Senate revamps rankings

The Student Senate's "most popular resource" is deeply flawed and currently undergoing a facelift, said Dina Bartoloni, Student Senate's director of academic affairs who helps moderate the Web site.

The site, www.senatecourseguide.com, says its mission is "to provide a service for students to evaluate their past and present professors at the University of Southern California."

But professors, students and even the Web site's own moderators have concerns with various aspects of it. Fixing it is "a major priority," Bartoloni said.

The Web site allows computer users to rank USC professors on a scale of one to 10 in five categories and also lets users leave text reviews. It also hosts a "Top Ten" section listing the highest-rated and lowest-rated professors in each category.

The most-recommended professors, in descending order, are: Gene Bickers, Julie Albright, Xiu-Zhi Wu and Mark Redekopp, with Robert Roussey and Angus McColl tied for the fifth position on the list, according to the site.

"I think it's very nice that ... I would be mentioned on the site, but I take it with a grain of salt, because I know it's not a scientific survey," said Bickers, a professor of physics and astronomy.

"I think it's exciting," said Albright, a lecturer who teaches social psychology classes at USC and is number two on the Web site's Top Ten list. "(But) it would seem to me that sites like this are going to attract ... people who are either very happy or very (upset)."

"I take pride in my work and the fact that it's received well by students," said Redekopp, a lecturer in the electrical engineering department who is listed as No. 4 on the Top Ten list. "At the same time, it's subjective, so I try not to hold it too closely."

Problems with the site

Bartoloni said concerns with the site have triggered an effort to revamp it.

"We feel it needs to be a lot more scientific," she said.

There is nothing on the site preventing multiple votes or multiple text reviews, Bartoloni said. The site is public, and anybody - USC student or not - can vote and write reviews, she added.

Emily Fetting, a senior majoring in history who serves as the Student Senate's senior director of communications, helps moderate the site.

"The Top Ten is really circumstantial," said Fetting. She added that "there's a lot to be done" to improve the site.

Nine out of 10 users are anonymous and some who have provided their e-mail addresses to the Senate Course Guide site have complained about finding them published online, Fetting said.

Moderators cannot edit the reviews either, Bartoloni said. She said that many times the use of profanity - which is prohibited by the site - will force her to entirely delete an otherwise acceptable review.

A Google search of a professor's name will often bring up the Senate Course Guide's listing of the professor, including very candid reviews as some of the first listings, Bartoloni added.

Though Bartoloni said that many professors are in favor of the site, some professors are displeased.

"You tend to get people who have an axe to grind," said Bart Kosko, an associate professor in the electrical engineering department and the least-recommended professor on the site. He cited "self-selection bias" as one of the biggest problems.

"The really good students are busy working and not going online and writing this (stuff)," said Robert Sacker, a professor in the mathematics department and number four on the list of least-recommended professors.

"If there's a reasonable criticism, I'll take it into consideration," Sacker added. "Some of the stuff is pretty off-the-wall."

The five least-recommended professors are Kosko, Theodore Mock, Frank Dimster, Sacker and Lowell Stott.

But Bartoloni and Fetting both agreed that students shouldn't use Senate Course Guide as the sole determinant in choosing a class.

"We've definitely heard people say, 'Choose professors off Student Course Guide,' and that's something we don't like to see," Bartoloni said. "Pick your classes based on interest, bottom line."

Albright added that there might be a "group conformity" effect causing students who read the reviews before posting their own opinion to lean toward the general consensus. Students either drive professors "to the ceiling or to the floor," she said.

Bartoloni said that she is aware some professors are upset about public review. "We don't want to be faced with libel, especially if we're not proud of the product we have ... We need to make sure it becomes the best product it can be and is well-managed," she said.

Moderators of the site, including Bartoloni and Fetting, use an administrative portion of the site to read new reviews and either allow or deny them. Reviews are not published on the site until they are screened.

One specific text review on the Senate Course Guide site, dated April 2005, said that a certain professor "constantly makes inappropriate comments in class. I also get the feeling that (the professor) is constantly hitting on a number of girls in the class."

Bartoloni said comments such as that are allowable only on a case-by-case basis.

"That's a sensitive issue," she said. "You don't want to delete it."

Professors warn of legal implications, however.

"I am not a lawyer, but the Student Senate, in particular the members of the Student Senate who are moderating the site and USC in general, should be deeply concerned," said Mock, a professor in the accounting department.

"I bet you the person who is monitoring the site is not trained in the law," Kosko said. "I am."

He added, "I would strongly recommend that whoever's doing this get a professional legal opinion."

Bartoloni said that "to our knowledge," Senate has not consulted a legal opinion. When asked if there were any plans to do so in the future, she said, "It sounds like a good idea, and we'll look into it."

Researching other universities

Senate also wants to include more specific questions in the new site, such as how often the course books were used and what lecture style the professor used, said Bartoloni.

These ideas came after members of the Student Senate did research on comparable professor-rating sites atother universities.

Ashley Romero, a junior majoring in political science and assistant director of academic affairs for Senate, has been involved in the research process. "When we're presenting a new idea to the administration, we do background research" to support the proposal, she said.

Senate attempted to revamp the site last year, but needed some more time to finish its efforts, said Milan Medakovic, a junior majoring in American studies and ethnicities, and assistant director of academic affairs for Senate.

The last two weeks have been very productive, Bartoloni said. "The new provost's office is great," she added.

There is no timetable set for completion, Bartoloni said.

"We're actually shooting to get it done as soon as possible," Medakovic added. If approved by the administration, "we would start advertising the new site right away," he said.

Bartoloni encourages students and faculty to contact her with comments or concerns.

"I am happy to hear from anybody. The more feedback we get ... the more we can improve the site," she said.