Professor gender, age, and “hotness” in influencing college students’ generation and interpretation of professor ratings

Undergraduate psychology students rated expectations of a bogus professor (randomly designated a man or woman and hot versus not hot) based on an online rating and sample comments as found on RateMyProfessors.com (RMP). Five professor qualities were derived using principal components analysis (PCA): dedication, attractiveness, enhancement, fairness, and clarity. Participants rated current psychology professors on the same qualities. Current professors were divided based on gender (man or woman), age (under 35 or 35 and older), and attractiveness (at or below the median or above the median). Using multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA), students expected hot professors to be more attractive but lower in clarity. They rated current professors as lowest in clarity when a man and 35 or older. Current professors were rated significantly lower in dedication, enhancement, fairness, and clarity when rated at or below the median on attractiveness. Results, with previous research, suggest numerous factors, largely out of professors’ control, influencing how students interpret and create professor ratings. Caution is therefore warranted in using online ratings to select courses or make hiring and promotion decisions.

Review of the Community Residential Care Facilities Program, Department of Health and Environmental Control

This review was predicated on a credible complaint alleging substantial health and safety deficiencies in the care of a resident placed in a Community Residential Care Facility (CRCF) in Kershaw County, South Carolina. Initial investigation with subject matter experts, non-profit advocacy groups, and CRCF inspection reports revealed this single incident might be a symptom of systemic health and safety deficiencies throughout DHEC’s CRCF Program, which regulates 471 CRCFs with the approximately 17,000 vulnerable clients, primarily elderly and disabled. This review’s scope and objectives were: Assess the risk of a vulnerable population of elderly and disabled citizens residing in CRCFs living in unsatisfactory health and safety conditions; Evaluate DHEC’s CRCF Program inspection process capabilities to identify and address CRCFs with unsatisfactory health and safety living conditions; Recommend opportunities to improve the CRCF Program.

Community scholarship program

This brochure describes scholarships available to Union County residents going to USC Union and the Union Campus of Spartanburg Community College.