What should I do about my bad ratemyprof profile

[Caracal]

My ratemyprof profile has only five entries but they are *extremely* negative. Four of the comments come from one class that really did go off the rails for me and one is a bit surprising I thought that class went really well.

I have been teaching at my university for 12 years, and I am tenured so I am extremely secure. But I am wondering if I should do anything about this. A few profs at my institution have profiles with more and better ratings so I am wondering if people encourage students to leave entries? Or are they such stellar teachers that students are moved to rate them.

I think I am bothered by this distorted record sitting on the internet when there is a fuller picture

There are sort of three things I thought I could do;

1) start encouraging students to leave entries
2) write to past students with whom I've had good connections, explain the situation and ask them to leave a rating.
3) start a professor profile to reply, possibly leaving anonymous but real quotes from students who have written to me about my strengths.

Thanks for any advice.

JR

I wish I could say I don't care at all about my RMP reviews, but I do find myself checking it and getting annoyed about bad reviews. That said, I don't think its a good idea to feed those impulses and turn them into concrete actions. Just leave it alone.

[Aster]

If it's just five, I recommend leaving it alone.

Also, the more that you access the RMP site using your name, the more it shows up at the top of internet searches when random people are looking your name up. I don't recommend feeding the search algorithm troll that way.

[joeroberts]

Thanks all, this is wonderful advice. It means a lot. I'll move on!

[Wahoo Redux]

I wish I could say I don't care at all about my RMP reviews, but I do find myself checking it and getting annoyed about bad reviews.

Me too.  Most of my reviews are good because I'm a bit of a creampuff, but the complaints do sting.  How could they not?  I just keep it in perspective. 

[mamselle]

Yeah, no need to give them that power over you.

Was it Eleanor Roosevelt who said, "Never become an instrument of your own oppression"?

M.

[research_prof]

My ratemyprof profile has only five entries but they are *extremely* negative. Four of the comments come from one class that really did go off the rails for me and one is a bit surprising I thought that class went really well.

I have been teaching at my university for 12 years, and I am tenured so I am extremely secure. But I am wondering if I should do anything about this. A few profs at my institution have profiles with more and better ratings so I am wondering if people encourage students to leave entries? Or are they such stellar teachers that students are moved to rate them.

I think I am bothered by this distorted record sitting on the internet when there is a fuller picture

There are sort of three things I thought I could do;

1) start encouraging students to leave entries
2) write to past students with whom I've had good connections, explain the situation and ask them to leave a rating.
3) start a professor profile to reply, possibly leaving anonymous but real quotes from students who have written to me about my strengths.

Thanks for any advice.

JR

Do nothing. If you are really serious about it, write your own reviews.

[Dismal]

I know someone ( a short, rather bossy colleague) who got a "little Napoleon" comment removed. If it is still bothering you, then add one  to the effect of "fair grader but requires some work" or "you'll do well if you come to class" harmless kind of comment and give yourself a top grade. Chili peppers are no longer, I hear.

[Sun_Worshiper]

Nothing.

M.

Correct answer. Let students have their fun.

[HigherEd7]

Leave it alone! Instead of coming to you they would rather blast you on the net. The funny thing is that if you have talked to these students before sometimes you can tell who they are.

[tuxedo_cat]

RMP has changed some of their policies about challenging student comments on the site.

It used to be that if anyone flagged the comment, it was removed within a day -- just not worth the hassle of dealing with a disgruntled faculty member.

Now these f****ers are making enough money to PAY someone to monitor stuff, but you can still challenge a comment.

I successfully flagged a snotty and deliberately misleading comment from a student by observing that they were claiming to speak for the whole class.  There are actually guidelines on the site about this sort of thing: students can't claim to speak for other students -- they can only speak for themselves.

I explained that in my challenge and the comment was removed the next day.

I personally think that if you can remove unflattering public comments about your professional integrity from that sort of site, you should absolutely go for it.

[Kron3007]

I have the same situation, but only have two ratings.  They are both from a large intro class that I filled in sort of last minute.  I didn't do great, and the comments are probably accurate for that specific course, but generally my teaching evals are solid.  So, the public RMP word is that I am horrible.

It has been this way for years, and I do nothing. Not worth the time or emotional energy.  If you had precarious employment, it may be worth some effort, but since yu out don't there is no point wasting any time on.

[downer]

I have a class that last year ran with quite a few students and this year may or may not run due to low enrollment. I suspect it may be due to a negative RMP post about the class. I never really looked at it closely, but I think it said something about me being the worst professor on the planet. I feel torn about it because it is on a topic I enjoy teaching. I did demand a lot from the students and didn't hold their hands very much. The school does not pay well and quite a few of the students are clueless. I suspect that a lot of profs there give them an easy time. If it does run with a handful of students, I guess I can give them more individual attention this semester. If it doesn't run, no big deal.

Generally, I'm quite happy with negative RMP reviews if that means less work for me. But my classes seem to fill up no matter what I do or how much effort I make.