Interviews with a number of department heads reveal that different departments' use of CUE ratings depend on how accurate the numbers are assumed to be.

"I think that the CUE Guide is useful but it is not very precise and needs to be supplemented with other informationto get an accurate picture of somebody'sperformance as a teacher," says Robert P.Kirshner, chair of the astronomy department.

The astronomy department only distributes CUEforms in classes big enough to be included in theguide. To supplement that evaluation procedure,Kirshner says his department also has constructedits own internal evaluation system so that everystudent has a chance to offer feedback.

The forms are used to "help people improvetheir teaching," Kirshner says. "But it is one waythat the department members form an impression ofthe teaching strengths of junior faculty."

These CUE ratings and performance evaluationsare used in hiring, Kirshner says.

"We don't use the CUE Guide in a simple way,but it is a factor in promotion decisions," headds.

"It's a large part of our evaluations ofteaching," Kirshner says. "It's a medium part ofour evaluations of somebody's performanceoverall."

Despite the widespread use of CUE ratings andinternal forms as a way to evaluate teachers,Kirshner says the accuracy of the feedback "variesa lot."

"Sometimes the students don't take theevaluations seriously themselves," he says. "Ifyou read the CUE Guide forms as submittedsometimes, students use that as an opportunity formaking rude comments."

Although most professors agree that ratings maynot accurately reflect teaching skills, scoringwell in the CUE has its own rewards.

"We always have a round of applause for theperson with the highest ranking in ourdepartment," Kirshner says. "Last year, that wasRamesh Narayan. Let me add, try to get in hiscourse," he jokes.

Professor of Astronomy Narayan received aperfect 5.0 rating for his teaching in Astronomy145, an advanced astrophysics class.

"I think we normally take the CUE Guideevaluation as an indication of the quality ofteaching, but I do not have any clear idea of howaccurate it is," Narayan says.

"I think it is fair to use it in hiringteaching fellows," he adds. "It's probably fair touse it as one criterion in promoting juniorfaculty, but I don't think it should be the mostimportant criteria."

He cites classroom performance, research andinteraction with students on a one-to-one basis asother important criteria for promotion.

Professor of Geophysics Richard J. O'Connell,who serves on faculty promotion committees forEarth and Planetary Sciences (EPS), says CUEratings also play an important role in departmentevaluations.