system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Student Evaluation Question

I taught an adjunct class and received poor student evaluations. The comments all cite the fact that the students were told there would be a final only two weeks before class ended. This is true. When I was hired, my syllabus was approved by the Dept head. I was told I should require a full term paper and no final exam. We even sat down together and discussed my syllabus in her office. Then, later in the semester, the Dept. Head changed. Two weeks before the end of the semester, the new Dept head told me I needed to give the students a final exam. I argued bc I knew I would receive poor reviews as this was unfair to the students (who I’m sure signed up for the class specifically for its lack of an exam) but he insisted and I complied because I was an adjunct and afraid of angering him. I even remember telling him “I can’t do that to them; it’s not fair” and him saying something like, “you are the professor and anything is fair”. Now, I am applying to another teaching position and this is the only class that has student evaluations and my new position asks me for evaluations. 

How do I explain this to my new potential employer during the job application? I want to take responsibility but I also truly don’t know how else I could have handled this situation. I want to explain the situation but I don’t want to seem like I’m blaming my Department Head for the bad reviews, though I absolutely blame him. I worry blaming him will look like poor character during a job interview. All poor reviews specifically state this issue as the reason for my poor reviews- and I don’t blame them. The students should have been angry. I made it an extremely easy exam but it wasn’t fair to me or the students that my boss suddenly told me I needed to do this. 

Maybe more importantly, if a situation like this happens again- in which a Dept head insists I change my course or do something I know will be disruptive to the students after the course has already begun- what can I do to stand my ground and refuse to do it?
gpt
For future reference, you could have tried pushing back due to academic freedom, perhaps with the support of a faculty senate, union, or other department members. Or just refused to give in even without such support. Basically, the reasoning behind pushing back is that they’re not going to rehire you with shitty evals anyway, so might as well make a stand for academic freedom. 

Can you be selective about which parts of the evals you show? 

First semester teaching evals might not be weighted too heavily, especially during the pandemic. 

If you do choose to include them as is, make a point in your teaching statement (or cover letter) about the importance of balancing being a team player, with what is best for students’ learning and the rigor of the class, and that students’ enjoyment of a class (which is what evals usually reflect) is secondary (or tertiary) to those.