It's registration time, and students are once again glued to their computer screens, punching in prefix numbers and praying not to be assigned that one coma-inducing professor who mumbles into his lectern and never gives a good grade.
The problem, according to communications junior Shena Gibson, is that students don't really know what kind of professor they're going to get until the first lecture.
"I've had a real hard time with some professors in the past," she says.
But Gibson thinks she's found the solution -- RateMyProfessors.com, a Web site that allows students nationwide to evaluate their university professors and then post the ratings for everyone to see. The Web site is particularly popular at ASU where there are ratings for 2,434 professors.
"I found out about the site from a friend, viewed the posts on a few teachers I had in mind and ever since have been happy with nearly all the professors I've had," Gibson says.
The site allows students to anonymously evaluate professors on a scale of one to five for easiness, clarity and helpfulness, as well as an additional category for evaluating how "hot" their professor is. The overall grade, however, is based only on clarity and helpfulness. The site also provides a message board for students to comment on professors, and this inevitably invites some harsh appraisals.
"His class was like milk, it was good for two weeks," remarks one ASU wit on the site.
Richard Fey, a sociology lecturer with an impressive 4.6 average, says he supports the site.
"Students already pass information through word of mouth and considering tenure here is based little on student evaluation, this may give a little kick in the butt to those professors who slack a bit," he says.
Fey is modest about his popularity, but when pushed says it's probably due to his outgoing personality.
"I think students identify me as 'real world,' and I like to bring that into the classroom," he says.
Fey used to be a professional actor and the words 'enthusiastic,' 'interesting' and 'entertaining' are featured on many of his 28 evaluations.
Brian Collier, a history professor with a 4.8 rating, says he agrees that an ability to entertain is becoming an increasingly important skill in lecturing.
"Education and entertainment --- there's a very fine line separating them, and nowadays if you're not strong on entertainment, chances are, you may struggle," he says.
Collier used to be a high school teacher and says the interpersonal skills he learned there have helped him a lot.
"If you have a relationship with your students and they like you, they're much more likely to work harder," he says. "I work hard to make things fun and every year me and my wife organize a dinner where we invite all 200 of my students to our home."
Despite his popularity, Collier says the line between education and entertainment can be dangerous.
"It's what I call 'Dead Poet's Society' syndrome," he says. "When that film came out, many teachers and professors wanted to be the Robin Williams kind of inspirational teacher. But the thing about his character was that he mixed entertainment with real insight, and professors must do the same."
Collier says he thinks RateMyProfessors.com is a broadly useful tool, but warns that it could breed an anti-intellectual consumer culture where students demand the easiest courses from their professors and use the site to effectively "purchase a grade."
He says he is also a little dubious about the accountability principle of the Web site.
"Absolutely professors need to be held accountable -- and the student input is very important -- but at the same time, I'm not sure students are completely in a position to hold us accountable. Some appraisal must come from colleagues," he says.
Gibson disagrees. "ASU runs internal evaluations of professors, but as students we don't get to see them," she says. "Yes, some students may use the site to find the easiest courses, but most won't. The majority use it simply because it helps them to make an intelligent and informed decision about their professors."
Reach the reporter at sam.friedman@asu.edu.
