Ben Varner - University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, CO

Professor: Ben Varner

Department: English

College: University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, CO

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: ENG319
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Varner is the best professor I've ever had. I received a poor grade on my first essay; however, I received incredibly helpful feedback and earned As on all following papers. He is a tough professor and will mark every little error on your paper. If you take the time to understand his corrections and fix them, you will do great.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: ENG203
• Grade Received: B-
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

He didn't teach us how to write creative nonfiction, instead we focused on grammar. I took his topics and did papers that fell under them but got Cs on every paper including ones I went to the writing center for, being marked off for grammar. When I used his exact suggestion, little editing got a B. Somehow got B- in class

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: 195
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Varner is a truly brilliant man. He studied at Berkeley for his undergrad, and used to be a total hippie. He is pretty intimidating at first, but if you are genuinely interested in his class and show that you take him and his class seriously, you will pass with flying colors.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: ENG195
• 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:

Varner is one of the best professors at UNC. His course provides an excellent introduction to grammar and writing skills and he treats his students like adults, unlike many courses at UNC that use elementary school teaching methods and refuse to impart any actual knowledge to students (see PTEP)

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: ENG225
• 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:

Varner is a smug, pedantic professor that probably should not be in the profession of education. He loves one-upping his students in class, his readings of the texts are painfully boring and surface-level, and he doesn't care about the content of your essays- only that your commas are in the right place. Avoid him if you can, he is useless.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: ENG303
• 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:

Honestly, one of the most stressfull classes I've taken all semester. I can't tell you the number of time I thought I had written a good paper, only to have it be shut down in less then a paragraph. To me he has a grammar stick up his butt. I highly recommend not taking a single class with him.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: ENG195
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

I honestly thought this class was okay. Not the most interesting, but it was pretty easy once you realize what the guy wants from you. All he cares about is grammar. Use proper grammar and cater the bs you write to what he wants to hear, and you'll do fine. I didn't care much for him on a personal level, but he is easier than a lot of professors.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: ENG319
• 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:

terrible. grammar and comma nazi. grades on how he feels about your work. doesn't try to work with the student. regretted this class immensely. avoid if you want your GPA to survive.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: ENG319
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Professor Varner makes you work, work, work, work. But, my grammar is about 100 times better than before this class. Totally worth it, but you have to put everything you've got into this class!

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: ENG195
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Reading these reviews I'd swear you all were talking about a different professor. His emphasis on grammar should be no problem if you've actually read his grammar workbook and done the assignments! Not to mention his grading standards are actually fairly slack comapred to the real tough graders of this school. Overall he's great

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: ENG355
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Varner is a great professor. For those students who are actually interested in improving their writing, he is very helpful. For those who want easy A's, he is not so helpful. Yes, he grades very hard, but I have yet to have a teacher who has helped my writing more. Sorry for all those students who expected to get away without reading and pass.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: ENG195
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

I thought he was great. Anyone who wanted to learn had all the help they needed. He is the expert on grammar and I really got a lot of good information from his class. He wants you to work hard, but it does pay off.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: ENG319
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Even though Dr. Varner requires a lot from his students, grammatically, I think he is a very effective teacher. In class discussions could be more in depth, because I didn't learn anything new about the "Art Of Persuasion", yet I did learn how to properly use grammatical tools.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: ENG195
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Stereotypical dreaded English professor: arrogant, long-winded, all bluster and regurgitated opinions - Heaven help you if you have an idea that opposes his! He's not a grammar Nazi; he is a comma fiend. It's all he ever went over in class, or picked on in my papers. I resented the class as a waste of my time, and only learned anything on my own.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: ENG235
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Grammar Nazi! Beware! Has absolutely no interest in content, spent nearly every lecture going over his precious, "Writing Supplement" rather than discussing the actual material. I would not recommend unless you enjoy being beaten over the head with rules about comma splicing. An absolute waste of time!

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: ENG319
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Ben Varner is probably the worst teacher I have ever had.He doesnt teach anything in his class but expects everyone in the class to be writing at a professional level. He grades grammar on a level that is out of this world and he is totally disrespectul. AVOID AT ALL COSTS!!

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: ENG319
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

He gives really good feedback and is quick to respond to questions and submitted assignments.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: ENG319
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Very poor and unhelpful

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: ENG101
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

The worst professor I have had at UNC. Instead of encouraging students to excel, he only teaches how superior he is to them. His method of teaching is to embarass and humiliate students in class. I do not recommend him.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: ENG319
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

He expects a lot, but he gives you all the tools to get it done right.