The University of North Texas Faculty Senate passed a resolution Wednesday opposing mandatory student evaluations of teachers.

The online student evaluations — called Student Evaluation of Teaching Effectiveness — are in use for the first time, universitywide, through Friday.

Faculty members opposing the use of student evaluations said that so far, there’s a low student response rate, some students have had technological difficulties and some of the questions don’t take into account the differences between online classes and traditional classrooms or between undergraduate and graduate courses.

The 12-question survey, with four additional opinion questions, is the first step in bringing UNT in compliance with a new law approved by the Texas Legislature in 2009, according to university officials.

The law requires Texas colleges and universities to post online student evaluations of teachers by fall 2010.

The evaluations will help university administrators understand how organized professors were, if they created a good classroom environment and whether they helped students become self-motivated, said Celia Williamson, deputy provost and dean of undergraduate studies.

The evaluation program took 16 months to develop, Williamson said, and in the process, officials gathered opinions from 750 faculty members and 15,000 students.

The answers from the evaluations would be vetted through about 200 variables — including time of day the class was taught, how many students took the class, etc. — to eliminate biases, she said.

“What the tool does, by taking out those variables, creates a scaled score much like the SAT or GRE that gives a score rather than a percentage response,” Williamson said.

The scaled scores for each of the three areas, along with a total scaled score, would be available to the public next year, she said, per the new state law.

The student evaluations also would be used to help the university determine if teachers were effective in their positions, along with other evaluations, Williamson said.

But there’s not necessarily one good teaching method, and what may work for one teacher could be disastrous for another, said Gus Seligmann, a history professor who has worked for the university since 1967 and a Faculty Senate member.

The concern from faculty members stems from academic freedoms being taken away, he said, and professors would teach for the student evaluations, not how students actually learn.

The kinks in the student evaluation program will be worked out progressively toward the fall 2010 legislative deadline, said Provost Wendy Wilkins.

“We’ll get these issues worked out,” she said. “This is the first time for something this size to go into effect, and numerous other universities are interested in our results.”

UNT student Meghan Hudec told the Faculty Senate on Wednesday the student evaluations, much like with the faculty, were a sore subject for some students.

“If students are angry [with their teachers], they will fill out the evaluations and those who enjoy and love their teachers will also choose to take them,” Hudec said.

Hudec, a senior studying criminal justice, has filled out one teacher evaluation so far, which took her 15 minutes, and she has four more to go, she said.

If there were student incentives to fill out the evaluations, more students would do it, she said.

Asking for a return on investments through student evaluations is something typically used in the business world, not higher education, said Jessica Li, a professor in learning technologies at the university.

Li, who worked in the private sector before becoming a professor, said she worries the evaluation program won’t capture everything a student learns.

“This is a place to generate ideas and this could hinder that process,” Li said. “We need to nurture creativity. … You can’t measure ideas.”

CANDACE CARLISLE can be reached at 940-566-6889. Her e-mail address is ccarlisle@dentonrc.com.