The University of Vermont's Independent Voice Since 1883

The Vermont Cynic

The University of Vermont's Independent Voice Since 1883

The Vermont Cynic

The University of Vermont's Independent Voice Since 1883

The Vermont Cynic

Boycott deemed successful by SGA

If you supported the Student Government Association last semester and did not fill out a single course evaluation, you may wonder what became of your act of disobedience. Even though some faculty members said that SGA’s boycott had little effect on their course evaluation results, SGA senators called it a success. “The boycott was successful in that it raised awareness of the problematic issues around evaluations and fostered intense dialogue throughout the campus,” SGA Senator Daniel Filstein said. The SGA passed a resolution on Nov. 9, calling for a set of publishable questions to be added to the already existing evaluations given to students at the end of the semester, SGA President Kofi Mensah said. “Evaluations may have been a bit lower last semester, but not significantly so or abnormally so,” professor Darren Hitt said. Senior Gisele Nelson said that the boycott got more people talking about course evaluations than ever before. “Within my class we had a candid discussion of the pros and cons of both arguments,” Hitt said. “The engineering students that I spoke to were largely indifferent to the boycott, with some even believing it was a bit silly and reactionary.” Filstein said that although some faculty members were skeptical that a boycott would be effective in bringing change to the current system, others were more sympathetic. “Faculty [members] were understanding and supportive of the need for more transparency around evaluations and greater course information for students,” Filstein said. The boycott led to follow up conversations with members of the administration and Faculty Senate to discuss the issue at hand, Mensah said. He said he hopes that the coming months will produce an agreement that benefits both the students and faculty of the University.  

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Boycott deemed successful by SGA