Cathy Gillis - Napa Valley College, Napa, CA

Professor: Cathy Gillis

Department: English

College: Napa Valley College, Napa, CA

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: ENG125
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

If you are not from a "working class family" or are anything short of being illiterate, you have to work your butt off to receive an A. She is very!! bias towards students who do not have the extra resources and creates turmoil within the classroom. Very frustrating and difficult class to be apart of.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: ENGL125
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

3 Things: Be warned She structures the class in such a way that you aren't motivated to learn, just turn in whatever is next. She focuses much more on grammatical errors then on the critical thinking aspect (which is what this class is) VERY unnecessary and petty-like grading criteria. As a student, all I ask is to learn and be respected-not forced

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: ENG120
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Her lectures are not interesting.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: ENG125
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

She's a decent professor. She really makes you work hard, maybe too much for a General Ed class.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: ENG125
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Cathy Gillis is your typical English professor.. Assigns a bunch of readings with weekly reader responses that will tank your grade if your not careful. She is also a stickler for proper formatting on everything from your header to comma splices. She does give you a lot of freedom with your essays how ever expects a lot out of them in return.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: ENG125
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Only four students got an A in this class. If you want an A or B you'll need to work for it. Do the readings and essays early and go in during her office hours; she will go over your essay completely and if you follow her every critique, you'll get an A for the essay easy. Each essay is like 15% - 20% of your grade, so don't slack!

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: ENG125
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Bizarre grading criteria. Slow grader. Class is disorganized; point out mistakes and she gives you the typical NVC teacher attitude. Her instructions and communications are full of misspellings/grammatical errors. The team projects have to stop. One person ends up carrying the weight for the lazy ones; if you want an A it will be you.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: ENG125
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Tough class, tough instructor. Grades papers slowly. It's hard to get a good grade but her comments are helpful. Do all the reading. At least skim-read it if you must. Everything you write should relate in some way to the reading. Friendly but professional. A quality teacher. Gives some xtra credit. Stay away if you're not serious.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: ENGLISH120
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

She is pretty cool, i had her for english 90 so we knew each other. She does a whole bunch of essays and makes you read alot and alot of response papers. But if you attend class, do the work, and get active in discussions you will pass for sure

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: ENG125
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

She is terrible, not clear at all. So annoying,one of those teachers that makes you look into the 'meaning' of something that doesn't have a meaning. So obnoxious, the boy has brown hair because thats what the author decided not because hes depressed or some bleep. If you don't want to be annoyed with every assignment, don't take her class.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: ENG125
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Very interesting class! I dropped English 125 with a couple of others teachers because English is a hard subject for me and the material was so boring and dry that I was not motivated. I took this class online and even though it was tough, it kept me motivated. Cathy is very slow at grading, not helpful when you need her, and moves due dates a lot.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: ENG125
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

By far one of the best, most interesting teachers I've ever had. I took her English 125 class and it was my most interesting class this semester focusing on semiotics and pop culture. Her lecture focuses on things that relate to culture around you making it very interesting. She really helps you to develop your essay writing. Take her class!

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: ENG125
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

I heard that this teacher was going to be fairly easy online, But that wasn't the case. She assigned more homework that she could keep up with and wasn't very clear on the dates that assignments were due. She may be different in a face-to-face class, but I would not reccomend her for an online class.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: ENG120
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Overall, Gillis is a great professor. She is very clear in all of the course expectations and gives ample opportunities for help and improvement if you need them. She does seem to grade down if you don't agree with her views and takes a while to grade assignments, but overall a good instructor.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: ENGLI120
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Great teacher! Hard grader, but you will learn from her.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: ENGL120
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

She is quite a hard grader, but when, and if you transfer, you will learn to appreciate this. Take her advice. She knows what she is talking about. Go to class, do your assignments, soak in her advice and you will get an A. I guarantee it.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: ENG120
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

great teacher!! and very nice!

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: ENG120
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

I don't like her online English class at all! Why are NVC instructors so computer illiterate?

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: ENGL120
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

She should get fired because she is such a rude and incompetent teacher. She tries to hard to be "cool" and to "fit in." This is why when it comes to controversial topics she get all fidgety and she does not allow students to voice their own opinions. She would cut me off when it was time for discussion and completely ignore me. WORST TEACHER EVER

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: ENGL120
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

I don't understand why she has such good comments. She is the worst teacher I have ever had. She completely favors some students over others and can be extremely rude. She treats the students like they are in middle school by talking down to them. Don't take her class!!!