THE ISSUE: Faculty members will discuss a proposal that calls for changing SITE evaluations at the University Senate meeting on Thursday.

OUR VIEW: The current system of evaluating professors is ineffective and the senate should consider a drastic overhaul that would be more beneficial to the faculty.

It’s a practice that’s become as commonplace as tests, quizzes and homework in college classes, and yet many students don’t give it a second thought.

Every semester, Western students fill out SITE evaluations that are used to rate the effectiveness of their professors.

What the senate seems to have realized is that the current evaluation system is outdated and inconsequential to a generation that grew up with the internet.

The proposal that will be discussed at Thursday’s meeting calls for evaluations with 45 questions that should take about 15 minutes to complete.

What’s not been made clear is whether the new evaluations will be printed or put online for students to fill out.

Despite SITE committee head Sharon Mutter’s argument that online evaluations would be difficult to require students to fill out, the Herald feels that printed evaluations provide an even greater inconvenience.

Any revamped evaluation the senate decides on should be placed on TopNet and not spit out of a printer.

To ensure they’re filled out, finals grades should not be made available to students until all evaluations are complete.

Moving evaluations online would have several benefits.

The current system has evaluations taking place during class time, a move that often leaves students feeling rushed to complete their assessment quickly.

Online evaluations would allow students more time to consider each assessment and provide more thoughtful answers.

Not only that, but online evaluations save paper, thereby saving Western money.

The senate is correct to assume that evaluation questions need an overhaul.

The current evaluation features questions that are too broad and repetitive to represent student opinions, so any revamped version should have more open-ended questions.

Additionally, questions should be specific and focus on important aspects of a professor’s performance, including the effectiveness of performance measures and class structure.

Placing a revised evaluation online presents only one drawback that students will likely notice:

Where will they draw their pictures?

This editorial represents the majority opinion of the Herald’s 11-member editorial board.