Between forced dealings with advisers to lift holds and deciphering confusing time schedules, choosing and registering for classes is every student’s nightmare.

Adam Peruta, an IST adjunct professor and graduate student, who also attended Syracuse University for his undergraduate degree, is one of the many people at SU sick of the process. But unlike the rest of the student body, he did something to change it.

‘Before, I used to talk to my friends and ask about classes,’ Peruta said. ‘Everyone is looking for help at registration time.’

Last semester, Peruta launched RatemySUclass.com, a website where students could offer their opinions on courses and professors to their peers in order to help ease the course selection process. On the site, students judge courses on a 1-10 scale in which they rate the professor, the easiness and overall merit of the class.

The site, which averages 2,500 views per day, has recently gained momentum in the SU community as students scramble to complete their schedules. The site now offers RateMyClass.com gear – ranging from trucker hats to thongs – and started changing its rating system to include all things Syracuse, from campus bars to hook-up spots.

In fact, within a few weeks Peruta will have expanded his RateMyClass.com enterprise to the University of Vermont and Loyola Maramount University.

‘We’ve been contacted by about 10 students interested in launching one of these sites at these schools,’ Peruta said.

There is obvious interest from the student body for the site’s services, but many students, like Sonia Munoz, a junior psychology major, were unaware of the site during this past registration period.

‘I work at the library and see what books people are getting,’ Munoz said. ‘If the books looked interesting, I just asked people about their courses. This site is something I’ll look at next semester, though.’

One of the perks of the website, Peruta said, is that students are more likely to tell their true feelings about courses on the Internet because it offers anonymity and little censorship.

‘I’m not trying to be a Nazi,’ Peruta said. ‘Everything is unedited.’

But many professors are angry about the low ratings and bad comments they’ve received on the site. In fact, three of the low-rated professors refused to comment on the site’s concept and merit.

However, professor Joanne Waghorne, who teaches REL 101: Religions of the World, was more open about her lack of faith in the site. Her course, which has received an average 2.2 overall rating, 2.2 professor rating and 2.6 easiness rating, is the third-lowest-rated course at Syracuse, according to the website.

‘Most students (on RatemySUclass.com) said they found it too hard,’ Waghorne said. ‘I take that as a compliment.’

Some of the comments made about Waghorne on the site call her a ‘pride killer’ and refer to the course as ‘the worst class that SU has to offer.’

‘I hand out my own surveys, and from that I know that most students enjoyed the course,’ Waghorne said. ‘There were 100 students in that class and (the online posts) don’t constitute a full survey.’

Yet Waghorne’s biggest issue with the site is that it paints a poor picture of the university and the student body. In fact, Waghorne was shocked to hear that the site was created by an SU teacher.

‘I made the choice to leave the University of North Carolina (a year and a half ago) to come here,’ Waghorne said. ‘And quite frankly, if I’d seen this before, I don’t know if I would have come. I don’t think this reflects well on the student body. I was really saddened by what constituted the highest ratings.’

All of the highest-rated courses on RatemySUclass.com are ones in which students gave their courses an extremely high easiness rating.

‘What do people think an education is?’ Waghorne asked. ‘These students may be doing well, but do they understand what they’re doing here?’

Dr. Steve Chamberlain, who teaches NEU 211: Introduction to Neuroscience, the second-highest-rated course on the site, argues that his students do know what they are doing, even if they think his course is easy.

‘I challenge anybody who knows anything about neuroscience to look at any of the quizzes or the exams and tell me that someone who’s not learning neuroscience could know any of this,’ Chamberlain said.

But the ratings don’t surprise Chamberlain, whom one site user called the ‘best teacher in school.’

‘I think that’s true,’ Chamberlain said of his high praise. ‘I may do as good a job at teaching science as anybody at Syracuse. But most faculty members (at SU) are specialists in their field, but not in teaching. The thing that makes the difference is that I like this. I get my jollies explaining something I’m excited about to someone who thinks they are science-phobic.’

In fact he agrees with most of the comments, including the easiness rating, which, Chamberlain said, is a direct result of the organization of his course.

‘The written evaluations at the end of the semester say the same thing,’ Chamberlain said. ‘Favorable ratings in this course run 90 percent. There are only a few people who think it’s too easy. But I have no problem rewarding students for doing what they are supposed to be doing.’

Chamberlain’s lone concern is that the website may lead professors that – unlike him and Waghorne – have yet to earn tenure at the university to pander to students for higher ratings.

‘The concept is extremely beneficial,’ Chamberlain said. ‘It may not be perfect, but I think it’s fine. If I’m doing things not as well as I should be doing, then let’s fix it. I’m getting paid a grotesque amount of money to do this. Don’t you think I should do it well? People who aren’t willing to put up with that might be in the wrong career.’

Peruta agrees.

‘It really comes down to the fact that, all of a sudden, professors are getting graded by their students on what or how well they teach,’ Peruta said. ‘With the tables turned, they aren’t liking it much. I understand that, and I think they take it personally and it hurts their egos. It should send a message to them.’

Yet in the eyes of the low-rated professors the only message being sent from Peruta’s website is the idea that the easiest courses are the best ones.

‘I’m beyond worrying about being judged,’ Waghorne said. ‘I just hope that students would use their sense and look at what is being said and ask if that is what really matters to them.’

Published on January 14, 2004 at 12:00 pm