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allows professors to relay up-to-date information about their fields to their students. But as the market shifts, or as the professor's ongoing research uncovers new information, the con- tent of the course will change con- tinuously. Since students have no role in the research effort, they don't have the background or expertise to report on or evaluate class content. What students can accurately evaluate is how well the professor creates an environment that pro- motes learning. A useful tool is a class management report, in which students note if the syllabus was clear, the class met as scheduled, exams were held on promised dates, grades were provided on a timely basis, and the teacher treated them with respect. The class management report might also include narrative personal replies from students. Because these can't be tallied and presented in numerical scores, they give admin- istrators a different kind of insight into a professor's performance. Stu- dents' perceptions—such as "The salary paid this professor is too high," "Class is too easy/hard," and "There are too many exams"—comment on classroom expectations rather than the level of material learned. On the other hand, administra- tors must be aware that student perceptions can be greatly influ- enced by the instructor's personality, which might have nothing to do with whether or not he or she is an effective teacher. In a 2000 article in Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, authors Mark Shevlin, Philip Banyard, and Mark Davies noted that the "instructor charisma factor" explained 69 percent of the variation marks given to professors on their ability to lecture. Therefore, it's essential that both the professor and the student understand the difference between the academic content and the over- all experience of the class. Students might find a class enjoyable because the teacher is entertaining or their internships are fun, but those usu- ally aren't the components that warrant academic credit. And those shouldn't be the components that drive a student's—or an administra- tion's—assessment of a professor. Learning Objectives While due process proceedings and class management reports are excel- lent tools for helping determine a professor's effectiveness, there's another one that could be even more useful. At schools that have achieved or are pursuing accreditation, much of the focus is on assurance of learn- ing. When a school establishes assur- ance of learning processes, the pro- fessor and the department establish learning objectives before the semester even begins, and the school captures a constant stream of data to deter- mine if those objectives are being met. Individual college departments also frequently devise ways to capture additional data. These are much fairer and more objective measures of a professor's effectiveness than a stu- dent evaluation. The professor and the administra- tion also work together to determine what class inputs—such as texts, exams, homework assignments, and lab work—will be used to judge whether the professor has met the learning objectives. In fact, once the learning objectives and class inputs are clearly established, the success of the class depends on the instructor's ability to deliver the material. It's up to the professor to make students understand what topics and concepts will be important in the course, what level of technology students are expected to master, and how the class inputs will be used to determine assurance of learning. My assumption is that, as pro- fessors spend more time preparing learning objectives and inputs, they will create more structured and more disciplined classes. By that, I mean classes that require and receive origi- nal work from each student. The pro- fessor's class expectations will become the student's expectations. Such well-regulated class envi- ronments will become even more important as the popularity of online classes increases, but they are essen- tial even in a traditional classroom. I believe professors will perform at their peak if they know they are being fairly evaluated by data-driven methods, and not purely by student perception—and if they know they will be able to defend themselves against any criticism that arises. When professors are at their best, students are at their best. Fair and impartial faculty evaluations thus improve the classroom experience for everyone. ■ z Donald Epley is a Distinguished Professor of Real Estate in the marketing department and director of the Center for Real Estate Studies at the University of South Alabama's Mitchell College of Business in Mobile. BizEd JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2011 65