Page 4
Letters to the editor
First, I would like to
commend Alicia Hartman on her
article reporting on the
importance of SRTEs.
I had become used to reading a
newspaper with little more than
sports, Greek info and an
ongoing dialogue a Christian
demagogue and the rest of the
campus. I was surprised by
both the choice of subject and
by the extent of the article.
An accurate evaluation of any
faculty member is a difficult and
time-consuming process.
It appears that the
administration on our campus
has found a way to avoid the
effort that a detailed evaluation
would entail; they simply
check to see how popular the
faculty member is with the
students.
By placing too much
importance on the evaluation
that students give, Behrend
risks losing some of its finest
professors.
CITE was formed by faculty
members concerned about this
problem. No committee can
hope to change the process
though if Dr. Lilley continues
to ignore his own advice to "use
them in their limited mean."
It's good to see that the
newspaper is making an effort
I PEEL
YOUR
The Behrend College
Collegian
Pubßshad weekly by the stuckgite
oi
The Pennsylvania State University
at Erie, The Behrend Coieoe
Co-Editor*
Matthew D. Ciune
v Alicia Hartman
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Advertising Manager
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are ant neceeurily thorn of The
CoiUgum or The Pennsylvania State
University.
to inform the students of the
important role that SRTEs play
in the tenure process at Behrend
Most students do not realize
the power that they have when
they HU out their SRTEs, and
many do not take the evaluation
seriously.
Perhaps the information in
the article will cause the
students to take a different
attitude the next time they are
asked to fill out an evaluation,
or perhaps it will only result in
more pizza parties.
Sheila Baldwin
Bth semester
English Major.
As the debate over SRTEs
goes on, the continued use of
these ratings will fuel the
downward spiral in the quality of
education at Behrend
Hie situation is analogous to
allowing newly hired blue collar
employees to demand the
removal of managers that have
successfully led a profitable
business.
As students we must entrust
professors to provide us with the
knowledge necessary to carry us
to the next level.
Only as we participate in that
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next level will we be able to
evaluate accurately what was
taught
There is some validity to
allowing the student to rate the
instructors' teaching ability but
those evaluations are often
extremely biased, moreover the
limited sample size in most
classes further inhibits the
statistical value of the data.
In short, institutions of higher
learning have capitalized on the
human being's desire to pursue
the path of least resistance.
What were once institutions of
higher learning have evolved
into big businesses. Revenue
has replaced knowledge as the
ultimate goal of most schools.
As students we are
simultaneously consumers and
products of education. The
resulting confusion over what
we should demand as good
service and what the school
wants us to be when we graduate
has led the school to let us
decide, providing, of course, that
they are paid as we travel
through the system.
The SRTE debate revolves
around some professors'
realization that falling
educational standards are
gradually eroding the quality of
life in the United States, while
OH,
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other professors selfishly hold
on to a system that no longer
puts any demands on them but
still pays them.
The business school faculty
interviewed in the recent article
provided little more than lip
service to this problem, one that
is slowly devouring the School
of Business. There is a hole in
the school through which any
semi-literate individual could fall
through and receive a degree.
That individual would be
practically worthless in today’s
economy, but her/his diploma
wouldn’t look much different
than yours and that’s where I
object.
By graduating under educated
individuals, the school is
compromising every degree it
confers. If an employer hires a
Behrend graduate and that
individual fails to produce, the
result will eventually reflect
adversely on other Behrend
graduate.
Interviewed individuals
mentioned pessimism, fear, the
feeling that one’s job is on the
line. These emotions are not
conducive to a positive job
outlook.
In many cases I feel that the
inflated importance the
administration applies to SRTEs
is its way of replacing gutless
insecurity with gutless false
security.
Tenure lasts only as long as
the institution, and just as the
big three automakers crash
caused tremendous changes in
our society, the repercussions in
the education system caused by
It's just too bad that it's
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Jay Roselle
Thursday, December 1,1994
ignoring quality control will
also be devastating.
Then what of “CITE” (or is it
site; no, I think it’s sight; yes
that’s it, SIGHT, a committee
led by a blind man, put in place
to make outsiders think the
school is trying to change
something)?
You can’t expect anyone who
is more than satisfied with the
status quo to be a change agent.
The committee's chairman is a
legend in this school’s
administrators’ minds. They
love him, he loves them. They
like things the way they are and
vice versa.
Listen instead to those who
recognize that our current path is
an avenue of destruction. Yes,
they are already here; I only echo
their warnings, warnings often
simply dismissed as cynical or
belligerent
But put the cynical in charge
and I predict that the School of
Business will graduate job
makers, not job takers.
Anything less constitutes lazy
white men pandering to special
interests to maintain their own
employment at the expense of
ours.
James Winnen, Jr.
7th Semester
Management Major
Do you have an
opinion? If you do, then
send us a letter. Letters
to the editor should be
dropped off at the
Collegian office in the
Reed building.
A
Cathy Matter : '
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