We’ve all received the numerous emails from our professors asking us to fill out the once-a-semester evaluations known as SAIs, but what are they? Is there a benefit, and should you submit them? To answer simply, yes.
The Student Assessment of Instruction began in 2013 at the university and allows students to literally grade their professors.
Professors may seem as if they are haggling you to fill out your SAIs, but they are doing so with good intentions. Just as student assignments, quizzes, and tests receive grades and feedback from professors, SAIs provide professors with feedback and evaluations from students.
If a student has a professor that they really like, this lets them know and informs them of the excellence in their teaching style.
Likewise, professors that are not so liked can be given feedback on what students believe could be changed in their style. Criticism helps people learn and improve, and each SAI students fill out allows professors to only get better at their jobs.
“A student’s comments on what I have done well, and not so well, are seriously considered by my superiors as they evaluate my work,” stated Professor Anthony Mitchell, who teaches Multimedia Production classes in Warf-Pickel Hall.
Not only does feedback help professors, it also has an effect on their jobs. Keep that in mind next time you consider skipping out on your SAIs.
Students play a crucial role in their own education. SAIs allow students to have a say in how they want to learn and, more importantly, who they want to learn from.
Make a difference this fall semester by filling out your SAIs; it may just help your professors in more ways than you could imagine.
SAI’s close at 11:59 pm on Friday, Dec. 7.
For more information, go to https://www.etsu.edu/academicaffairs/pds/ie/sai.php.
