It’s finals season, and inboxes are filled with reminders to finish essays and prep for tests — but MMC students may have also noticed the familiar class climate evaluation email spam. The course evaluation period for Fall 2024 started on Thursday, December 5 and will close on Wednesday, December 18, 2024.
These evaluations are issued near the completion of every semester to gather anonymous and honest student feedback on both courses and faculty. It’s a standard practice and a part of the Middle States’s accreditation.
However, this is not just any year. In light of the merger with Northeastern University (NU), MMC students may be wondering how their feedback could contribute to decisions surrounding the future of MMC academics.
Katie Langan, Interim Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty provided her insights into the conversation.
“I think that the reason that there’s so much on the table right now is because of our merger with Northeastern,” said Langan. “I hope that students will continue to do these in accordance to how they feel about how the course worked for them.”
In a recent town hall meeting to discuss the merger, NU Executive Vice Provost Thomas Sheahan shared, “In many ways, things will not change much at all because you will still have the same faculty advisors and staff here.” Despite this, MMC students may still wonder whether these end-of-year evaluations could impact the faculty and courses.
Langan shared that these evaluations would be done regardless of the merger.
“I hope the burden isn’t placed on students that feel that this is a make or break,” said Langan, “This is not the only observation that’s ever been done. There are student evaluations going back years and years and years and Northeastern will see those. This semester is not the make or break in terms of Northeastern.”
Practically, these course evaluations are meant to give faculty insight into what works and what doesn’t. The questions posed prompt students to evaluate things such as how well class time was spent, their thoughts on the class materials, and whether they were inspired by their professor.
Before COVID-19 shifted evaluations online, students were given manila envelopes and class time to complete their class surveys. Now, in the digital age, MMC saw a drop in student evaluation participation. This can become an issue because the greater the volume of responses the more accurate a professor’s assessment of their course will be.
“I hope that students will continue to do these in accordance to how they feel about how the course works for them and really give honest feedback,” said Langan, “ I hope that students understand that their voices are an important gesture here just as they have always been.”
In a follow up email to The Monitor, Interim Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty Katie Langan shared additional information.
“Academic Affairs has been working on getting better student participation since the college moved this evaluation form to a digital format. This semester we added more communication for students and have asked for in class time to complete them.”
“This is not the only student evaluation that’s ever been done. There are student evaluations going back years and years and Northeastern will see three years of those. What is important, however, is full participation from all the students, not just one or two.”
