Editorial: Opt-in or opt-out

In December, the Arts and Science Council will vote on a proposal to permanently approve an opt-in system for the Student Accessible Course Evaluation System, which provides quantitative data on courses through ACES web. The Council should approve this plan, but should not stop thinking about the issue and refining the system to better serve student needs.

What is most unfortunate is that the council will vote on the opt-in system, in which professors must choose to be included in the system rather than the opt-out system currently in use, in which professors are included in the system unless they specifically ask to be left out. The danger is that professors will be less likely to put their evaluations online if they have to make an effort to do so, whereas they will be less likely to opt out if their information is automatically posted.

However, council chair Ron Witt believes the council would unequivocally deny any proposal to make a permanent opt-out system, so it seems the opt-in system is the only possible option; in any case, any type of online data is preferable to nothing.

With an opt-in system, the most important aspect for students is that a large number of professors provide their data. Professors need to recognize that students are both smart and responsible and will use data in a similar manner, and so should continue to provide it.

Professors who oppose SACES generally base their argument either on the premise that students should not be evaluating professors in the first place, so placing data online only codifies an already invalid metric, or that students will abuse the course evaluation data to find the easiest classes or ones with the least amount of work. Neither of these arguments reflects the reality at the University.

While undergraduates may not always accurately evaluate the impact of a course or how well the material was covered, they are able to provide general impressions, such as whether the course was intellectually stimulating or if it was a waste of time. Undergraduates may not make perfect judgments about the quality of a course or professor, but they certainly can make such judgments in a general sense.

Undergraduates generally do not decide on courses based on difficulty; rather, students choose courses based on the content of the course, the professor and most of all how interesting and stimulating the course will be.

Moreover, SACES is not the only or primary tool used by students to judge classes. Students talk with their peers who have had courses, consult with their adviser or make decisions based on hearsay. Many campus organizations compile their own listing and evaluations of courses. SACES just adds another piece of information to the large body of resources already available to students.