Professor Evaluation Web Site Sparks Rights Debate

"I've seldom enjoyed going to lectures so much!" Any university professor would be proud to receive such an end-of-the-semester evaluation from a student.

More negative comments, like "he's an appalling zit" or "ridiculous professor, ridiculous lecture, so pathetic I could cry" become somewhat more problematic however -- especially when they're posted on the World Wide Web.

The student-initiated Web site www.meinprof.de features evaluations of professors and courses from universities all over Germany. The site, run by the student consulting company CCT in Berlin, offers over 15,500 evaluations of some 24,600 professors and 43,300 courses.

Students must log-in to grade their professors and other university lecturers on fairness, their support for students, the material, how much fun the courses are, comprehensibility, and to what extent they raise interest in course topics.

Professors speak out for personal rights

Irked by the harsh comments that have appeared on the site and the fact that there are no restrictions on who can view them, professors have advocated that it be revised or even shut down.

The disputed Web site has sparked discussion on freedom of speech, personal rights and data protection.

In light of planned tuition fees at Germany's state-subsidized universities and the recent selection of elite universities, the evaluation site is a sign that students are expecting to receive a higher quality education.

However, some question if students are even qualified to properly evaluate their professors and point out that such evaluations may be influenced by external factors, such as a student's grade in a particular course.

The online evaluation process is a violation of personal rights, Alexander Dix, a representative of Berlin's highest data protection authority, told German news agency DPA.

"It's important that the professors don't feel discriminated against," he added.

Students for free speech

On the other hand, the students' lawyer, Lambert Grosskopf, said that the contents of the Web site fall under the principle of free speech.

"They're giving their opinions, not facts," said the Bremen lawyer, who said he is representing the students without charge because he personally supports the project.

To avoid a court visit, the Web site will have to be altered by the end of August, a deadline set by Dix.

The professors are to be informed before their course evaluations appear online and given the opportunity to refuse their being made public. In addition, a user registration is to be added to the Web site to ensure that not just anyone can access the evaluations.

If the students in charge of the Web site don't comply with these requirements by the end of the month, they could face penalty fees, said Dix.

Competitive universities in sight?

But not all professors are against www.meinprof.de.

"Why are some universities in the US so famous and well known?" Ulf Stahl from the Technical University Berlin said in an interview with Spiegel Online. "Because the teaching there is exquisite."

"I think the time will come soon when universities will go after the exquisite students and try to recruit them," added Stahl. "When they're done they shouldn't say, 'Oh God, I'm so glad to get away from this university.' Instead they should say, 'I'm proud to have been educated at this university'."