With spring semester’s finish line on the horizon, grateful or disgruntled students can choose several options to rate or thank their professors.

Though there are others, www.ratemyprofessors.com seems to be the most popular rating route.
SE student Dorothy Freeman used the site to express appreciation for SE hospitality management instructor Talia Dancer, who she said took time to break down explanations to students’ questions.
“She explained all the material and made sure you passed her class,” she said, “because she said if you didn’t [pass], it was a reflection on her.”

SE speech instructor Rebekah Pointer-Adderley was surprised when a student on the site rated her as being nice after she had given them the boot.

“I am surprised the student who got kicked out of class responded so well,” she said.

Pointer-Adderley thinks the site’s feedback is useful but takes it with a grain of salt because sometimes students may be frustrated or having a bad day, she said.

According to www.ratemyprofessors.com, Pointer-Adderley rates a 4.1 in overall quality and a 4.0 in easiness. A chili pepper is also shown, which falls under the category of “hotness,” and is listed as smoking hot.

Of the 2,534 Tarrant County College faculty that are rated on the site, 653 of them have rated a chili pepper as of April 23.

Referring to her red-hot chili pepper status, Pointer-Adderley said, “It’s kind of funny, but it takes away from the seriousness of the site.”

Pointer-Adderley thinks TCC’s rating system through WebAdvisor is a more accurate gauge and is the system she would point people toward because professors are not rated on personal attraction or anything like that, she said.

Students choosing the WebAdvisor system can fill out course evaluations online. To the right of the course evaluation link is a red apple where a thank you can be sent to show a student’s appreciation.

SE chemistry professor David Dollar has acquired the most evaluations among SE faculty listed on www.professorperformance.com with an A+ across the board. Professors on that rating site earn a GPA.

However, professor feedback is not always positive. In their seclusion, distance-learning students sometimes rant about professors in open online class discussion forums.

SE nursing student April Rudd said her learning experiences have been positive. She has used the www.ratemyprofessors.com site before but has never awarded a chili pepper.

“I have rated my professors very high when I have used that system,” she said.

Alex Serrano is a first-semester SE student who is still learning his way around campus, he said. He plans to take summer classes and may rate some of his professors then.

“I haven’t really had a bad teacher,” he said. “I mean, they’ve all been pretty good so far.”