Most faculty members do not find the current mode of instructor evaluation useful, according to a report by the Academic Affairs Committee of the Faculty Senate.

IDEA forms could be on track to be replaced by more tailored instructor evaluations if a motion related to the report carries in Faculty Senate. The forms are used to evaluate faculty.

The study found that in 2012, 41.3 percent of faculty respondents said the IDEA results were not useful in helping them think of ways to improve teaching. In 2011, 33.9 percent said the same.

Furthermore, 55.1 percent of 2012 respondents said the form is conceptually flawed.

When posed the same question in 2011, 50 percent of evaluators, which includes deans and program directors, said the form is somewhat useful. In 2012, 35.3 percent said it was somewhat useful.

Shannon Leib, a professor who serves on the committee, said the goal is not to decrease standardization but to bring faculty into the discussion.

“It’s instead of saying, ‘Here is the form; use it,’” he said. “That may be done, but it has to be done with the consultation of faculty.”

The motion, which was introduced in the Senate’s Tuesday meeting, states, “Student evaluations should be the business of the colleges, who may tailor questionnaires to the specific issues of their programs. The forms should come from the bottom up to get faculty to buy into the process and its results.”

Issues surrounding whether or not the IDEA form is an accurate gauge of teaching effectiveness mentioned in the report include the argument that the form does not fit all classes or course objectives, and that students’ written comments are more valued than numerical evaluations, but there are too many questions and not sufficient time or room for the student comments on the forms.

Few faculty members also indicated that they had any meaningful discussion as to how to improve their teaching effectiveness based on the form’s results.

It also found that faculty do not accept the concept that teacher effectiveness can be gauged by student response to the evaluations.

There was disagreement among senators about how best to discuss new ways of evaluation—whether by college or program.

Leib said the motion was not meant to dictate process.

“We’re trying to put in two sentences an entire report,” Leib said.

A vote on the motion will be taken at the Senate’s final meeting of the semester on May 1.

Despite Vote, Search Could Be Closed
Committee chair Joe Kirsch said that after an informal vote, about two-thirds of the provost search committee members were in favor of a closed provost search.
Faculty Senate voted 13-12-3 in late March to endorse an open search.

Vivian Deno, an associate professor, said that the committee’s decision flies in the face of both transparency and the vote of the Senate.

“Whatever vote we take can be put aside by an outside party and nullify the vote?” Deno asked.

Kirsch responded by saying that he did not know whether the committee was required to follow the vote.

“Two-thirds of the committee believe that your vote here is not binding,” Kirsch said.

A final decision by the search committee has not been made.

Photo by Rachel Anderson

Butler University’s National Student Advertising Competition team is heading to the national competition for the third year in a row.

Their “Make Your Move” campaign, designed by members of ADrenaline for Nissan, was named the top entry among 20 teams from Indiana, Illinois and Michigan on April 14.

Senior Caroline Johnson, who served as the account executive and part of the pitch team, said that while the process was hectic, the end result was ideal.

“It was a stressful semester, and we worked up to the wire,” she said. “When we were in that element, it kind of all came together.”

Sponsored by the American Advertising Federation, NSAC allows students to compete against other schools in the region to design an advertising campaign. The group then presents the comprehensive campaign to the client.

The team finished fourth in last year’s national competition.

Johnson said that while they may refine some of their presentation for the national competition, they’ll keep their enthusiasm and differed voices in the presentation.

“We just had a lot of fun with it,” she said. “The personalities really set us apart.”

Junior Haley Deiser, who was a part of the research and creative teams, said that while other schools dwarfed Butler’s 14-person team, members’ passion shone through.

“We had a lot of ownership of this campaign, and we made it our own,” she said. “Other schools worried too much what other people would do.”

While the class meets once a week, Deiser said the group met about every other day leading up to competition.

“I was up most nights until 2 because it was ours and we were passionate,” she said.

Last Wednesday the team previewed their campaign, which featured a new slogan and multi-platform tie to music for Nissan that was meant to attract multicultural millennials to the brand.

They listened to questions and feedback from the audience in order to fine-tune their presentation and show off a semester’s worth of work.

Butler’s group used to meet for an entire year until the class was shortened to one semester last spring.

The group also has new advisers in assistant professor Mark Rademacher and instructor Armando Pellerano, who took over advising duties after instructor Donna Gray left Butler last spring.

Johnson said it was a “huge challenge with it being crammed into one semester,” especially since most schools work on their campaigns for an entire year.

“I would tell administrators to reconsider having it a whole year, even though we’ve proven we can do it in a semester,” she said.

Deiser said it would be helpful to focus on time-consuming research during the first semester and on execution in the  second semester.

“It overwhelmed us at the beginning and made us have to backtrack,” she said.

Deiser said she would be interested in participating next year and that it’s a hands-on experience that  gives insight into the workings of public relations and advertising.

“It solidified that I should be in the major,” she said.

The College of Business was recently ranked No. 2 in undergraduate internships by Bloomberg Businessweek, and the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences is trying to make it easier for its undergraduates to gain experiential learning.

Programs differ around the university, but seek the end goal of helping students become more qualified and competitive for jobs when they graduate.

COB students are required to complete two internships before they graduate. Mary Ellen Wolfsie, director of COB’s career development program, said that this requirement helps add to the college’s Businessweek ranking.

Wolfsie said the rankings are valuable in attracting both prospective students and internship sites.

“It at least makes them aware of us, and the employers are more likely to give us a call,” she said.

The COB has a four-year career development program that forces students to look at internships very early. Students are assigned a career mentor their freshman year and an internship coordinator usually during their junior year. The career development office staff also helps with outreach and connecting students to internship opportunities.

Senior marketing major Anna Carie has interned for Finish Line in Indianapolis, Johnson and Johnson in New Jersey and Mindshare Media Agency in London. She said the structure of COB helped her to find internships and decide what she wanted to do.

“Internships are amazing because they are a glimpse into a company,” she said. “You can find the pieces you love and get to the next level.”

Carie will be working for Johnson and Johnson on the East Coast after graduation, and Wolfsie said Carie’s experience is not uncommon. Wolfsie said many companies use internships as a recruiting strategy, and about 45 percent of students end  up working where they intern.  The career development program and the four-year focus on professional work exist to help students    determine where they should intern and eventually work, Wolfsie said.

“It really should be a strategic stepping stone toward what you would ultimately like to do,” she said. “Before, students were frantically taking what came along because they hadn’t been proactive. I don’t think that’s the case anymore.”

Pharmacy students are also required to participate in experiential learning, and the college is trying  this year to make the experience as smooth as possible.

Students are required to complete 300 hours of time in different pharmacy settings, usually after their third and fourth years of school. Trish Devine, the co-director for experiential education in COPHS, said that students used to have to find placements on their own, but this year the college is placing them.

Devine said this makes it much easier for both students— who usually want to fulfill the requirements while home for the summer—and preceptors, the pharmacists overseeing the students.

“Area preceptors were getting bombarded with phone calls, and students were having a difficult time finding them,” she said.

Students don’t interview for placements or fill out applications, and Devine said college staff will make calls for students to try to make connections.

“They were frustrated trying to find a site,” she said. “Even though you give directions on how to make a contact, most of them struggled with that aspect.”

Once placed, students learn something from every experience—whether they liked it or not—and it can lead to other professional opportunities or jobs, Devine said.

“If it wasn’t something I was passionate about or didn’t see a benefit for, I definitely would not be in this role,” she said.

The college has also been piloting software to place sixth-year students in their 10-month-long rotations.

Devine said these rotations are critical to both gaining the knowledge needed to be a pharmacist and starting a new career.

“We tell them to treat every rotation like a job interview,” she said.

In the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the Jordan College of Fine Arts, requirements and procedures differ. One program that requires an internship and offers resources to its students in a structured way is the engineering dual degree program.

Jessica McCormick, who is the academic program coordinator for the program, said that the internship requirement for engineering students sets it apart from other engineering programs.

Each student is required to complete an internship while other universities’ programs may encourage but not require them. There are about 150 students in the program, and about 25 to 30 interned last summer.

At the end of their sophomore year, students have a one-hour career development class about how to look for internships, develop résumés and utilize to career fairs. They work with alumni in industry. Students have access to Internship and Career Services here and through IUPUI’s engineering office and  Purdue’s West Lafayette campus.

“The resources are good before they go out, because they know how to present themselves, and we can help them put their best foot forward and help them make the best impression they can,” she said.

Gary Beaulieu, director of ICS, said that whether or not a student’s college has a program like those in COPHS or COB or in a supportive program in other colleges, the ICS office can help them. He said  that while his office works on a “broader basis,” he doesn’t see much difference between working through a collegewide program or working with ICS.

“I think they’re equally as important and equally as good,”  he said.

“Students, regardless of where they are and what major they are in, need to take advantage of all the opportunities presented to them that can help them get to where they want to go.”

ICS helps students prepare their résumés, research areas, network with employers who may have opportunities and practice interview skills. About 1,000 students a year utilize its services.

Beaulieu said the office staff also reach out to alumni and companies in order to create opportunities for all students in what he said is a competitive internship market.

“We’re here to help no matter what direction you want to go in,” he said. “And we have services for every student on campus.”