MyProfessorSucks.com allows students to 'grade' professors
by Carly Morris

Print date: Nov. 26, 2001

MyProfessorSucks.com is a website where students at more than 2,880 colleges can evaluate their professors. The site, launched in June, allows students to grade the professor on coolness, the ease of the class and the overall worth.

The site's creator, University of Nebraska graduate student Kasey Kerber, said he came up with the idea after getting stuck in a particularly bad class. "I got back from that class one night and I remember thinking, 'I wish there was a way I could have known what this professor was like before signing up for the class,'" Kerber said.

Kerber began developing the site in February with help from his former roommate, a computer engineering major in Florida. Kerber's wife assisted with design, advertising and promotion. But it was Kerber alone who came up with the site's domain name.

"I was looking for something that would be easy to remember, but also have a bit of a bite to it," Kerber said. "Besides, all of us have had at least one professor that just plain sucked."

Several students at UCF didn't know about the site, but said it was a great idea. "It sounds like a really helpful site," junior Stephanie Jones said. "Every student wants to know what kind of professor they are dealing with before taking a class that will be nothing more than a hassle."

Another student said the website sounds like a waste of time and the evaluations unreliable. "Just because one student has a bad experience is not enough reason to tell the whole nation that professor sucks," said senior Luis DeJesus.

Four UCF professors have been critiqued on MyProfessorSucks.com. Chris Muller, a hospitality management professor, received an A+ rating. Muller was unaware of the site, but said it sounded interesting and he would be checking it out soon.

Another UCF instructor, Dr. Seth Elsheimer of the department of chemistry, received an F. "It's surely true that organic chemistry has a bad reputation among students throughout the country," Elsheimer said. "The good news is we live in a place where everyone is entitled to an opinion and we still have free press and free speech."

Kerbers said about 65 percent of the evaluations are positive in nature. "Students and professors shouldn't be turned off by the name," Kerber said. "We work really hard to keep the site neutral."

story originally published by The Central Florida Future. All Rights Reserved.