The agenda was approved by voice vote. Item VI of the minutes was incomplete. Emily Thomas, Director of Institutional Research, discussed the Teaching Evaluations. Faculty, especially those who teach large courses in the sciences, have expressed concern about the objectivity of the teaching evaluations, and about the interpretation of these evaluations by the administration.
Statistics show that smaller courses are evaluated more favorably, as are courses in the humanities.
Ms. Thomas conceded that there are lots of errors in the current evaluation system, and presented some possible fixes. Preprinting forms with these data would be impractical. She also suggested replacing the university average, used for comparative purposes, with a predicted score based upon a model involving departments and class size and standing. A. Tyree agreed to work with Ms. Thomas on this matter. The suggestion that evaluation forms could be made accessible though Blackboard was not received well.