1978-12-08; Central Michigan Life

              Sub-par skills
unchecked:
counselors
(Editor's note; The declining quality of reading at the college
"level has been a matter of national concern, In the first installment
of a two-part series, LIFE Staff writer Jerry Morlock examines the
problem as it exists at CMU. Monday's installment will focus on
steps the University has taken to remedy the problem.}
by JERRY MORLOCK
UFE Staff Writer
The University has been unable to take sufficient steps to correct
the poor reading skills of incoming students, a problem that was
detected as early as 1975, two CMU professors and a counseling
official said.
Approximately one-third of the incoming freshmen in the last two
years have scored in the bottom one-fourth in the social studies and
reading portions of the American College Testing program, said
Joan Yehl, director of the Education Skills Center of the CMU
Counseling Center.
"Quite a number of students, about one-fourth or one-third, do not
read at adequate levels for college-level material," said Yehl, past
president of the Michigan Collegiate Reading Council. "Although
they are certainly not illiterate, they read too slowly and can't
distinguish between important and unimportant elements of what
. they are reading.
Provost John Cantelon attributed the reading problem at CMU to
a national decline in reading skills.
CMU, "the same as all other institutions," has been handcuffed in
dealing with reading because of "the magnitude of the problem," he
said. ■'!'''
"When reading, hasn't been developed in grade school and
through high school, then the problem is brought by the students to
the university," he said.
In 1975, Regina Hoover, associate professor of English, conducted
a reading study of students taking ENG 101; "Freshman Composition." Assuming that those scoring in the 30 percent range or
lower required developmental courses to succeed in college, the
study indicated that 31 percent of those surveyed were in that
category.       „
"Thirty-one percent were entering college with a reading handicap," said Hoover. "That 31 percent is holding up," she added.
Hoover, who conducted the 1975 survey, said since the survey
results were released, the University has created a developmental
writing and reading program for students who scored below 16 on
the SAT.
The average score on the SAT among CMU student in 1975-76
was 17.8. (See "Reading-" page 2)
Volume 60 No. 41   ©  wic^aiMichiganura Mount Pleasant, Michigan 48859
Friday, December 8,1978
Busy 'quilting'bees
CM UFE PHOTO BY ELIZABETH DEZIO
Quilting bees may be a thing of the past but not in Trout Hall. Kathy Zelinsky, Trout Hall
director, was presented this quilt by the girls in her dorm. Residents of each room in Trout
made a square for the quilt. The patches were sewn together by Cindy Abbott, Mason
junior and the finished product was presented to "KZ" at the Trout Christmas party
Wednesday night.
SA names
substitute
for Stolpe
by TOM HENRY
LIFE Staff Writer
An interim vice president was
named by Student Association's
Board of Directors Wednesday
to replace the position recently
vacated by Al Stolpe.
Brad Stroud, Muskegon
junior, was elected by a 10 to 4
margin over Junior
Representative Kevin Nivison,
of Holland. Craig Mabie, Cedar
Springs sophomore, also
received one vote.
Stolpe, Coloma junior,
resigned Monday at the request
of Student Body President Jim
Marshall after Stolpe admitted
he tried to increase his salary
$100 by decreasing the same
amount from a co-worker's pay.
Stroud has served on SA's
Board of Directors the past two
years and was appointed
Grievance Committee chairperson last year..
According to SA's Constitution, an interim vice
president must be elected by the
board when the position is
vacated until a special election
can take place to elect a full-time
officer.
Marshall, Charlevoix senior,
said the special election should
take place at the beginning of
next semester!
In other SA action at Wednesday's board meeting, Finance
Committee chairperson Don
Fergle announced the Finance
Committee would begin taking
applications for Winter
Semester allocations.
The allocations are for
student organizations which did
not submit a funding request
last spring, Fergle, Grosse
Pointe Woods junior, said.
AH. funding request applications are due no later than 5
p.m. Jan. 19, Fergle said.
Allocations will be announced in
early February.
The Finance Committee
presently has $2,000 to allocate
next semester, Fergle said.
However, that figure is expected to rise to $2,750 due to
(See "SA board-" page 2)
Inside
—Unknown man pursues woman leaving
Pearce, page 3
—Males to face federal
court, page 7
—Butler slips past
Central cagers, page 13
Faculty evaluations 'not very valid
byTOMMcEACHIN
LIFE Staff Writer
Although some officials claim
the eight-year-old teacher
evaluation forms filled out by
students each semester are used
as a. guide for promotion and
tenure on a University-wide
basis, spokespersons for 25 of
the 33 academic departments
questioned do not require the
forms to be distributed by instructors.
And, because not all instructors are required to let
students evaluate them in class,
some faculty " have raised
questions whether there is any
validity in using the form as a
basis for such testing.  •
The survey students completed this semester has not
been revised or amended since
its development in 1970. The
process of evaluating instructors originated out of a
1969 , student government
project.
The present evaluation
consists of several multiple
choice questions and two
questions which students 1)
lodge likes and dislikes of the
class and 2) offer1 suggestions for
improving the class. The
anonymous evaluations are
scored, the results are passed on
to faculty and then are kept in
microfiche in Park Library.
Written comments are returned
to the instructor.
The    purpose    of    the
evaluations  is   two  fold,  said
Duane Goupell, testing research
•associate    in    the   Office   of
Planning. Instruction and
Research. The results are
said to be used as a guide in
determining promotion and
tenure of faculty and as a self-
evaluation guide for an instructor.
"I always like to look at the ^
feedback,"   said   Provost  John
Cantelon.    "But,"    he    noted,
"students are not the only or the
bestevaluators."
"Research is not very encouraging about validity of this
testing instrument," John
Hogan, Dean of the School of
Business Administration, said.
Hogan, who said he'recommends,  but  does  not  require,
that department chairpersons in
his school distribute
evaluations, cautioned about the
dangers of using the evaluation
as the sole means of gauging an
instructor's effectiveness. He
also said evaluations "badly
need a review."
But, while Hogan said he
thought the task would be up to
the Office of Planning, Instruction and Research, Goupell
said it is up to the deans of the
five academic schools.
Meanwhile, .Cantelon,
agreeing evaluations need
changing, said Academic Senate,
faculty, deans and students all
need to have a part in any effort
to change the present
evaluations.
Also claiming that the present
evaluation system is inconsistent and therefore not
completely valid are several
departments that presently use
their own evaluations.
Two such departments are
political science and speech and
dramatic arts.
Political science faculty voted
this year to require all faculty in
that department to distribute
evaluations to their classes,
Edward Westen, department
chairperson,said.
Westen cited a structural bias
(See "Forms-" page 12)
Form given correctly?
byTIMCUPRISIN
LIFE Staff Writer
The problem with faculty
evaluations lies not in their
format, but in their administration, Alan Nichols,
economics professor, said.
Nichols, who co-authored a
study of the correlation between
student grades and faculty
evaluations several years ago,
said flaws in the administrative
practice throw the results of the
evaluations into doubt.
The problems of administering the Survey are
illustrated by an example .cited
by Peter Orlik, Broadcast and
Cinematic   Arts   Area   coor
dinator.
Orlik said an unidentified
professor returned a quiz on
which his entire class had scored
poorly. He then said the quiz
would not be counted. Afterwards, he gave out the
evaluations, which showed him
in a favorable light.
"The evaluations are not.
policed. Their integrity is not
ensured, but the results are
used and do have an impact on
promotion and tenure," Nichols
added.
"I've often felt the'student
government should administer
the evaluations. The worst of all
possible worlds is what we have
now," he said.
Nichols said that although he
has not given evaluations to his
students for several years, he
does not think they should be
abandoned.
"I'm not saying they shouldn't
be given. I'm saying they
shouldn't be given as they are
now. They shouldn't be administered by the department,
but by the student government
or the dean's office."
Nichols' study, which appeared in.the Journal of Political
Economy, involved the School of
Arts and Sciences.
Evaluation
off the
1. Teacher evaluation forms are used by
academic departments as a guide to faculty
promotions.
Always ^"Sometimes
2. Instructors are required to let students
evaluate them.
Always
3. Students prove to be the best sources for
instructor evaluation feedback.
Always ,        ^"Sometimes^
4. Research has proved that the results of
the evaluations are valid.
Always
5. The administration of evaluations by the
faculty member being surveyed causes
distortion    in    students'    responses.
Never
Sometimes
HJII .. .sins—•—ss»W"*
6. Instructors find the surveys helpful for
self-evaluations.
Always
■$
f''
II
ri
MaliiilMMiiiiiii
-fclligttl^-^iiyiaiiiiaiiiiBaii;iii
aac^A:
^SAssak:
'^'a^k*'V^~—^V-/g ..iyji.'.^it.^i.£ ^j* .^.^i...