This year Associated Student Government candidates’ names will not be the only ones on the ballot Wednesday.
The Faculty Honor Roll, previously a separate poll on NU Link, will now appear on an additional page of the ASG ballot, said Muhammad Safdari, ASG vice president of academic affairs.
“Before it was frustrating because we would put the poll on NU Link and just a few hundred students would respond,” the Weinberg senior said. “The new system will help make it a very open process for everyone.”
Ensuring more students voice their opinions about which faculty members and administrators deserve to be honored was key for the ASG Academic Committee, Safdari said. Often the administration looks at awards like the Faculty Honor Roll when considering professors for tenure or related hiring practices. Faculty members often place such honors on their résumés, he said.
The new system will allow students to choose their college and department to write in one professor and one administrator. The number of overall winners will be related to the graduation enrollment of each college. There will be more professors from Weinberg, for example, because there are more departments from which to make selections, Safdari said.
Gabby Daniels, one of the candidates for ASG academic vice president, worked with Safdari and others on implementing the new system. The change is important because it allows students an easy way to make their voices heard on campus, she said.
“Regardless of who they plan to vote for, I would urge students to vote so they have this opportunity,” the Weinberg sophomore said. “It’s so easy. All you do is go online, click a couple of buttons and you actually have a say.”
Students should recognize how a few minutes of their time can help effect change when it comes to hiring practices for professors, said fellow ASG academic vice president candidate Zach Wittchow.
“If you’re already online to vote for ASG candidates, why wouldn’t you take the extra 30 seconds to vote on the Faculty Honor Roll, too?” he said. “It may seem like a silly little plaque, but professors can use these in arguments for tenure, so students should show who in their opinion is doing the best job.”
Wittchow said if elected he will work to inform students about the criteria they should consider when making their Faculty Honor Roll selections. These would include the professors’ use of electronic course packets, Blackboard proficiency and name-blind test grading, he said.
Whichever candidate is elected Wednesday will have immediate work to do sorting out the Faculty Honor Roll results and working on the honorary banquet held in May for the chosen faculty and administrators. However, the added work is worth it if more students are aware of the award and voice their opinion by voting, Safdari said.
“We want the award to make people recognize that the faculty and administration is here for educating students,” he said. “We want students engaged in this so they feel they are able to express their satisfaction with their education.”[email protected]
