Picture this: you take a psychology class and you soon discover that this class isn’t working for you but you stick with it. the professor is not to your liking, and they may have been unfair with their assignments and how they were graded. What are you left with? It was a terrible experience and probably left a dip in your GPA. If you were paired with a bad professor you should have the freedom to express it. 

Some may expect there to be bias in grading professors. Students who report negatively on their professors could be the ones who didn’t attend class or slacked off, yet is that a majority of the case? This assumption is just the worst-case scenario, and at the end of the day, everyone has a right to their opinion as long as the reader takes it with a grain of salt. 

There are plenty of reasons why we should be able to grade a professor. What if you run into a professor who treats students in an unfavorable manner such as discrimination or negligence of a student? Miriam Amin, an opinion columnist who wrote an article for “Medium” about her experience, said, “I have not only witnessed racism and disrespect but also harassment or teachers that interrupt students. If a teacher meets any of these points, then he/she should not get away with it.” 

“The difference between a student and a teacher is only most likely age and knowledge. That does not mean that teachers can do whatever they want without consequences,” Miriam wrote. I have been in a classroom with teachers/professors who have stated their opinions without thinking of the student’s behalf. One of my teachers in high school talked about his marriages, and political standpoint, diminished the dreams of future college students and swore at his class. Needless to say, nothing happened to him. I had another who talked about her religious views and had the class pray with her one time. I was disturbed. 

Another benefit of grading your professors is that they gain insight into how to best support their students’ needs. They can read what students say and understand where they are lacking in the classroom. This can help future or current students gain better resources from their professor if they need assistance with upcoming assignments or lectures, and better alert professors that they need to extend the opportunity of help if need be. 

I think that the professor analysis at the end of each term on Duck Web is a great way to get your point across in a kind manner. You can access this toward the end of the term – the link provided at the top of DuckWeb will direct you to a site that allows you to review your professor. This is a tool that shouldn’t be looked over and rather be used efficiently for your and future students’ benefit. 

Nicole Rogers, a reporter and opinion writer for Sun News, said “But the power to grade teachers would be beneficial for everyone. It wouldn’t be used as a tool for harm or to be used when we don’t like the coursework or the teacher. It would be used for constructive criticism so the course can be better and beneficial for the students.”

Not every student is out to get their teacher by using methods like these that are available. “I know if I had the power to grade my teachers, I would use it fairly. I wouldn’t want to make a teacher’s life harder. They already have a hard enough job,” Rogers said. 

Students should have the ability to grade their professor as a right to speak freely about one’s experience. If students aim to better themselves and their peers through the DuckWeb questionnaires, Rate My Professors, or word of mouth, grading our professors can do much more good than bad.