We need more pizza during SAGM II. Just putting that out there haha.

Originally Posted by Ender

We need more pizza during SAGM II. Just putting that out there haha.

That one should be directed to the MES. I know in the past when we had money left over we bought more pizza... Make a motion at a meeting before SAGM and it'll probably pass

I didn't get that feel from David's post at all. Engineering has a lot of material to cover because it is accredited through some external organization, so the SRA can't really make any ground to reduce the amount of knowledge one needs upon graduation. I was talking to a recent commerce grad and he told me that 5 courses is a normal course load for him. I have 5 courses this semester, as well as last semester, but I'm also taking it easy because I took a 6 units in the summer. Normally I'd have 6 courses a semester... which is also why when I looked at my schedule, I was wondering why it was so empty.

On what Jackie said, I feel like if non-engineers have a problem with engineers, they should at least make their own topic about it, instead of hijacking a thread asking for answers or opinions.

Here is something the SRA can do somethig about:
- we have course reviews at the end of the term, but I wish there was something we could do about a crappy prof from the start(when the first middterm is ridiculous for example)

Also, I hear the 2009 class in software eng didn't have the highest averages. Maybe expressing concern about the whole system and not just throwing up our hands and saying "it's engineering" would help.

Oh and ALL my subjects the prof had to bell curve this last semester, if that tells you anything.

Originally Posted by adrian

Oh and ALL my subjects the prof had to bell curve this last semester, if that tells you anything.

I definitely DID NOT get the mark that I got in 3GA3; I was very shocked that I had passed at all.

Just as a headsup, the MSU and the SRA do not have authority to tell profs how to teach, grade, or update students. These are educational issues that only your faculty dean or program chairs can address.

For more information or outlines of what the SRA can do for you, feel free to visit:
https://www.msumcmaster.ca/studentGo...n/overview.htm

I bet if you reallly wanted to the SRA/MSU could do something useful for classes. I remember hearing how in about maybe 1970 Laurier didn't have course reviews and had some terrible profs. The students walked out/occupied the school. And things were improved. The students should have all the authority, not none.

Well academics is the biggest most vital part that needs to be adressed and is not being addressed by anyone. Compared to that, stuff like "the toilet paper in JHE sucks" seems inconsequential if you get my drift.

Originally Posted by adrian

Well academics is the biggest most vital part that needs to be adressed and is not being addressed by anyone. Compared to that, stuff like "the toilet paper in JHE sucks" seems inconsequential if you get my drift.

We can't even merely tell Facility Services to get better toilet paper in various buildings across campus.

TP aside, let's focus on academic issues.

I think what could be gleaned from many of these posts is that there's some disgruntlement amongst Engineers regarding their quality of education as well as certain teaching practices.

The MES, from what I heard has one of the best faculty-specific advocacy teams around (as Jackie has said) and that should be a first stop.

Going even further from that, you could give Chris Martin, the MSU's VP Education a visit. I'm not going to put words in his mouth, however, internal lobbying at McMaster is going to be a focus for him in 2nd semester.

Finally, if all else fails, go to your Department Chair/Associate Dean's office yourself and voice your opinion. They cannot fault you for setting up a meeting and bringing principled points for them.

If textbook prices have got you down, check out Undercovers (the MSU consignment bookstore) for cheap, used textbooks.

https://www.msumcmaster.ca/servicesa...lInfo/home.htm

Originally Posted by adrian

Here is something the SRA can do somethig about:
- we have course reviews at the end of the term, but I wish there was something we could do about a crappy prof from the start(when the first middterm is ridiculous for example)

Also, I hear the 2009 class in software eng didn't have the highest averages. Maybe expressing concern about the whole system and not just throwing up our hands and saying "it's engineering" would help.

Here's the thing about Course Evaluation. Not all of the profs reveal the results of the evaluation. Every prof has a right to reveal or not reveal, or I might be wrong and only the tenured profs have this choice on whether to reveal course evaluations or not & The CLA's have to reveal it on a compulsory basis.

This is a result of collective agreements between faculty associations and the university, The CLA's/Non Tenureds have a different agreement and the Tenureds have a different agreement.

The MSU is part of OUSA(Ontario Undergraduate student alliance) which is a lobbying organization at a provincial level. One of its recent recommendations was

The government must mandate all Ontario Universities to perform teaching
evaluations and these evaluations must be made public and easily accessible to all university stakeholders,

The OUSA(to which the MSU pays $20-30k a year as membership fees) has full time staff working to get such policies passed so that students have access to ALL Course Evaluations.

Originally Posted by adrian

Oh and ALL my subjects the prof had to bell curve this last semester, if that tells you anything.

Maybe you should try directing your energy away from complaining about how hard it is and towards doing more to succeed.

Originally Posted by cowpuppy

Maybe you should try directing your energy away from complaining about how hard it is and towards doing more to succeed.

As far as I can recall, Adrian does very well in all of his classes, and so that's not a problem.

I agree though; it makes it very difficult to follow along when profs don't have a clear set lecture slides, or at least a clear ordering of how things will be taught. In my discrete mathematics class last semester, for example, the prof was all over the place (none of his own slides and no ordering of anything), and I had to learn myself from the book, which sucked.

I have a feeling it's going to be even worse this semester :(. The only prof I have so far that I'm feeling good about so far is Martin von Mohrenschildt :p.

I have had at least 2 professors where I just learned the material myself from the textbook rather than listening to them during lecture, Math and Mech. I sometimes wonder why I'm even paying for these courses.

I also agree about Dr. Mohrenshildts, seems like a cool guy. Hopefully he'll be on par with Dr. Zurobs teaching methods and as enthusiastic about his work. IMO Dr. Zurob's ways should be the standard lol.