Student Evaluation Form

TO THE EVALUATOR:
The student named below has requested that you evaluate him/her as a candidate for employment or graduate school. The statement you provide will serve as an assessment of this candidates abilities and will be sent to prospective employers or graduate schools at the candidate’s request. An academic transcript, which will be used to judge the scholastic aptitude of the candidate, is submitted in conjunction with your evaluation. Please complete your assessment of the candidate based primarily on personal qualities believed relevant to the individual’s performance and development in an entry-level position. Whenever possible, cite specific examples of past work that form the basis for your opinions. The candidate has indicated at the bottom of this form whether or not he/she wishes to have access to this evaluation.

As an agency of the state, the State University System must comply with federal and state legislation that prohibits discrimination on the basis of handicap. Please refrain from mentioning any physical or mental handicap that the applicant may have.

Thank you for taking the time to carefully evaluate this individual.

Candidate’s Name:
Kathryn Gradenberg______________________________________________________________

Candidate’s Major:
Physics____________Minor:_____Environmental_Science________________________________

Evaluator’s Name and Title:
Dr._Sam_Beasley,_Professor_of_Physics____________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

How long and in what context have you known the applicant?
_I_have_known_Kathryn_for_four years.__She_is_my_advisee_and_was_enrolled_in_my_____

capstone_Environmental_Science_course._____________________________________________

APPLICANTS MAY WAIVE THE RIGHT OF ACCESS TO WRITTEN EVALUATIONS AS PROVIDED FOR UNDER THE EDUCATION PRIVACY ACT OF 1974. PLEASE INDICATE YOUR WISHES BY SIGNING BELOW EITHER STATEMENT A OR B.

A. I hereby waive my right of access to the Confidential Evaluation provided by the person named on the front of this form. He/she should be notified that the confidentiality of the evaluation is preserved.

Applicant’s signature Date ____7/6/98______

B. I do not waive my right of access to the Confidential Evaluation provided by the person named on the front of this form. He/she should be notified that I retain my right of access, and the confidentiality of the evaluation is not guaranteed. Moreover, I understand that not waiving my right of access is not prejudicial to my application.

Applicant’s signature ___________________________________ Date ________________

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Kathryn Gradenberg performed well in my Environmental Studies seminar course last fall. One of the major class projects was to research the impact of waste water treatment methods and prepare a written report for a town council meeting. In addition, students made presentations in class to a mock town council made up of other students in the class. The written report Kathryn prepared was exemplary. She had researched the topic carefully, came up with a number of options, and related the advantages and disadvantages of each. At the end of the paper she made a recommendation to the council and supported her choice with clear arguments. However, in the oral presentation Kathryn was not confident talking in front of the class, and as a result, the credibility of her contributions was jeopardized. I know from her paper and from consultations we had prior to the talk that Kathryn had a carefully laid plan for her presentation, but she was quite intimidated in front of a group of her peers. When one "council member" asked a question she became flustered and couldn't piece together a logical answer.

In this class we also had several open-ended discussions based on real world dilemmas. Kathryn found these activities interesting and wrote very thoughtful follow-up papers relating the decision she would make. As is common in "real world" situations, there were many issues that should be considered but were extraneous to the dilemma itself. Kathryn was facile at sifting through these extraneous details to get to the essence of the issue. However, these types of open-ended activities greatly frustrated Kathryn because there was no right answer and because grading of the follow-up papers had a subjective component.

As a junior and senior, Kathryn has tutored introductory physics students one-on-one. Some of her tutees have been students in my classes. Kathryn has shown extreme patience with these students which is noteworthy considering the low level of motivation some of these students have exhibited. Though Kathryn prefers to work alone in general, she appears to enjoy her interaction with these younger students.

Our institution requires that each student maintain a portfolio of work. Kathryn has included the lab report for a very interesting project she did in one of her chemistry classes. The project was developed completely on her own and it examined the effects of three different chemicals typically encountered in urban areas on two different structural materials. Kathryn’s careful planning and organizational skills were apparent from her report. The experimental methods were very complete and included control experiments with water.

Overall, Kathryn is hard working and has a high level of insight. She can present her ideas well in a written format or on an individual basis. It is evident that she gives matters forethought and has proven she can do solid background research.

Evaluator’s Signature

Date_______8/14/98___