Students’ union pressures professors

Proposed changes to calendar to see student evaluations returned faster

By Kenny Sharpe

Professors at Memorial may soon find themselves hurrying to correct and return student work faster, as students’ union representatives push to amend a section of the university calendar.

Should a new motion pass, section 5.6.4 “The Correction and Return of Student Work” will be added to the university calendar, the document that contains university rules and regulations.

The section has three points. First, provided that the student submits work by the due date, that the professor shall mark and make available the work in ‘a timely manner,’ and provide constructive feedback as appropriate.

Second, in first year courses instructors shall provide a summary of student progress on or before the last day to drop classes, doing so without academic prejudice.

Finally, courses where evaluations include final examinations, instructors will provide a grade summary on or before the last day of classes.

According to Ryan Marshall, director of advocacy for the MUN Students’ Union (MUNSU) the idea was presented at the last meeting of the Senate Committee on Undergraduate Studies (SCUGS) on Jan. 14.

After being presented, members of SCUGS tabled the motion to enter a six-week consultation period, during which university administrators would gather comments from all of Memorial’s faculties regarding the proposed changes.

Marshall, who is spearheading the policy, says that the days when professors simply place a check mark on a piece of student evaluation, or, fail to return student work all together, will end.

“As long as a student can see their work and there is constructive feedback provided to the student, that is pretty much what we want…instead of just a mark or a check on a paper,” he said.

Marshall blamed “ignorance” when asked why he thought some professors were taking longer than expected, or not returning student work at all.

Given the nature of the evaluation within different faculties, the amendment does not give a specific deadline for when professors have to return work, but suggests they should be fair in doing so, Marshall says.

“We don’t want to be limiting, so we say a timely manner. It is kind of up to the individual when [the deadline] is, but it is still putting pressure on them,” he said.

Bryan Landry, a third-year social work student at Memorial, agrees with Marshall and says students need more feedback from professors in order to get the most out of learning from a particular course.

“There is no point marking a written grade or check mark, because that would be pointless,” said Landry.

“People are not going to know what to do if you don’t tell them where they went wrong. You learn from your mistakes.”

Review and comments regarding the Student Work and Return policy from SCUGS should be complete by Feb. 25.

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