Students, professors weigh in on “DLSU Profs to Pick”

The DLSU Profs to Pick group is one of the most active Facebook groups comprised primarily of Lasallian students. It was originally created as an avenue for students to ask for a certain professor’s grading system and teaching style, but due to the popularity of Facebook, the Profs to Pick group has also expanded its purpose. Some students use it to promote activities and events from their respective organizations, others use it to sell things or disseminating survey forms, and some other students use the page to help find owners of lost and found items.

The past and the present

According to Emil Sagabaen, an ID 109 student and the sole administrator of the DLSU Profs to Pick Facebook group, he is the original creator, having created a Blogger site before the actual Facebook group. “I only made the group when I saw that there was another Profs to Pick group gaining members. That’s the time I decided to make an official DLSU Profs to Pick [Facebook] group,” he shares.

Sagabaen firmly believes that to this day, the DLSU Profs to Pick group has immensely helped students in gaining information about different professors. He mentions that several students are really active in answering queries online regarding the teaching style and grading method.

An avenue for student discussions

Like many other members of the group, Krista De Leon (II, AB-CAM) shares that she also posts on the group asking for opinions on certain professors in her subjects. Based on experience, she believes that the reviews are accurate and helpful for students in choosing professors come enlistment period. On making a schedule, however, she focuses more on the subject’s time slot rather than the professor itself due to the unannounced shuffling of professors.

Davie Bonifacio (II, AB-PHM), like De Leon, also asks for suggestions about the professors and what he should prepare for a specific class under a specific professor. However, if he receives a mixture of positive and negative comments regarding a certain professor, he does not easily believe in the comments. “There are other factors,” he shares, “that could affect the comments. It’s possible that the students saying negative comments are just the lazy and irresponsible ones when in fact, the said professor is doing okay.” He explains that he used to actively reply to other students’ questions, but he became more cautious in commenting he claims his professor reprimanded him for seemingly no reason.

On the other hand, Vinz Sermonia (III, AB-PSM), despite being a member of DLSU Profs to Pick, is a more passive member. She does not post questions nor comment answers herself, but she actively seeks for conversations regarding the professors she wants to know more about.

Professors on Profs to Pick

Some faculty members such, as Prof. Mark San Jose, remain as non-members of the Facebook group for various reasons. Despite this, San Jose believes that students, who each have their respective learning styles, should have the right to select their professors.

“Over time, the practices in education also change,” he notes. He contends that, depending on the professor’s teaching approach, some students would learn better in a student-centered practice as compared to other students who prefer traditional lectures.

On the event that he sees bad comments about him, San Jose* indicates that he becomes more aware of his teaching style and becomes encouraged to change his practices. “What you do, you don’t necessarily see,” he points out. “If students were good at pointing out [a professor’s] shortcomings, then it would be time for [the professor] to reevaluate his/her teaching practices,” he reasons.

In spite of the backlash that professors face, San Jose still believes that the group page should not be taken down. Instead, he suggests that posts should be moderated in order to avoid malicious attacks against professors.

Dr. Antonio Contreras of the Political Science Department recently created a parody page entitled “DLSU Students to Pick and Avoid” in response to the “disrespectful and patently libelous” comments being posted online about certain professors from the University. According to Dr. Contreras, it is wrong for students to use the online group as a venue to malign faculty members by posting such disparaging comments. “Professors are even part of the group, and they can read [the comments],” he explains.

“Be critical, but be constructive,” Dr. Contreras advises. “I hope that students won’t be driven by the easy way out in choosing us [professors].”

Dr. Melvin Jabar from the Behavioral Sciences Department is one of the professors who check out DLSU Profs to Pick. “For me, I read the students’ comments and I try to assess my teaching. I know for a fact that we are evaluated through the Institutional Testing and Evaluation Office (ITEO). This perhaps is an objective measure of our performance assuming that students are taking it seriously. Though less objective, I still read the comments of students through [DLSU] Profs to Pick because I will know how I perform as a teacher,” he shares. He adds that he also checks what students say about him using other social media platforms aside from Facebook.

For Dr. Jabar, professors like him must take the comments from DLSU Profs to Pick with a grain of salt because some students say bad things about a professor probably because they were reprimanded in class. On the other hand, there is a possibility that some students may also be telling the truth. He also mentions that professors have different interpretations of the comments in the Profs to Pick page. “I cannot really say how such a facility will impact on them especially in teaching,” he shares. On a personal level, he considers good comments as an inspiration and bad comments as a take-off points for personal reflection. However, if he finds students’ comments unwarranted, Dr. Jabar replies to these comments and the students apologize.

Despite being aware that students comment about professors, Dr. Jabar does not think that this will affect student-teacher relationships in DLSU. “I believe that professors in DLSU are objective and professional. For as long as the comments are not below the belt, I do not think Profs to Pick will have ramifications on the affairs of the classroom,” he says. Moreover, he adds, “Most students who say something about their professor through the facility have taken the courses already and thus [there is the] likelihood that they are not going to take that professor again. So even if they say something bad it will not make an impact.”

When asked whether or not the DLSU Profs to Pick group should be taken down, Dr. Jabar stands on a neutral ground on the matter. However, he says that he believes in everyone’s freedom of expression, so long as such comments are not unprincipled and are not degrading. “Students should take the ITEO evaluation seriously and should make use of this as the right venue to evaluate their professors objectively and honestly as possible,” he states.

— With reports from Audrey Giongco

* Name was changed upon request.