Staff Editorial | More information would aid class choices

At the end of every semester, students face the dilemma of selecting classes for the next semester, and are only provided with minimal information about courses and professors. In the weeks before and during the pre-registration period, students can review the annually published Course Catalogue, which offers a limited description of a course and often does not include information about new courses offered in the upcoming semester. If more information were provided about courses and professors before the pre-registration period, students would have more confidence in their schedules and the reshuffling of courses during the add/drop period would not be so chaotic.

The College Web site is one space that could be expanded to include this additional class information. Currently, the College only transcribes the course descriptions in the hard copy of the Course Catalogue onto the Vassar Web site. A more accessible and up-to-date online course information system would be extremely valuable for students who seek more details about what topics a class will cover. Also, changing the Web site would make choosing classes much easier for incoming freshman, who cannot rely on past knowledge of Vassar classes and peer comments when choosing which courses to take. Currently, many department and program Web sites contain outdated information, which can mislead students about specific course topics.

Making the Web site more informative could primarily come in the form of posting past course syllabi online. Students could refer to the syllabi to gain a better understanding of the specific objectives of a course and the professor’s areas of interest. When a new course is going to be offered, professors could provide a preliminary draft of a syllabus in lieu of a past syllabus, so students would have a sense of what specific topics the class would address.

Dean of Studies Alexander Thompson III suggested that students could give their syllabi at the end of the semester to a common source, like the Vassar Student Association (VSA), to create a comprehensive listing of past courses. This catalogue could be posted online to give students an idea of the progression of a specific course over time. Online student feedback on courses and professors could also supplement this catalogue. Until recently, Vassar had an online server called AskStudents, on which students posted comments about courses and professors. However, the site eventually deteriorated into being a list of crude comments about professors before being shut down. Students have since expressed interest in restoring an AskStudents-type resource, rather than relying on outside sites with questionable reliability such as ratemyprofessors.com.

VSA Academic Executive Rachel Zoghlin ’07 said that the newly formed Academic Committee will work throughout the year to revive an AskStudents-type site. If appropriately monitored and logically organized, the Web site would be an beneficial resource for the student community, particularly during pre-registration.

In addition to AskStudents, posting formal evaluations of professors and courses would be useful. Currently, students fill out Course Evaluation Questionnaires (CEQs) to rate the course in various general areas. The CEQs are undergoing scrutiny by both faculty and students, with the intent of revising the evaluations. After the CEQs are revised to be more representative of a student’s experience in a course, posting these online would be a space for students to find reliable information about professors.

Vassar has in place a strong advising system to help students navigate their four years at the school, which is integral to a student’s experience at the College. Making more information about courses available in the form of a class syllabus, a professor’s scholarship, and course evaluations would aid students’ process of selecting classes and committing to a courseload for a semester. Vassar students have limitted time at the College, and because of professors going on leave or students studying abroad, a student may only have one opportunity to take a certain course during their eight semesters of college. In light of this, it is imperative for students to have the tools to make educated decisions about their class schedules.

The Staff Editorial represents at least a two-thirds majority of the Editorial Board.