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Allen, Teresa

Cumulative GPA: 3.50/4.00 with 26 evaluations
Presents Material Clearly: 3.54
Recognizes Student Difficulties: 3.42

Journalism Department, Cal Poly, SLO
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JOUR 407 Senior Grade Earned: A Required (Major) 12:19 pm, Apr 4, 2013 Report Evaluation		I took Teresa Allen's course in feature writing, and it prepared me for a successful career in news, and later graduate school at an Ivy League university. She has been a mentor and friend long after I graduated, and was the best professor I had at Cal Poly. She will improve your writing and help you learn how to tell a good story. Take her if you can.

JOUR 402 Junior Grade Earned: A Required (Major) 3:14 pm, Jun 13, 2011 Report Evaluation		On the first day I was a little leery of Professor Allen. She has a ball-busting, harsh reputation that definitely precedes her. I found this to be the complete opposite of her personality and teaching style. I loved Allen! Her class was actually really fun because the coursework was so light! There was reading of course, but a lot less than most classes. She shows a lot of videos and utilizes the multimedia approach to teaching. She was definitely an easy grader--except when it comes to essays. If you come to every class, do the reading and participate in class discussions, you'll definitely get an 'A'. Allen knows her subject matter, which made this class somewhat fun.

JOUR 219 Sophomore Grade Earned: B Required (Major) 4:20 pm, Apr 21, 2010 Report Evaluation		Thas class was such a drag to go to for a 2 hour lecture. Everything we talked about was repetitive and pretty obvious. I didn\'t learn anything that I didn\'t already know except that the PC term for a bald guy was follicly challenged. The books were useless to read because she goes over everything you need to know for the tests (which she is horrible at grading, so go over your asnwers with someone else when you get your test back.. chances are you both had the same answer but magically one of you was wrong and the other was right). The essays you write are not bad at all, they are pretty easy topics because by the time you get the prompt the theme has been beaten into your head... and she is a fairy easy grader when is comes to the essays. Overall this class is boring and the definition of redundant.

JOUR 402 Junior Grade Earned: N/A Required (Major) 2:19 am, Mar 22, 2010 Report Evaluation		I took Teresa for this class as well as copy editing. I think she is an amazing professor. She really knows what she is talking about. If you go to class and participate/ask questions you will thoroughly enjoy her class. she comes off as tough but don\'t let this scare you. If you do what is asked of you, you should be fine and come out of the course with a lot of new knowledge.

JOUR 460 Senior Grade Earned: N/A Required (Major) 4:22 pm, Mar 15, 2010 Report Evaluation		I took Teresa Allen\'s Ethics class and really enjoyed it, however it was having her as a senior project advisor that was brutal. I would NOT RECOMMEND her as an advisor to anyone that is not a print student. She is the hardest advisor to get ahold of, fails to communicate what she wants and doesn\'t provide a grading curriculum for senior project (which would have been very helpful). She hated my idea and when I went in for help she would play \"devil\'s advocate\" instead of helping me focus it or narrow it down. Not only was she unhelpful but was also extremely rude and impatient. She is always in a rush and always looking at her watch, which just makes you feel like she doesn\'t care and wants you out of her office. If you are a PR student she makes it very known that she does not like or respect PR in general. I have never done a teacher review and never will again, however I just wanted to warn Journalism students about having her as a senior project advisor. If you are passionate about your senior project and are confident in your topic, beware of Professor Allen, she will try and tailor it to her needs as much as possible. After seven weeks of trying to work with her and make my project fall under her \"requirements\" I was so discouraged and lost with my senior project that I withdrew from the class and decided to finish it another quarter.

JOUR 303 Junior Grade Earned: N/A General Ed 10:18 am, Mar 28, 2008 Report Evaluation		The comment below is actually for Professor Regulus Allen (English) and NOT Teresa Allen. Sorry!

ENGL 303 Junior Grade Earned: A Required (Major) 7:52 pm, Mar 26, 2008 Report Evaluation		Professor Allen is easily the worst professor I've ever had in my entire college career! Her teaching style is boring and she too often comes across completely unprepared. She comes to class late every single day, yet she will always mark off points from your grade if you are late or leave early regardless of the reason. She gives a multiple page handout for paper requirements, won't offer real input during office hours and grades incredibly harshly. She also has nothing to offer in class (did I mention boring??).



JOUR 233 Freshman Grade Earned: A Required (Major) 11:25 am, Feb 26, 2008 Report Evaluation		Ahhh.... Teresa Allen. To be honest, the first day of class I was so intimidated of her. But after awhile you get used to her personality and she's not so bad. She's really a great professor and knows her stuff. Her quizzes come straight from the stuff we go over in class (exactly what she tells you to study is on the quiz). So far, we haven't even had a midterm, although if we did I'm sure it would have been easy. There is absolutely no out-of-class work. Everything is done in class, which gives you something to do during the 3-hour block. She hates it when students are late, so don't be... even though she has been many of times. Truthfully, I've learned a lot from her and would definitely take her again. You won't be disappointed.

JOUR 402 Senior Grade Earned: B Required (Major) 12:51 pm, Dec 25, 2007 Report Evaluation		Allen is one of the best teachers at Poly. She makes ethics interesting and the workload isn't too overbearing. Its about on par for a 400 level class. She is understanding and helpful. Don't take a gamble, take her over Dr. H. It'll be worth it.

JOUR 407 Sophomore Grade Earned: B Required (Major) 11:38 am, Feb 26, 2007 Report Evaluation		Teresa is seriously the best teacher I've had at Cal Poly. I took her class for copy-writing and this course and I couldn't have enjoyed either class more. She comes off as a little scary at first, but she's really a big softy who'll let you into her office just to pet her dog (who she sometimes brings to school) The class involved writing many long pieces on personality profiles, travel, and the like, but we often got the chance to re-write things, which is more real-life journalism than some professors. Also, she allowed me and anothe sophomore to take the class which technically is only for upper-division students. If you can take her for ANYTHING, DO IT!

JOUR 101 Freshman Grade Earned: N/A Elective 11:42 pm, Feb 20, 2007 Report Evaluation		Great lady. Very nice.

JOUR 402 Junior Grade Earned: A Required (Major) 12:37 am, Jan 9, 2007 Report Evaluation		She is completely awesome. Every time I take a class from her (and I've taken four now) I respect her more. She knows her shit and really tries to help you if you're having trouble. She takes roll in this class and there is a HUGE group presentation toward the end of the quarter, but it's still a great class. She introduces media issues to you that you nevere would have even though of before taking the class. Then you start to think about where you personally stand on the issues and where the line between reporter and human being is exactly. In short: great teacher, really really interesting class.

JOUR 402 Sophomore Grade Earned: B Required (Major) 7:27 pm, Dec 12, 2006 Report Evaluation		I love Theresa. She is really a great teacher and extremely passionate and intelligent lady. She has so much experience in the field of journalism and hearing her real-life experiences related to the lectures really makes it interesting. Media ethics has been one of my favorite classes so far, it's like an ongoing debate for the whole quarter and she listens to and respects everyones opinion. I have A LOT of respect for her and learned so much important information that is 100% relevant to what I want to do with my life.



JOUR 233 Sophomore Grade Earned: A Required (Major) 2:47 am, May 11, 2006 Report Evaluation		I love Teresa. She and George are the best things the department has going. She's down to earth and understands students. If you earn her respect, she'll show you that she has a great sense of humor and awesome on-the-job stories. She did a good deal of crime reporting, so that gets brought up a lot. Most of the people who say they don't like her just didn't put effort into the class. (And honestly, it doesn't require that much effort in the first place.) A lot of people just didn't understand AP style in my copy editing class, and it showed up on their tests so they were bummed. And then they ranted about how useless editing is. Boy, are they wrong. There was a spelling test every week for a reason; if you're going to be a journalist, you'd better learn how words work. Anyway, Teresa. Awesome.

JOUR 407 Senior Grade Earned: A Required (Major) 6:11 pm, Mar 20, 2006 Report Evaluation		Feature Writing was a ton of work. We had to wrtie three features. The first was a news feature (4-6 pages), the second was an eight page profile, and third was a story we wrote for Central Coast Magazine about almost anything we could think of. We were required to rewrite the first two stories regardless if we were happy with the grade. The lectures were very scattered and half the time the handouts were missing pages or were stapled in the incorrect order. I'm just excited that I got through this class. I hope you get through it too.

JOUR 203 Senior Grade Earned: B Required (Major) 10:20 am, Sep 13, 2005 Report Evaluation		I feel bad for tarnishing Allen's 4.0 rating. I've actually taken her for both Copy Editing and Ethics and have walked away with mixed feelings. Copy Editing was, for the most part, not helpful at all. Lectures were disorganized, grading standards unclear, and she would sometimes come in exhausted and unprepared. It was an easy class requiring little work overall, but it felt like everything you actually did do was busy work. I wouldn't say my editing skills improved much. In Journalism Ethics, on the other hand, Allen was awesome. She seemed energized by the subject matter and was always prepared. Her lectures were meaningful and she put great stock in student discussion. It was also in the afternoon, so she actually seemed very alert. At the end of all this I can only assume 2 things. A) She doesn't enjoy copy editing at all, and B) She isn't a morning person. That being said, she and Soares are the only professors in the department that I believe really bring something to it. Ramos is arrogant, Murray unclear, and Munroe wastes your time. Sosna wasn't awful, but his lectures can be pointless. Long story short: Allen is imperfect, but a lot better than most. I'd recommend her, particularly for Ethics.

JOUR 203 Freshman Grade Earned: A Required (Major) 3:01 am, Aug 4, 2005 Report Evaluation		I had a lot of journalism experience before I took this class, but I didn't realize how much there was left to learn until I had her. She's awesome. She presents everything clearly. You know what is expected of you and she will help you improve and get it done. Don't skip class. Read the material and listen to the major points of the lecture and you should do well. The grade pretty much consists of a group project, a couple quizzes and stories, and a portfolio. I'd recommend this class and Teresa Allen to anybody.

JOUR 402 Sophomore Grade Earned: A Required (Major) 9:10 am, Jun 15, 2005 Report Evaluation		Teresa is the one good thing the journalism department has going for itself, along with Ethics 402. This class was pretty easy and very applicable. The class was composed of: 40% Final, 30% Midterm/Attendence/Participation, and 30% group project. It's not hard to do well in this theory course and Teresa is very down to earth and on level. She knows what's up take her. The only bad thing about this class was that you did have to show up every day for roll because absences affect your grade, but other than that, take this class because she is tight and the class is easy.

JOUR 407 Senior Grade Earned: A Elective 10:13 am, Jan 13, 2005 Report Evaluation		Feature writing was a lot of work, and I didn't expect it to be, but I'm so glad I took this class. Teresa has very high expectations for her students and made lots of demands. At one point, the class was so stressed out that we asked her to push back a couple of deadlines, and she was completely understanding and willing to listen to the students. What a rarity! I can't say enough about Teresa as an instructor; she puts a lot of effort into sharing her knowledge, evaluating her students fairly and challenging her pupils. I feel like she's the only one in the journalism department who truly respects the students. My writing really improved with her help, and I was very satisfied with the articles I wrote for the class. And she's just plain cool; for our final we had a potluck in class and discussed our last feature and read our favorite writers. I would recommend this class to anyone, especially writers, but I caution that it's not a course for the average slacker. There are three big features due, reading and writing assignments each week and a few quizes.



JOUR 402 Junior Grade Earned: A Required (Support) 4:42 pm, Aug 23, 2004 Report Evaluation		Allen is the only sane, credible and qualified professor in the journalism department. This class is so important...everyone in the major should take it. An A is very achievable in this class if you do the reading and show up to class. If you don't take media ethics seriously, do the world a favor and don't be a journalist.

JOUR 402 Sophomore Grade Earned: B Required (Major) 7:00 pm, Aug 5, 2004 Report Evaluation		very nice teacher who you can tell has a mean edge to her. very experienced, and knows what the hell she's talking about. the class had many very interesting discussions and debates. not only is the class extremely interesting, it's very useful for anyone entering the field of journalism. the class isn't extremely demanding, you can retain most of the important info from the lectures and discussions.

JOUR 402 Junior Grade Earned: A Elective 12:50 pm, Jun 15, 2004 Report Evaluation		Professor Allen is probably the best journalism professor at Cal Poly, particularly for ethics. I've heard that her grading is a bit arbitrary in copy-editing, but that's second hand. In JOUR-402, Allen really knows what she's talking about and actually seems INSPIRED by the material! Imagine that! It wasn't a difficult class... two or three short essays, two short quizzes and a final. You also get a grade for participation/attendence, but she gives you a free absence and the discussions are so interesting that participation is easy. Overall, I would recommend her to anyone... particularly ethics. =)

JOUR 402 Senior Grade Earned: A Required (Support) 7:43 pm, Jun 18, 2003 Report Evaluation		Media ethics is the most relevant theory class in the journalism department and should be required of anyone planning to enter the field. The discussion quality of Teresa's case studies makes it so you think about the concepts long after class is over. Debates are lively so be prepared to take a position and be forced to defend it.

JOUR 402 Senior Grade Earned: A Required (Support) 6:25 pm, Feb 5, 2003 Report Evaluation		Teresa Allen is an awesome teacher and a great mentor. I hope that she receives tenure. She has a vision for our ailing department She has a dry, sometimes dark sense of humor, great stories (ask about Charles Manson or the Trailside killer), and she leads spirited discussions.

JOUR 233 Sophomore Grade Earned: A Required (Major) 5:07 pm, Jan 28, 2003 Report Evaluation		Teresa Allen is quite simply one of the few great professors that the Journalism Dept. retains. She's very easy to talk to, has lots of "on the job experience (with fun stories)," and extends on the course material to expand the students' knowledge and experience. It's no secret that the department is suffering right now, but she's one faculty member that isn't stading around watching it disinegrate. THANK YOU TERESA! Hope for our dept. has arrived...



JOUR 352 Junior Grade Earned: A Required (Major) 11:48 pm, Nov 13, 2002 Report Evaluation		Finally, some hope for the Journalism department. Teresa is a seasoned professional who brings a lot to class discussions and to the department as a whole. Her reserved style means she does not always offer help, but it is always available for those who want it. The journalism department should do everything it can to keep her. Any class she teaches is well worth it.

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