For college students, course evaluation e-mails are a sign that finals are approaching and another semester is coming to an end. But the true meaning of course evaluations isn’t simply to mark the end of another semester, but rather a way for students and professors to look back and reflect on how the course itself went.

Perhaps the biggest advantage of these evaluations is that they are legitimately anonymous, giving students the chance to truly say how they feel about specific classes. Despite anonymity, few students actually fill them out, regardless of how often they are asked or reminded to by faculty. For many students, they simply forget about doing it, given how much stress and studying this specific period brings. For others, it is just a lack of interest or not having the time to do it.

Course evaluations benefit students, faculty and the different academic departments. The few questions—that only take a few minutes to answer—give students a chance to see change in a specific course while also allowing professors and departments to find out what changes should be made. With changing times also comes changing syllabuses.

Senior Rosemarie Villani says that she rarely ever fills them out, and the one time that she did was because a professor asked the class to do it. While she doesn’t fill them out herself, she does feel that the evaluations are very important because they give so much feedback to the school. Much like Villani, junior Thomas Filomio also feels that they are important.

“I usually do fill them out. I think they are a great way of reflecting on how the semester went,” Filomio said. “But when it comes to changes in the courses, I think some professors are dead-set on a specific teaching method, while others do actually make visible changes.”

Senior Gina Nicoletti says that she does the course evaluations as soon as she gets the email.

“I think they help students articulate how it is going or how it went,” Nicoletti said. “And it allows teachers to get a sense of where they stand, and what could be improved.”

As course evaluations are important to the students, they are also very necessary for professors.

Dr. Sunghee Lee from the Chemistry department says that both she and the department rely on course evaluations.

“They really help us understand where we, and where the course, stand,” Lee said. “I wish more students would take them seriously and fill them out. If I have a class of 25, and only about 7 people are filling them out, it is not giving me the maximum feedback I need to help better the course.”

Lee also believes that course evaluations are helpful in further enhancing courses for future students, as it gives professors a better look at what works and does not.

Forensic Science professor Michael Mastromarco also feels that evaluations are very important, and he does make changes to his class every semester based off the feedback he receives.

“One of the topics that kept popping up on my evaluations was the lab reports, and how handing in a lab book at the end of the semester would be better than handing in sheets every week,” Mastromarco said. “I made that change, and I think course evaluations benefit the future students who take my course.”

Course evaluations don’t just give feedback on the course itself, but on the professor as well. Dr. Christina Carlson of the English department says that the importance of these evaluations can vary depending on the course.

“We have a lot of untenured faculty members, junior faculty, and those course evaluations are taken seriously as they move through the tenure process,” Carlson said. “So, students do have a voice in terms of giving input. For senior faculty, we read our evaluations as it allows us to see what works and doesn’t work. The one thing I would say is that it is fine to critique a course, but it should always be constructive criticism.”

Much like Carlson, Dr. Frances Bailie, a Computer Science professor, also thinks that they are very valuable, but only if students take them seriously.

“I think they are important if the students take them seriously, and sometimes, I think they don’t,” Bailie said. “They use them as a gripe session. And that’s not to say they shouldn’t criticize and give their opinion, but they should understand that course evaluations are a way to improve the course, and to get honest feedback, and we do use the feedback to make changes to courses.”

Overall, course evaluations are a chance for students to make their voices heard. They allow students to make a difference for those who will be taking the class in the future, and it may even impact how a department structures their courses.