Borin, Norm  

Business

1.52/4.00

52 evaluations


BUS 346


Junior
A
Required (Support)
Feb 2000
He is a good teacher in class, but cannot tell his ass from a hole in the ground. He is extremely picky about every last detail. Marking students off for the slightest mistake. He is petty and even though he seems like a nice guy who has an over abundant love for his dog, he will slowly grind you down. Norm doesn't believe that too many students should be recieving A's, and will create his tests according to this belief.


Junior
B
Required (Major)
Aug 2007
He's an interesting guy who constantly cracks little jokes to keep you interested. He's a very good lecturer and I learned a lot from this class. There were no tests, only online quizzes, a few short assignments, and a group marketing plan that's worth about half of your grade. Overall, this pretty kickass class.


Junior
A
Required (Major)
Sep 2007
Borin is awesome. His jokes actually make class interesting and he has a real passion to teach students about marketing. His world revolves around marketing and you will learn a lot about it. He comes up with creative techniques to teach, not just lecture all period. There are online quizzes every night, 2 individual assignments, and a lot of groupwork that makes up a lot of your grade. Oh and he is big on attendance and he will definitely know if you are not there or if you come late or leave early, plus it is 10% of your grade.


Junior
N/A
Required (Major)
Feb 2011
all this guy does is talk about how much he loves his dog and how much he hates his wife. it's week 6 and i'm dying.


Sophomore
A
Required (Major)
Mar 2011
This class was the biggest waste of time, and the most pointless class I've taken at Poly. Borin is a joke. He's nitpicky about random things, and not about others. He loves his dog, Shasta, and talks about her a lot, which gets old. It's not a difficult class, he's just a weird grader. We learned a lot of common sense stuff, and I was bored most of the time. Granted, I'm not a marketing concentration, but this class only solidified the fact that I hate marketing. I took this class with a bunch of friends and read the WSJ every day and still hated it. If you skip, you won't miss anything. Best lectures were by guest speakers.


Sophomore
B
Required (Major)
Mar 2011
Borin was the worst professor I have had at Cal Poly. He is the reason I did not concentrate in marketing. All he does is talk about how much he loves his dog and how much he hates his wife. Also, it felt like I was in an environmental science class. We probably spent an entirety of 30 minutes of class time talking about marketing. Nothing I learned in that class is relevant to marketing. Also, I never did any work because I made my group leader do all the work cuz she was scared of getting a bad grade... LOL. The only problem was the online quizzes were worth a huge % of our grade and they were impossible even when I had the book out looking up the answers. Avoid him at all costs


Sophomore
B
Required (Major)
May 2011
For the love of God, don't take his class.


Sophomore
A
Required (Major)
Jun 2011
This is not an environmentally based field and he tries to make it that way. DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS. Norm Borin = Norm Boring


Sophomore
C
Required (Major)
Jun 2011
Just because a teacher has tenure does not mean that they shouldn't be subject to dismissal. Grading policy is vague at best, requirements for assignments are so unclear however they make sense in his head so he expects everyone else to magically know them as well, and the weekly quizzes are total Bullsh%(@t. I had heard all of these things before taking marketing, which is why everyone in our class signed up for a different teacher, however the forces aligned against all of us when OCOB switched her out for Borin. I wouldn't even wish this class upon a Pike.


Sophomore
B
Required (Major)
Jun 2011
Norm borin... more like Norm BORING. but seriously this class sucks and it is 100% because of how badly he teaches the class. He is probably the sole reason why I decideded not to be a marketing concentration. Yeahhhhh, dont take his class


Sophomore
B
Required (Major)
Jun 2011
Norm borin... more like Norm BORING. but seriously this class sucks and it is 100% because of how badly he teaches the class. He is probably the sole reason why I decideded not to be a marketing concentration. Yeahhhhh, dont take his class


Sophomore
C
Required (Major)
Jun 2011
Could not agree more with the post that is two below this one.


Junior
C
Required (Major)
Jun 2011
I signed up for a marketing class with an interesting teacher. What I got was a class on sustainability with a 40 year old virgin look a like teacher who constantly talked about his dog and how everyday he tried to be green. Could not stand his class so half the time I did not go. My poor grade however reflects this teacher's idiot quizzes. Basically the quizzes have 4 right answers and you have to pick one. Nobody got As.


Freshman
B
Required (Major)
Jun 2011
Quizzes are all online. Professor Borin creates questions that don't make sense and with options like: two of the above, three of the above, all of the above. I understand professors at Cal Poly try to test our understanding of the topic at hand but the quizzes are just plain ridiculous and most of the time contain errors. Avoid this professor at all costs, you will probably get a C even if you work really hard.


Sophomore
B
Required (Major)
Jun 2011
This class is really a bunch of b.s. but Borin makes it near impossible to get an A so that his class seems "challenging." The material's a joke, the grading is a joke... he's just an overall joke.


Sophomore
A
Required (Major)
Jun 2011
Having a Ph.D doesn't automatically qualify someone to teach. Borin's a nice guy who means well- and without a doubt is intelligent- but he doesn't present material well. The quizzes were tough, the readings were boring, lectures were dry, and I learned more about being green than I did about marketing. Thankfully I am not/did not want to be a marketing concentration, because this class would have influenced me not to become one. At the end of our class he asked us whether or not we liked the green aspect of the class, and most of us said no; therefore, he'll probably go back to a traditional marketing class in the fall of '11. I can't give you recommendations about that class, but if it's anything like what I took in the spring of '11, don't take it.


Sophomore
B
Required (Major)
Jun 2011
I'm not over-exaggerating when I say that this was the sole reason I do not think I will be a marketing concentration. Norm Borin is a great professor.... PSYCH!!! JK LOL don't take this class he is the worst professor in the business department.


Senior
N/A
Required (Support)
Nov 2011
worst teacher ever!! you teach yourself by taking impossible online quizzes using your book. Never does he lecture on marketing stuff. if we dont have a guest speaker, group presentation, or youtube video to watch. Professor Norm just talk about his dog and current events that are not so current. The class is awful and I would avoid at all costs. never gave a full lecture on marketing material. Joke of a teacher.


Sophomore
B
Required (Major)
Nov 2011
Class based on quizzes either once or twice a week on blackboard (which are a huge part of your grade) which are tricky questions on chapters in the book. Then blogs that are due which again he takes seriously and grades hard. Rest of the class is group project which groups are assigned the first day of class, two marketing projects worth majority of the class. He takes 5 minutes to explain each project and doesn't explain it whatsoever. Again, grades very carefully on this projects. Average was 40 or less/50 on both. Attendance is required and participation is 15%, so MUST go to class which basically is hard to sit through since you read and took the quiz the day before. Pointless. No midterms or finals in the class, pro. Con, a lot of busy work and all the above.


Junior
C
Required (Major)
Dec 2011
Norm Borin is a peculiar character. He often would make some really weird jokes which were funny just because of how awkward he was. Other than that, he's a young professor who has a lot to learn. He knows his stuff, he's not a bad guy in any way, he obviously cares about his job, but he just has a long way to go. I wouldn't be surprised that if in a few years, or maybe a decade or so, he becomes a very good professor. However, I highly question his methods as of now. He puts way too much weight into attendance and participation, his online quizzes are annoying and have some random questions that you'll probably not understand, and it's just a strange setup. I believe it's 10% blogs (you have to do 5, super easy), 15% participation (1 point a day for attendance, 1 for participation, and a 3rd point for "valuable participation"), 20% quizzes (annoying), a small project to prepare you for the bigger project (10%), and then 40% for a marketing project split into halves (this wasn't too bad as long as you had a good group). I missed a lot of class since I had a lot of things going on, and it was almost a waste of time to go aside from the points since I learned very little. Honestly, I don't even know what I learned aside from the research I did for my project. I'm not a fan of marketing, as I consider it way too subjective for my liking, but he didn't help. He seems to really care about feedback from his students so I believe that eventually he will keep changing his overall system until he gets it right, so for that I commend him for. But until then, I don't recommend taking this class; probably an easy B in which you won't learn too much unless you invest time on your own to truly learn the material.


Junior
A
Required (Major)
Feb 2012
If you take Borin, pay for the online download of the textbook, so that you can search for the answers to the quiz using a finder window. Otherwise you're screwed. Borin got his Undergrad in Wildlife Fisheries. That's about all you need to know about how bad this course will be.


Sophomore
B
Required (Major)
Feb 2012
Not a good teacher. His lectures suck and he doesn't present the material correctly. the test was ridiculously hard. the average was a 60%. I wanted to do a marketing concentration but now reconsidering because i hated this class so much. Nice guy but not a good teacher.


Sophomore
B
Required (Support)
Mar 2012
Jerry Seinfeld look alike. That basically sums up the class, he is awesome!


Freshman
A
Required (Major)
May 2012
DON'T TAKE HIM. I came in thinking i would love marketing and ended up absolutely hating the class. No matter how hard you study for tests, you wont get an A. Go into office hours after you get your test back and double check everything..he forgot to grade like three sections of my first exam.


Junior
C
Required (Major)
Jun 2012
Moderated Comment
Words can't possibly describe how bad this professor (if he can even be called that) is. ... My hopes and dreams are that one day his polyratings fall below a 1.00, so that he can fully comprehend that he is a piece of shit human being, a waste of space and oxygen, and the most pathetic excuse for a professor that has ever graced this school. ...


Junior
A
Required (Major)
Dec 2012
Borin is a really nice guy but you can tell that he doesn't have much of a backbone. He wastes classtime with "neighbor talks" and asks you the most vague questions like "'what is a brand?' chat with your neighbor for 10 minutes". He could be so much more efficient with his time but he's not ... this was really annoying. So be prepared to be bored out of your mind for at least 3.5 hours a week. In terms of actual class content, his tests aren't too difficult. If you have even an ounce of common sense, you'll pass. Just pray that you have a decent group for the quarter. He chooses by last name on the second or third day so you'll know pretty quick if you'll have to do a lot of work or if your group will actually help out. This wasn't a bad class but if you're already into your concentration classes, you'll probably be like me and get frustrated with his teaching style and inefficiency. I would do everything to get an A and then just text in class because it honestly didn't matter to me. Be prepared for a lot of busy work and fluffy powerpoints.


Sophomore
B
Required (Support)
Dec 2012
Professor Borin is a decent professor. I think most of the bad reviews are back from when he just started teaching. Overall his class isn't too bad. Just take notes and know the diagrams from the reading for the tests. Also be specific on the projects because he's a tough grader.


Sophomore
B
Required (Major)
Mar 2013
Borin is the man! The 2 hour lectures go by quick because he makes the class interesting by providing daily examples of marketing and allowing group discussions. He even hits the gym! Take his class!

BUS 450


Senior
N/A
Required (Major)
Oct 2001
unfair grading, seems nice and pretty cool but he is anal as hell. I don't really like anything about him or the class. Take anyone but him


Junior
B
Elective
Dec 2001
Borin tries to act like he is your buddy but the second you turn around he has no problem pulling an O.J. on you. The class is hard IF you wait until the last minute to do all the group work. If you actually get off your lazy ass and do some work during the quarter it is not that bad. You only have one test and it is pretty hard. MAke sure you study alot because he will take it to you on the grade. IF you do OK on the test you should be allright because he takes it easier on you for the projects. Id take another class from him and one thing is for sure he DOES know what he is talking about, he is a very smart individual, just a little prone to slipping you the backstab.


Senior
B
Elective
Dec 2001
Although Professor Borin is difficult grader, he is not unfair and he is very upfront about his grading system. His test is difficult, but if you really put in the effort you should, you will do ok. Borin's class is centered around learning promotional strategies from a "real world" point of view, which includes many hands on projects and case studies. I learned a great deal from this class that I know will benefit me later in life.


Senior
B
Elective
Jan 2002
Borin seems okay at first, but he ends up being an asshole in the end. The work load is hard, only because it all comes at the same time in the end. Start working on the projects as early as possible. You have to work your ass off just to get a B. The grading of his midterm is unfair, and the test is on everything you could possibly imagine. You don't really learn much in the class also. No matter how well you do on a project, he'll always find 100 things wrong with it. Beware!


Junior
B
Elective
Feb 2003
he is an ass hole.


Senior
N/A
Required (Support)
Dec 2004
Norm Borin is a simple minded man with poor taste and a variety of personal problems that probably go all the way back to his childhood days in which he was not hugged often enough. Now at age 50 he has unleashed his frustrations on his students. He has no concept of the world outside of his pencil pushing teaching job. They always say "those who can't do, teach" and this applies to Norm Borin. What a worthless sack of two day old steaming, maggot infested cow fecal matter.

BUS 452


Junior
A
Required (Major)
Aug 2014
Borin isn't bad for this class. The final project was somewhat unclear about his expectations, but overall, the class was not too difficult. You just need to learn how to do the numbers and think logically. He has one midterm, which is heavily weighed and non-graded homework assignments to do. Also, a large portion of your grade relies on the final project. You also must do one small project for homework once during the quarter. Not a bad class overall by any means.

BUS 454


5th Year Senior
N/A
Elective
Jun 2003
I took 454 with Professor Borin to fulfill my Senior Project. I thought he was really cool, and not overly hard at all. In fact, I thought he graded rather easy. Since there were no tests, I can't judge how he grages on tests, but like I said, he went pretty easy on our project, despite the fact I had a group member who was hardly literate. Whoever said he was an ass hole, I have no idea where that comes from. Maybe he was having a bad quarter or something. Everyone in my class really liked him. One other thing- he was really helpful with anyone who would come to him for help with their project. So take this as you will.


Senior
N/A
Required (Major)
Oct 2013
There is literally zero practical knowledge that comes from this class. The entirety of it revolves around a marketing simulation, and all of his tests revolve around your knowledge of the simulation. Please tell me how in the world this computer game is supposed to help with marketing or anything in my future? I am wasting my time and money because I have to forcibly take this class to graduate. Also, if there's anyone that does that whole 'peanut butter on your balls' thing for dogs: it's him. He's soooooo gay for his dog. I wish that dog would run away, just like the ending of Air Bud (yes, the original one) so we wouldn't have to hear about it anymore. I do not regret anything I have just said. On the upside, my signature has really improved in class since I can't beat level 93 on candy crush. So I have that going for me now.


Senior
B
Required (Major)
Oct 2014
Norm is the man. Even though he didn't always present the material in a convenient fashion. He was the most approachable professor that I've had in my four years at Cal Poly. I had him 452 as well and I was really happy to have him for 454. This was a class that I enjoyed waking up for in the morning because I knew that Norman was always gonna say something legendary.

BUS 455


5th Year Senior
N/A
Required (Major)
Feb 2004
This class is especially easy to rate because it was a simulation class that challenged each student to compete in a group against the rest of the class. He has done this simulation for 11 years and definitely knows it inside and out. He can give you in-depth advice and is a lot of help. Fun class.


Senior
A
Required (Major)
Apr 2007
After having been to hell and back with Swartz's class (BUS 452) the previous quarter, I guess any professor would seem alright. But Borin's class was actually one in which I did learn a ton and he is a pretty good lecturer and makes classes interesting as opposed to other professors that our marvellous marketing department has to offer such as Swartz and Tietje. The class is built around the markstrat simulation and involves writing a couple of marketing plans, a presentation meeting with Borin and a couple of pointless quizzes. Just pray to god that you get a good group and everything should be fine. Overall, relatively easy class but to do well I had to make bigger time commitments outside of class for groupwork compared to other marketing classes.


Senior
B
Required (Major)
Feb 2010
He thinks his class is the only class you have. You expects you to do a full marketing plan in a week even though everyone has 1000 other things going on, but he doesn\'t care. Because its our only class right? You have to meet outside of class every week for at least 2 hours. He also changed the due dates on various assignments a number of times expecting us to keep working on it and produce something \"better\" which really screwed up my schedule because I designate doing things at certain times and THATS IT, I have to move on to something else. He knows the material well though and takes the class very seriously, I guess to compensate for the rest of the marketing department (which is lacking.) It is a stimulation class and my friends have the done the same thing at different universities and done all their group assignments IN class which I feel is a lot more reasonable because its too hard to meet with 3 other people every week. Schedules are too different.


Senior
B
Required (Major)
Mar 2010
Professor Borin could maybe actually teach some one something if he spent less time making fun of other professors (Danes) and also trying to distract his students from how bad of a lecturer he is with his horrible jokes. Borin is a nice guy, but he really cannot teach. On the other hand his class is pretty easy and I thought he graded pretty fairly. An easy A if you can make yourself care enough about a simulation that is a huge waste of your time.


Senior
N/A
Required (Major)
Oct 2010
I\'m shocked to see bad reviews about Norm. He\'s a pleasure to spend class time with and he genuinely loves to teach. Cal Poly tends to have generally impressive faculty and Norm doesn\'t disappoint. The material that we are going over is very sophisticated real world stuff. Our client is Chevrolet and the work load is demanding because I want to do a good job not because Prof. Borin is some kind of task master. To those complaining about not being able to hang, there\'s NO MIDTERMS OR FINALS! Recognize the opportunity to learn from a truly knowledgeable professor when it comes along rather than just complaining about it.


Senior
A
Required (Major)
Mar 2011
455 is basically a course-long simulation based on a program called MarkStrat. You will be split up into teams of 4 or 5 random people. Your team will compete against other teams in the class. How you do in this simulation will determine your grade in the class. Norm Borin's lectures will be completely unrelated to this simulation, but if you don't show up to class you will undoubtedly fail the course. Half of his lecture time will be taken up by Norm reading news articles on sustainability, and ranting about his dog Shasta. This can get pretty annoying considering that you will spend about 5 hours a week outside of class doing MarkStrat group work. Though I had my doubts at first I came to really enjoy the course and Norm. MarkStrat can be fun if your group is enthusiastic about winning. My advice to you is pick Team E if you want to win. There are also MarkStrat Strategy guides online for those of you who don't want to read the confusing instruction manual. Although Norm is a total ass during class time, he is a very nice and caring professor during his office hours. The lectures, although not applicable to markstrat, will actually teach you a lot about what is to come after college. Norm Borin is a great professor, and I have learned more in his class than I have in any other Marketing class at Cal Poly. Also, his dog Shasta is adorable. If you get lucky, she might do some tricks for you at the end of the quarter.


Senior
B
Required (Major)
Apr 2014
Borin is one of the best marketing professors for sure. He cares about his individual students, and memorizes everyones name. take advantage of office hours and speak up in class because he will recognize that. He can be strict because he wants us to learn. Many dislike borin because he takes no prisoners and gives hard quizzes...boo hoo hoo. welcome to college. borin is an expert in his field and you can learn a lot from his lectures. you will spend the first 10-20 minutes of class talking about current events in marketing, which keeps things interesting. if you're taking 454, i can't express how important it is to read that markstrat manuel. its super long, but if you understand how the simulation works, you'll do a lot better. read it carefully and read it again when needed as you make decision. borin is also hilarious.


Senior
N/A
Required (Major)
May 2015
Just read below, all i have to say is he gets a lot of his material from wikipedia, that should show how motivated of a teacher he is. He's also rude and I don't think he understands how to effectively be a teacher. His rating speaks for itself.


Senior
B
Required (Major)
Dec 2015
I was extremely excited to take this class due to the Markstrat simulation. Little did I know Borin's class would be absolute torture. He has no clue how to use class time and his quizzes are beyond impossible. The Markstrat simulation was easy once you got the hang out it but of course he gave us zero direction on how to use the software or how to strategize. He basically gave us the hand book and said, "Here, learn on your own." If I have to hear about his dog Shasta one more time...that's literally all he talks about the 10 or 11 weeks. Avoid at all costs if you can, he's a waste of life.


Senior
B
Required (Major)
Mar 2016
BORIN SUCKS. He's a complete jerk, doesn't understand students at all, and is a terrible professor. The Markstrat simulation is totally rigged and he doesn't even teach you how to use the software. His grading system is completely unfair and classtime is wasted on "career advice." One day he went around the class and individually asked each person if they had a job yet, putting students on the spot and extremely uncomfortable. The only good part of this class was the end of the quarter potluck where his dog came to class and did tricks. If there are any other professors available for 455, take them instead!!!


Senior
N/A
Required (Major)
Jun 2016
Borin is a terrible professor. He gets his lecture information from Wikipedia and wastes class time talking about current events, his stupid dog Shasta, and what jobs people have. He honestly went around the classroom asking each person if they had a job...It's sad that the last marketing class had to be so shitty. Top 2 worst classes I've ever taken at Cal Poly.


Senior
N/A
Required (Major)
Nov 2016
This class is bullshit. It is completely rigged and Norm is a terrible professor. He is condescending, annoying, and unclear about what he wants. He grades unfairly. Avoid at all costs

SCM 476


Freshman
A
General Ed
Nov 2016
This is the first C I have recieved in my entire life. I hope that says something to all of you out there watching their GPA. Do not take him--this class was a nightmare!

GSB 524


Graduate Student
B
Required (Major)
Mar 2015
Whenever cal poly calls me in the future to ask me for donations, I'm just going to reply, "Norm Borin" and then hang up the phone.


Graduate Student
C
Required (Major)
Mar 2015
Norm Borin's marketing class is the worst class I have ever taken at Cal Poly- both for Undergrad and Grad school because Norm Borin is a terrible professor. 1. He is the only professor in the program that doesn't use a slide deck or powerpoint for his lectures, and he really is the only one that should. You can NOT read his handwriting, even if you are sitting in the front row. 2. There is no book, and normally I would not complain about this, but since the lectures are useless and I actually wanted to learn something about Marketing, a text book would have been extremely useful. 3. The two hour long lectures are torturous. Have you ever listened to someone give a really long speech and then realize when it was over that they didn't actually SAY anything? Thats what the lectures are like, and they are TWO very long hours, twice a week. 4. He gives two Case Studies a week, which sounds like a good challenge. But instead, he lets you do the case study completely blind, and then tells you the way you did it is wrong, because it was not "his" way. That isn't helpful at all. I am fine with trying and failing, but I want to understand why it was wrong, and maybe then I will learn from it, but with Norm Borin there is absolutely no feedback loop. 5. He has us do a simulation, which also sounds good, and probably could have been extremely helpful. But instead, we had two decision due a week, each of which took 2-3 hrs to make, with a one page write up for each. Then after the decisions are made, and the simulation is ran for that "year" there is no feedback, no constructive criticism. Just time to make the next decision, which we were all making blind. Norm Borin made this simulation useless busy work, rather than an extremely useful learning tool. 6. He decided to give us a final last minute, which I would expect any teacher to give a final, ONLY IF we had a book or something to study... 7. I truly believe if another teacher would have given us the same case studies and simulation, I could have gotten a lot out of this class....but the way Norm ran this class was counterproductive. 8. Oh, and you can't use your laptops at all. Its like being in Jr. High. "Close your laptops" "There is no need to be on your laptops" Well, I think that there is a need, because most student now take notes on their laptops. (But, I guess if you are in Norms class, there's really nothing to take notes on, so really, no laptop are needed) I got nothing out of this class (other than a huge life lesson of learning to deal with difficult people), and I honestly can not believe that Cal Poly let Norm teach a Graduate level class. I am trying to give you facts rather than emotion, but your emotions WILL be tested if you decide to actually PAY MONEY to take this class....