When OU students rate their courses at the end of each quarter, they might not realize what effect, if any, their evaluation has on the professor.

During the last week of each quarter, students are asked to respond to questions pertaining to course content and lecture clarity.

Evaluations are handled separately by individual departments and schools. In-depth questions about specific fields vary from college to college. They include questions pertaining to specific class procedures within each department.

Most colleges use a combination of electronically-tabulated evaluations and written evaluations while others, such as the School of Journalism, rely solely on written evaluations.

Heather Cawrse, a junior communication major, said she thinks her comments on course evaluations do not matter to some of her professors because they are "stuck in their ways."

But she doesn't mind filling out a scan-tron for those professors.

If Cawrse likes the course, she said she wants to write additional comments, especially if she thinks the professor will take her comments into consideration.

Faculty Senate Chairman Louis Wright said written evaluations are more effective than electronically-tabulated evaluations because they indicate whether or not the student cared about the class.

After the students fill out the evaluations in class, they are taken to the department or school office where they are held until the quarter ends and professors submit grades.

Wright said College of Arts and Sciences employees type the written evaluation forms from smaller classes to protect student identity. The college tabulates scan-tron sheet results in computer labs. Department chairpersons and school directors then receive written reports on the electronic evaluations.

David Williams, political science department chairman, said he reads the evaluations to look for problems. He said comments indicating boredom are not considered problematic.

"If a faculty member is disrespectful to a student, or instances like that appearing on the evaluations, that's when I have to have some type of response," he said.

The responses to the problems on the evaluations also vary from college to college. The College of Arts and Sciences sometimes assign mentors to faculty members who received questionable evaluations to help them improve. Another faculty member also could sit in on their classes to help them correct any flaws.

Wright said the feedback is meant to be useful for the faculty members and should be viewed as a learning process and not a punishment.

The comparative arts department meets with the professors each quarter with a summary of their evaluations to discuss their strengths and weaknesses, department chairwoman Jessica Haigney said.

The accountancy department holds a department committee meeting each January to discuss faculty members' classroom performance, interaction with the outside profession and publications, department chairman Robert Jamison said.

The department then makes a recommendation to Jamison. If any minor disagreements result from the evaluations, he meets with the professor to make the appropriate changes.

Though procedures might differ in each college and department, money is a common element university wide.

The department chairpersons agreed evaluations play an integral role in salary and tenure.

If a faculty member's course evaluations prove to be a constant problem, his or her salary will suffer and tenure will be affected.

Wright said tenure candidates must report their evaluations to the promotion and tenure committee when their tenure comes up every six years.

"If the evaluations aren't favorable it isn't likely that the faculty member will be granted tenure or given a pay raise," Wright said.