mtvU acquires professor rating Web site
Published Jan. 23, 2007
Every semester when junior Dana Kuttenkuler signs up for classes, she logs onto RateMyProfessors.com to decide which classes she will take.
"There was a group invitation on Facebook for this site," Kuttenkuler said. "There was a link, so I thought I'd try it out."
The popular student Web site is an archive of anonymous student opinions about the teaching abilities of professors with which they have taken a course. Students create an account and can enter their opinions about professors with whom they have had a class.
On Wednesday, mtvU — the MTV network aimed at college students — announced it would buy the RateMyProfessors Web site and expects the merger to be complete by the end of the quarter, mtvU spokesman Jason Rzepka said.
Rzepka said mtvU became interested in the Web site after talking to students on campuses they visit and from former college students working within the network.
"We heard from everybody how great a site it is," Rzepka said. "It's peers talking to peers about professors."
Rzepka said mtvU hopes to expand the site's student resources based on student input.
Some possible new features, which Rzepka said would be a valuable service for prospective students, are areas in which students can also rate residence halls, hotspots on campus, music and restaurants.
"We really want to hear from college students about how to run the site, and we really want to expand this platform," Rzepka said. "It will definitely continue to be a student-driven site."
Kuttenkuler said she believes the site should remain solely focused on professors and that the main improvement the site could make is to increase the number of professors in the archive. She said mtvU's acquisition of the RateMyProfessors Web site could help attract a larger audience, which could increase the amount of professors in the archive.
Graduate student Traci Angel said she has also logged onto the site, but her visit was different than most students because she wanted to see how she had been rated. Although Angel said she understands why students use the site, she is concerned about the reliability and professionalism of the site.
She said the site's information about professors would be more legitimate if the students who posted their opinions also posted their expected and received grade next to their submission.
According to mtvU's Web site, mtvU reaches 750 college campuses nationwide and also acquired Y2M, which is the parent company of College Publisher, at the end of the summer.
According to the College Publisher Web site, it is the largest interactive network of online college publishers in the United States and serves more than 450 college newspapers.
Rzepka said the partnership with Y2M has been great so far with the service growing from 450 to 500 papers since August. He said users of the network can also expect some "exciting new features" in the future.
"We're excited about both sites," Rzepka said. "They're a great way for us to partner with our audience. We're thrilled and happy to be partners with a great audience, college students across the country."