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The Source Guide: a new and improved way to help students choose courses

By Brian Fitzgerald

The Source Guide, a biannual publication that provides student evaluations of instructors and courses in many of BU's schools and colleges, "has improved significantly in recent years," says Herb Ross, associate vice president and associate dean of students. In fact, this spring's edition, available online at www.bu.edu/sourceguide, is the largest and most comprehensive to date.

"There is still room for improvement," says Ross, a member of The Source Guide Advisory Board, "but the forward movement appears to be sustained."

	At a recent meeting of The Source Guide staff are data entry assistant Nartono Tjoe (CAS'03), Advisory Board member Allen Ward, copyeditor Shari Vo-Ta (CAS'02), and project manager Anson Han (CAS'01). Photo by Kalman Zabarsky

The publication, which has been helping BU students select their courses for more than 30 years, offers a description of each class covered, required readings, instructor ratings, grading criteria, various course statistics (including reason for enrolling), and of course, student comments. Ross points out that while The Source Guide is an important reference tool, students should also rely upon the expertise of BU counseling staff and faculty advisors. "The Source Guide should not be viewed as the single source, but rather as one of the sources utilized by students in the class selection process," he says.

"We continually want to take it to the next level," says Allen Ward, another Advisory Board member. "It used to be very much a grassroots product, and commitment on the book varied from year to year." Staffing and distribution problems sometimes plagued the publication, especially in the 1996-97 academic year, but Ward says that Dennis Berkey, provost and dean of arts and sciences, was a crucial factor in the rejuvenation of the publication.

"It used to be put out by volunteers," says Ward, who also directs the Student Activities Office and the Community Service Center. "But starting three years ago, we had help from work-study students and University staff." The result was a graphically appealing production with a scenic full-color photo of the Charles River Campus on the cover.

Project manager Anson Han (CAS'01) says that the publication's content has also markedly improved. "We changed the questionnaire, making it more informative, and more statistics were added," he says. "But while we had a decent product, it didn't have good distribution. So we increased the number of copies from 4,000 to 11,000, and it went to every student mailbox on campus."

Ward points out that because a slicker print product costs more, The Source Guide's student staff had to begin focusing on fundraising and securing advertisements. However, this effort diverted their energies from editorial duties. Then in 1998 the students received help from the BU Office of Business Affairs, which secured ads from University-affiliated sponsors. "The students could spend more time on the heart of the product," says Ward.

With the help of BU's University Information Systems, the publication made its debut on the Web in the 2000-01 academic year. At present, only 300 copies are printed each semester, but undergraduates are informed of the Web site via e-mail. "With The Source Guide now on the Internet, it has greatly improved because it's much easier and faster for students to look up information on courses and professors," says Shari Vo-Ta (CAS'02), the publication's copyeditor. Indeed, links to past evaluations provide students with an in-depth examination of courses and professors.

The Source Guide also has a "Quotes with a Quirk" section for humorous comments on evaluations. The most dreaded remark on evaluations? "It would have to be the use of the word fine," says Ward. "We get too many of those. We want students to elaborate." Ward reminds students to take the evaluations seriously. "Remember, these evaluations are a factor in the formalized evaluation of the faculty," he says. "They are considered in promotion and rank."

Assistant Vice President for Enrollment Denise Mooney, also a member of The Source Guide Advisory Board, says she is pleased that in recent years students working on the publication have taken extra care "that the comments they include will help convey an accurate picture of the students' evaluations of the courses and instructors. They understand that for the publication to be truly valuable to the student community, and respected by the faculty, they must deliver a professional product."

The Source Guide, a joint project of the offices of the Provost, the Vice President and Dean of Students, and the Vice President for Enrollment, and the Student Union, is partially funded by the undergraduate student fee.

This year, 290 courses are covered in the publication. It is a fraction of the courses offered at BU, but The Source Guide's goal is to incorporate more University departments. To be sure, this year's guide is a far cry from the 1996-97 edition, when disks were lost, evaluations mishandled, and production lagged behind schedule. "I think that it's a fantastic resource now," says Han.

27 April 2001
Boston University
Office of University Relations