I give UCLA law credit for putting just about everything you need as a student online -- billing, grades, course information, student directories, etc.

There is one notable item that is not published on the web: teaching evaluations. Instead, these are kept in a binder, not in the library, but rather in the dean of students' office.

I've been trying to go in for 2 weeks to read up on next year's professors but there is some kind of "carpet installation problem" that has required them to move the evaluations to a location where they're inaccessible. I see.

I'm not really clear what the policy reason is for making the evaluations less than fully accessible. The information is not confidential. So the extra layers of bureaucracy between a student & the evals can only be meant to reduce the use of the evals.

Nobody I know has ever gone in to see a teaching eval. In your first year, there's no point: your classes & professors are pre-ordained. Now, people are curious, but many have day jobs (the dean's office is only open M-F 9-5) and many others are out of town (and it would be inconvenient to schedule a weekend trip to LA just for this).

What's the big secret? Next week I promise to find out, once the carpet issue is solved.

07 Jul 05