of each professor employed by each institution based on the evaluations completed by students pursuant to this paragraph.
Each institution of higher learning under the board’s control shall develop, and administer at the end of each semester, an evaluation mechanism by which each student enrolled in the institution shall assess the teaching effectiveness of each professor who is providing instruction to the student each semester.
For a professor teaching multiple classes in a semester, the institution shall compile an average evaluation score. Scores are not cumulative. If a professor fails to attain a minimum threshold of performance based on the student evaluations used to assess the professor’s teaching effectiveness, in accordance with the criteria and rating system adopted by the board, the institution shall terminate the professor’s employment regardless of tenure status or contract.
(2) The names of the five professors who rank lowest on their institution’s evaluation for the semester, but who scored above the minimum threshold of performance, shall be published on the institution’s internet site and the student body shall be offered an opportunity to vote on the question of whether any of the five professors will be retained as employees of the institution. The employment of the professor receiving the fewest votes approving retention shall be terminated by the institution regardless of tenure status or contract.
Develop a policy requiring oral communication competence of persons who provide instruction to students attending institutions under the control of the board. The policy shall include a student evaluation mechanism which requires student evaluation of persons providing instruction on at least an annual basis.
However, the board shall establish criteria by which an institution may discontinue annual evaluations of a specific person providing instruction. The criteria shall include receipt by the institution of two consecutive positive annual evaluations from the majority of students evaluating the person.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
This bill directs the state board of regents to require that any professor employed by an institution of higher learning under the control of the board teach at least one course offered for academic credit per semester.
The board must also collaborate with the institutions to develop and adopt the criteria and rating system the institutions shall use to establish specific performance goals for professors and to evaluate the performance of each professor employed by each institution based on the evaluations completed by students.
Each of the regents universities must develop, and administer at the end of each semester, an evaluation mechanism each student enrolled in the university must use to assess the teaching effectiveness of each professor providing instruction to the student each semester. For a professor teaching multiple classes in a semester, the institution shall compile an average evaluation score. Scores are not cumulative.
The names of the five professors who rank lowest on their institution’s evaluation for the semester, but who scored above the minimum threshold of performance, shall be published on the institution’s internet site and the student body shall be offered an opportunity to vote on the question of whether any of the five professors will be retained as employees of the institution.
If a professor fails to attain a minimum threshold of performance based on the evaluations or receives the fewest votes approving retention, the institution shall terminate the professor’s employment regardless of tenure status or contract.
And the nice thing about trades such as plumbing, electrical or HVAC repair is that these occupations can’t be outsourced to China or India.
I would suggest that spending $250K to earn a degree from a third-tier private college is, basically, nuts, when a degree from State U. can be obtained for 1/5 that price. More amazing is that the education establishment has sold so many people on the proposition that this is a good idea. The acceptance of the concept that formal education is desirable at any cost led to the incredible college cost inflation over the last three or four decades.
Also, the Universities in Europe make it a point that the chief executive officers teach. Some even do both of teaching and research. This keeps the hands of their Presidents, Vice Presidents, Deans, Vice Chancellors, etc., in the business. If the elite administrators in Iowa refuse to perform their duty of teaching, will a similar evaluation by the teaching professors of the non-teaching administrators be included in subsequent versions of the bill?
That is really an awful idea. Any semblance of academic standards that still remains would be completed evaporated if that bill becomes law.
“(2) The names of the five professors who rank lowest on their institution’s evaluation for the semester, but who scored above the minimum threshold of performance, shall be published on the institution’s internet site and the student body shall be offered an opportunity to vote on the question of whether any of the five professors will be retained as employees of the institution. The employment of the professor receiving the fewest votes approving retention shall be terminated by the institution regardless of tenure status or contract.”
This is merely a mandate to give every student an A, to avoid being on that list.
In my opinion there should be such tension. But the focus needs to be on: 1) using technology to slash costs - classroom learning is quite unnecessary nowadays, 2) administrative bloat, and 3) upholding high standards.
3) isn’t going to win any votes unfortunately, the fact is that there are way too many students in college (who should be out there working) not too few.
It’s easier to scapegoat these college instructors who are stuck pandering to students who have remedial skills and probably shouldn’t have made it out of high school in the first place.
This definitely wins the Ugliest Oxymoron award.
{shudder}
Actually, that’s not so. Art history majors, for example, tend to be upper-class women. They may enjoy a net worth through inheritance or marriage, but they’re not in school in order to maximize their earning power. Many aren’t.
I had one professor who refused to award an A to any American student since none of us had to walk twenty miles a day through lion infested territory. I had another one who refused to award an A to any student who had not declared a major in his department. That sort of nonsense should not fly, but I wouldn’t want to turn this into a popularity contest. There needs to be an objective way to evaluate these profs.
Also, most people, given the opportunity would rather their kids go to the Ivy League school over State U., in part for the experience, in large part for the networking and whom they meet, and in large part because for the rest of their lives they have a leg up on employment and advancement because of that exclusive-school seal of approval.
You may measure education on a purely dollars-in and dollars-out basis, but many don’t.
I agree that for those who can’t afford college on their own—and don’t otherwise win scholarships voluntarily given in the private sector—professional education that is as cost effective as possible should be a priority.
It’s a tricky business since employers use college degrees from good schools as a primary means of filtering prospective employees, but largely leaving the private sector to sort it out should solve it as well as anything. Just take away the government subsidies!
One big Atlanta school district.
For career-technical education, the way student success is determined is three-fold after completing a full program of 1050 hours: get a job in the trained skill or related area, enter the military, enter further education. If 4-year colleges were measured in a similar way, I wonder if they’d be able to keep their authorization for offering educational financing. That’s what it means for career-tech schools.
Everyone else is rated by the customers but the "important" work of the academics must be placed beyond the plebeians reach.
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