ESSAY QUESTION:
"The mission of a university is to educate its students. Therefore, a professor's pay and promotions should be based primarily on students' evaluations of his or her courses."
Discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the opinion stated above. Support your views with reasons and/or examples from your own experience, observations, or reading.
YOUR RESPONSE:
The issue of whether the professor's pay and promotion should be based chiefly on students; evaluation of his or her courses is a contentious one. Some may argue that the main duty of a professor is to teach the students and hence students' evaluation is the most crucial aspect in deciding if the professor must be given a hike in pay or a promotion. On the flip-side, others argue that teaching students is not the only mission of the university . Producing high quality research papers is also a crucial aspect. Hence a professor must also be judged on the kind of research work he does. In the following paragraphs, i will present my views in support of the latter.
The primary reason i believe that professor's pay and promotion essentially on students' evaluation is that students tend to be biased when evaluating teachers. If a student has a personal conflict or was failed in the course by a professor, the student is likely to give the professor a poor evaluation. This evaluation cannot be used as a standard to measure the quality of the professors teaching methods. Moreover students might not like the course the professor is teaching which would make the student dislike the professor's lectures resulting in the student giving a poor evaluation. Hence the professors' salary and promotion must not be solely given based on the student's evaluation.
In addition to that, the university is also responsible to produce high quality research and help the society with new innovations and concepts to deal with the present day problems. This implies that the research work done is also a vital aspect of a professors job. For example, if the professor has published a research paper which has benefited a number of people and industries or if the professor has got the university a patent for his work which fetched the university a substantial of money, he should be fairly compensated for the same.
Moreover, administrative posts held by a professor must also be taken into account while deciding the pay or promotion of the professor. If the professor discharges his administrative duties efficiently he must suitably rewarded for the same, because without proper administration the university would never be able to fulfill it's mission.
In sum, a professor's compensation and promotion should not be based mainly on the students' evaluation as the evaluation is not a true indicator of the professors teaching. Other factors such as the research work done by the professor and the administrative duties discharged by him must also be taken into account as they are of equal importance.
"The mission of a university is to educate its students. Therefore, a professor's pay and promotions should be based primarily on students' evaluations of his or her courses."
Discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the opinion stated above. Support your views with reasons and/or examples from your own experience, observations, or reading.
YOUR RESPONSE:
The issue of whether the professor's pay and promotion should be based chiefly on students; evaluation of his or her courses is a contentious one. Some may argue that the main duty of a professor is to teach the students and hence students' evaluation is the most crucial aspect in deciding if the professor must be given a hike in pay or a promotion. On the flip-side, others argue that teaching students is not the only mission of the university . Producing high quality research papers is also a crucial aspect. Hence a professor must also be judged on the kind of research work he does. In the following paragraphs, i will present my views in support of the latter.
The primary reason i believe that professor's pay and promotion essentially on students' evaluation is that students tend to be biased when evaluating teachers. If a student has a personal conflict or was failed in the course by a professor, the student is likely to give the professor a poor evaluation. This evaluation cannot be used as a standard to measure the quality of the professors teaching methods. Moreover students might not like the course the professor is teaching which would make the student dislike the professor's lectures resulting in the student giving a poor evaluation. Hence the professors' salary and promotion must not be solely given based on the student's evaluation.
In addition to that, the university is also responsible to produce high quality research and help the society with new innovations and concepts to deal with the present day problems. This implies that the research work done is also a vital aspect of a professors job. For example, if the professor has published a research paper which has benefited a number of people and industries or if the professor has got the university a patent for his work which fetched the university a substantial of money, he should be fairly compensated for the same.
Moreover, administrative posts held by a professor must also be taken into account while deciding the pay or promotion of the professor. If the professor discharges his administrative duties efficiently he must suitably rewarded for the same, because without proper administration the university would never be able to fulfill it's mission.
In sum, a professor's compensation and promotion should not be based mainly on the students' evaluation as the evaluation is not a true indicator of the professors teaching. Other factors such as the research work done by the professor and the administrative duties discharged by him must also be taken into account as they are of equal importance.
