Ripon College - Crimson Yearbook (Ripon, WI)

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Above Life in the dessert me n the Commons may be tempting, but after awhile students say that it is just another job. and the dessert ime is a little better than dish crew — but both just help cut tuition costs Lett; Geannine Griffith works at the card catalog in the library Student Life: Student Workers 27

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Earning While Learning Students Work To Defray Cost Of Tuition Although aid from parents, hometown banks, state and federal agencies help defray some of the costs of an education at Ripon. the College has had to create extra aid packages to help students pay bills and survive the weekend. One of the several ways students can get financial aid through the office of financial aid is by work- ing somewhere on campus. The College has cre- ated on-campus jobs in accordance with state and federal regulations, and need is determined by the director of financial aid. who. for her last year at Ripon. was Betty Billings. Jobs exist in such areas of the campus as the library, commons.-the offices of financial aid. college relations, alumni, development, and the Deans, as well as depart- mental assistant jobs in such majors as History, Chemistry, and Biology. The most well-known stu- dent position is that of the resident assistants, who oversee floors of freshmen and upperclass women, and head and assistant head residents, who are in charge of keeping order in Bartlett and the Quads. Most students enjoy their jobs. It gives them a way of earning extra cash without going off campus, as some students choose to do. And the College tries its best to accomodate as many students as possible. Top Cora Weyker takes some tme out of her job as chemistry department assistant to read the Ripon College moga ine Center Ten Lapoen sits m front ot the termoai m the Lane Library. Bottom Conmo Redmann mends a book at the checkout desk in the library 26

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Student Opinion Determines Salary Professors Evaluated By Peers As Well As Students During the final days of last semester (Fall. '85), stu- dents were asked to evaluate their teachers. The eval- uations consisted of questions about the teacher's atti- tude, preparation and technique Most students me- thodically filled out the computerized questionaire. not realizing the importance of their responses. Debby Westfahl. a freshman, referred to the evaluations as a waste of time because she thinks nobody takes it seriously However, the student's evaluations are important. These evaluations, along with peer evaluations, help Ripon's Dean of Faculty. Douglas Northrup. administrate the Faculty Evaluation and Merit Award System The purpose of this system is to insure the continued excel- lence of Ripon College, and to provide a basis for re- warding those members of the faculty who have contri- buted to achieving this goal. The rewards the professors receive consist of salary increments A teacher's salary increases according to his merit category. The Dean of Faculty places a teach- er in one of five categories. A professor in category one receives a salary increase $1000 and an across-the- board (A.T.B.) increase each year for three years. Indivi- duals in categories two and three also receive an A.T.B. increase However, their raises are $750 and $400. Per- sons in category (four) receive an A.T.B. increase and persons in category five receive no increases Though student evaluations existed, this is only the second year that the results influenced a teacher's sal- ary increase The results of the students' responses opinions of each teacher are compiled and then aver- aged Professor James Beatty compared the evalua- tions to Olympian competition. “You can take the eval- uations to Olympian competition You take the me- dian. You throw out the highs and lows. Dean Northrup uses an average because, as he said, student evalua- tion corresponds to student satisfaction, not necessarily teaching quality. For this reason, a talented t may attain a low rank because his subject material difficult to comprehend. The Dean stressed that student's opinion by itself determines what a prof: makes. Another determining factor is the results of peer ev uations. These consist of reports from two designat members of the teacher's department, from a i outside the department and from the Chair of department. The peer reports con be rather lengthy os the evaluators comment not only on the evaluates teaching techniques, but also on his scholarship anj and on his contribution to the college community. After attaining this information, the Dean reviews the r( with the individual being evaluated, revealmg only the composite results. Finally, the Dean ranks the foe into the varsious merit categories and the t receive their salary increments. The Faculty Evaluation and Merit Award System now in a two year trial period By next year, the syst will be in a triennial program. Each year only one-third of the faculty will be evaluated and be rewarded. A i review will occur every third year. Presently, the Dean is compiling the results of the pee evaluations. He hopes to have the merit cat distinguished and publicized by March 1. The salary in- crements and A.T.B. increases then take effect in the 1985-86 academic year (Story by Lynn Probst courtesy of the College Days, Friday. February 1. 1985.) EDITOR'S NOTE. The student evaluation system as de- scribed above, as of the Spring of 1985. is no longer used. The students will still evaluate the faculty as al- ways. but the salary increases, or lack thereof. w« no longer be determined by student evaluation influence 28 StuOent Life: Faculty Evaluations