Dylan Greene dot com

why the hell is such a great site taken down. I base my schedule on the reviews of teachers from this site, which are 95% accurate most of the time

what the hell is that ? such a good site ..helps all

students so much .....this is crazy ...plz try to put it

pressured? by whom? web master you must not give in. please resist whatever soviet style iron fist on freedom of expression that is inflicted upon you with all your might. i rely heavily on your site to choose not only my courses but my desired universities as well. your site is the very testament that students pay attention to their own education.

nooooo... bring the site back! I base my schedule ENTIRELY on this site!

I really loved your site and really relied on it. It was 98 persent accurate. It really helped me to get A's in school and to find decent teachers. I'm really upset that this site isn't here anymore.

Could you bring it back somehow? Or at least show or save the old reviews? I'm not done with my shcol yet and I will definitely want to have these reviews soon...

Best,

Anya:)

Dylan,

While some inappropriate comments were made, as you said, I would think they are heavily out-weighed by the appropriate ones.

This Phoenix will rise again, I am confident.

I would assure you that the professors who read their reviews learn from their short-comings, as well.

I think you will want to set up the policy that a professor can hide the comments made, only after thorough review. Not on some pompous ideal that they have been besmirched. If the comment is undeserved, fix it. If it is deserved, let it stand. After all, the intent of your site is to inform the student, not to coddle the professors.

Poor taste and poor, undeserved disrespect should not be condoned and you should be able to ferret these out and remove them.

Since you had some professors check their reviews and then complain, you have to assume that others are reviewing theirs, as well. Thus, you have had a good bit of the effect you were intending.

Yes, your Phoenix will rise again. And your changes will make it stronger.

One last suggestion: You might offer an opportunity for students to contribute "Donations" to your maintanence of the site.

Good luck and return to the good works when you get it set up the way you want to.

#6 - D. Glen Jackson - thank you for your comments and suggestions.

Here's a Paypal "donation" link, as you suggested:

https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=SaveTR%40TeacherReviews.com&item_name=TeacherReviews.com&no_note=1&tax=0¤cy_code=USD

If there's a better donation service let me know. Thanks to everybody who wishes to donate. All dontations will go towards improving TeacherReviews.

Hey man, I've been following the site since CCSF fiasco. Really appreciate the work you've done. It's one of the best sites on the net.

It sickens me that there is some non-qualified prof that's bitchin and moaning about the content (which u can't be responsible for) all of which he should be more concern for the class his teaching than what some kid say about him. Personally I doubt he'll be successful in suing, but since being in court is a pain I understand.

I think some of the measure you're going to put in place is fine but how about a voting system to remove crap posts. (say.. 25 votes) The problem of giving the profs too much power is that they can keep out the negative (yet could be true) posts and just leave all the positives. This is censorship and make the site useless.

This site helps thousands if not millions of students to pursuit academic excellence. I'm sure generations of students before me can only wish if they had such a tool when they're in school. So again thanks. No matter what, I'm behind you 110%. Keep up the good work.

Concerning the "bad" comments on the website, I personally do not take those comments seriously. I only consider the commentary that has been carefully written. This site is the best ever. Like many others, I've based my schedule on reliable reviews and its been great! Thank you very much for creating this site and I hope that it will resume service ASAP.

oh no! i have scheduled my classes based on this website and it has NEVER EVER led me astray. I take all reviews with a grain of salt, but 95% of the time they are right on. Darn, please get the sight back up!

This is total bullshit!! But what happen to freedom of speech? There is very little difference from the teacher evaluations students fill out at the end of the semester and teacherreview.com. Of course no one wants to hear bad things about them, but shutting down the site won't prevent anything!! students will still tell each other what they think about certain teachers. The site just made it a lot more easier and efficient. We pay soooo much money for tuition i beleive we should have a right to choose our teachers. Each teacher has a different personality and style and if students have that information, it will just further their learning experience....which is what college is all about!!! hopefully things will work out for the best...Thanks Dylan for the awesome site =)

I've posted details of this ordeal on my message board that tens of thousands frequent.

I hope you get everything resolved. We're all behind you 110%

I have also found the reviews very useful. I enjoyed being able to read about professors and their classes beforehand as well as sharing my own input to help others; it has served me well thus far. Though each student has their own opinion, you can get a good sense of whether the reviewer has some merit to what they're saying based on their review (e.g., are they backing their statements with concrete evidence?)--and that goes for negative AS well as positive reviews. But as some have already noted, a lot of the reviews are fairly accurate.

The changes you're about to make will give professors a lot more power, perhaps, too much. Though I'm not so sure how big a difference it'll make, one thing I wouldn't mind seeing eliminated are the "anonymous" postings. It would also be nice to see a list of reviews that each person has written when you click on the link to their name. By looking at past reviews they've written, it may be easier to weed out bad posters this way. I hope the website comes back intact; I would hate to see it all go to waste.

hell no we wont go! hell no we wont go! hell no we wont go!

I never had call to use your site (been out of school for ten years or so), but it's sad to see it go. You have to protect yourself, but I would hate to see professors have the ability to hide their reviews. That would make the site next to worthless in my opinion. Until we can eliminate tenure, sites like this are one of the few resources that students have.

As much as I love your site I find it frightening that some students base their schedules SOLELY on the recommendations of others. Word of mouth is one thing and blind following is entirely another. I have always checked out reviews AFTER enrolling, just to see what I am getting into. If a bad review is supported by the actions of the teacher in the first week of class then I drop it. However, I would NEVER let something as simple as a review by someone I don't know mold my college education. Think and act for yourselves folks!

Dylan:

The world loves your website, man.

To raise the funds to fight the lawsuit, charge everyone of us a buck or two. I bet you everybody will contribute. I will send you 100 bucks in a second. And many others will jump at the opportunity to chip in funds for the fight. Please do not give up. WE NEED YOU. WE LOVE YOU. LONG LIVE THE TEACHERS REVIEW DOT COM!!!!!!

Yes, I like the idea of contributing a buck or two or five everytime one posts a review. Anyone who believes in free speech will want to contribute money to cause.

this is ridiculous. that teacher has got to understand that everyone is entitled to their own opinion. if he doesnt like it.. then EAT IT. i love your website. for the past 2 years, me and a great number of my friends have been using one of the internets most useful websites ;D to determine which teacher to take. it saves me a world of problems knowing that i know that this teacher or that teacher is "better" than the other. saves me the trouble of having to goto the other class and take a look, while missing the other one. TEACHERREVIEWS>COM!!!!!!!!! COME BACKKK!!!!!

ATTENTION TO ALL TEACHER REVIEW.COM USERS: DYLAN NEEDS HELP !!!

We are just concern about what we can get from this website but have we ever thought of how we can bring this back ? Dylan needs our help now! He needs moral and financial support from all of us . How about we help Dylan financially in his legal fight against the closure of this site? Teacher Review.com is our way of evaluating teachers's performances. We all benefits by reading the past/current students reviews on professors that we may somehow encounter in the future. I think it just fair that every user shares fair amount of financial contribution to put this website back.

I really hope your website comes back!! I've also used this website since my ccsf days. This professor needs to realize that we do have a right to freedom of speech. Your website has helped me avoid bad teachers. And professors out there need to realize that some of you are BAD teachers... These professors need to realize that maybe if they improved their teaching, they would have better reviews. Simple as that!!

Hey everybody: send Dylan a contribution so he will have money to fight this thing in court! The academic world cannot afford to lose this bastion of free speech! Protect your right to free speech, put your money where your mouth is. Support Dylan. Dylan is our man.

Dylan is a true democrat. He ought to be our candidate. Let us elect Dylan to Congress. VOTE FOR DYLAN.

I need to sign up for a class tomorrow. Came here to look up a teacher and was shocked by the news that The Teachers Review was shut down by some unhappy professor. I cannot believe this possible. Is this really happening? Or is it a bad dream?

Dylan,

I'm sorry to see your site go down. It has been a great tool for me in knowing what to expect from each instructor. I used it in this last class to learn more about the teacher I was assigned. He lived up to the "C" that several students had given him. Now I will be completely lost without your website.

Isn't it a shame when a few jerks ruin it for the majority of us? Unfortunately, I did see a few too many people using the website as a way to get even with instructors for the student's poor performance.

Good luck and I hope you can resurrect the site. As far as the professor that threatened you, I would recommend that he take about 10 milligrams of Olanzepine (Zyprexa) per day as a way to calm down those student-diagnosed disorders. (I'm bipolar with mildly psychotic symptoms) It might help him. LOL

Bradford

Interesting underlying issue of 'internet' life vs 'real' life. Trust. In real life we trust what we hear from others based on our view of them. So we temper the recommendations we hear. On the internet the ratings in this (or any similar scheme) are essentially anonymous, so we don't know to what degree there is malice or simply mischief going on. Don't know how this will be solved - perhaps there will be a 'trustworthiness' register somewhere, where the cumulative trustworthiness of someone will be logged (with of course all sorts of issues.difficulties associated with it). Until then doing the research to decide whether a rating is deserved has the same sort of problems with it as in this post 'Conserving Social Capital' http://www.ventureblog.com/articles/indiv/2003/000214.html

Ive always felt that if the teacher doesnt like the comments students have to say about him/her then perhaps they are not doing what they are being paid to do which is Teach. Hopefully this all gets worked out because its a great service. If you need help with screening the removed entries or with an attorney just let me know Dylan.

Teacherreview is a great site. Students need it to find good sources of teaching and teachers need it to review their teaching style.

Please put it back up. You WILL win in court; this is still America. The ACLU will help you. The fordsucks.com case settled this issue: you are safe. I'm sure there are a lof ot members of the Bar who would help you fight any threats for free. In fact, I would post the name of the professor who threatened to sue.

Yet again there's another teacher unhappy with the reviews on the site. I accept that it may effect the teachers on a personal level but they also have to understand that many student depend on these reviews to start their semester. I can speak for this because I religously dive into the site for the information I need. Hopefully everything goes well. Good Luck!!!!

Title 47 U.S.C. 230(c)(1) states, "No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider."

Dylan, as the provider of the system, you can not be held liable for any content so long as you play no role in the creation of the content, regardless of any selection or editorial control. Many cases like this have been taken to the courts in the past, and the courts, dedicated to the further development of the Internet and computer systems, defend the providers--if they didn't systems would no longer be able to operate and free speech would be history. Delete the posts in question, but you have no obligation to remove the site entirely. Don't give into the baseless threats of an insecure professor.

...OK, I'm not a lawyer -- but I think I know how you can avoid the legal ramifications in the short run. I bet the ACLU would give you free advice on it too..

Instead of having written reviews... just create a catagory for people to "rate the teacher's performance in your own opinion" with a number 1-10. Report only the average of the numbers --- with a 2 year, 1 year, 6 month, and 1 month total. That way students do not write in-appropriate things, but can still rate. And teachers who improve will be rewarded with better reviews. - David Taylor, Student at UOP. By the way, IMO what truly sucks is that UOP does show students online who thier profs will be until the day before class.

..oh.. and if you keep the written reviews, instead of letting profs take down the reviews (or anyone else)... why not put a link to "ask for a review of this review". That way we can help you police the junk.

Certainly there will be other review sites:

http://www.reviewum.com

http://www.educatorater.com

These are just two that I pulled up in 30 seconds with Google.com

I noticed at lease one of these has a good legal blurb.

all the comments is true. nothing really bad against teacher if the teacher is not bad, why are they stepping out and defend themselves. the good or bad comment will force students not taking their class. not enough students mean they will be the first one losing their job. sfsu is just trying to mess up their image even more when fewer students is attending in spring 04 semester and a continuation of fee hikes. blame sfsu, not the students. banning this site will not make sfsu popular, it will force more students transfering to other bay area compuses.

I don't think you should allow the professors to take out comments about themselves, or allow them to say that they don't want their reviews posted because that will let them remove only the bad reviews. This is my last semester of school and I can tell you that the most frustrating thing about school for me has been people who have absolutely NO business teaching a class. A lot of times the people teaching will know a great deal about their subject, but the smartest people often make the worst teachers. This site should not be shut down and it is ridiculous that someone is threatening to do that. If there are slanderous comments written about someone, then you can delete those, but everything else should be left alone.

Dude please you must work it out and bring the SITE back...we really, really, really need it!!!

* If in any case you shut it down forever, would you be willing to send by EMAil the reviews of particular classes that are 1 or 2 years old to students. Of course, I will pay for it if you find it necessary. I wish i could've printed some reviews before...OMG...I didnt think about it.

* Please bring it back at least for a DAY, I will be checking everyday.

* By the way I will contribute with some green on Paypal, I just cant imagine chosing classes blind fold it.

Best wishes and good luck for all of us...

Tony A.

***Dylan...please confirm the PAYPAL donation****

I am the volunteer manager of the New Students Lounge at the University of Phoenix Online. We promote this site weekly as a wonderful tool to the students regarding any type of review. We encourage them to post not just the negative comments BUT the positive ones too.

This site is very helpful.

What can be done to help you get the site back up?

You can contact me if you wish to discuss anything

Belle

Thanks, Dylan. It was a great site that has helped me and my friends alot in picking profs. I can offer my moral support (but, being a poor college student, not much money) if (when, please, when) you decide to put it back up. Thank you.

I had a bitch of teacher, never take her JUDE COLLINS, LSC duluth MN. If you find yourself in a class with this bitch leave you cant get a good grade 80% for a C 95% for an A. Who does this bitch think she is.

oh noo!! what happened to teacherreview.com ? That was such a great site for college students, all of my friends use it. and I STRONGLY believe that this website is 98% accurate, it helps students to know which professor is more suitable for them. I understand some time students might say harsh things, I believe professors should take those comments into consideration. Maybe it's really something that they need to improve on. If the professor didnt do anything to the student, theres no reason for them to say anything like that. If the professor want to defend the comments that some of the students put, I believe they should instead of threatening to sue, they should defend the comment in action. Prove to the students that you are a good professor like you believe so. And besides it shouldn't even affect the professor because there are still the students that take their class anyway regardless of what the site say. I'll say teacherreviews.com is a helpful website for not only students but to the teachers as well.

In addition to my last comment, I hope teacherreview.com would and should be back on!

Thank god im graduating in may. I've had access to Teacherreviews.com since the second semester of my freshman year. I can't imagine how impossible it must be to walk into a class blind, especially given what a mine field academia is, with all of the arbitrary and petty profs out there. You have provided a vital service to every student with internet access for many years now, and you deserve commendation for that. I will almost certainly donate to your fund, for the good of everyone who needs your site in the future, as well as the good it has done me in the past.

Hi Dylan,

thanks for the work with teacherreview.com.

is it possible to run the site outside of the US, so that there is no basis for a lawsuit?

btw, let us know who that prof was who threatened to sue you so that we can stone him... :)

I am a senior philosophy major at the University of Maryland and have submitted about 20 reviews on Teacher Reviews. Having searched the reviews at the university, I only ever found one that looked inappropriate and it seems to have been removed. I recognize that not all reviews are accurate, but I still find this site to be a valuable source where I can find information more easily than, say, by finding students who have had the instructor in question. I definitely prefer this site to Terpundergroud, which has not been updated in years and has a less convenient rating system.

As for specific proposals, here are my thoughts:

Instant removal: probably a good idea. It could be misused, but so long as there is a mechanism for returning reviews that were inappropriately removed, I am fine with that. It does facilitate removal of inappropriate reviews.

Professor opt-out: unsure. I think students should be aware when a professor opts out. I think most students would be wary of a professor who does this, and professors, presumably knowing this, would probably be hesitatn to opt out.

hide from Google: not aware of any issues here.

e-mail notification: I know of no reason not to, besides possible technical difficulties (I presume automation would minimize such difficulties.

date separation: sounds like a good idea, so long as older reviews are accessible.

response from professor: unsure. There should be a way to verify it is the real professor (I presume this could be done, for instance, by checking the e-mail address). Once this hurdle is cleared, I see no problem with professors being allowed to add their two cents, provided that it is clearly identified as a professor response, not another review.

Nonanonymous reviews: bad idea. Students may be intimidated into not posting reviews if identified. User IDs would provide only partial protection: someone could figure out, for instance, if the reviewer took an unusual combination of classes, or some other factor. It should be on file somewhere probably, but not for public access.

I am a professor, and I check the site regularly. I have noticed that most students write fair (nice?) reviews, but a few people really hated me and my classes. They made some inaccurate statements, but nothing I would call slanderous. Sometimes it's very hard on the ego, but most comments are pretty entertaining. Sometimes I think professors take themselves too seriously. I don't think professors should be allowed to remove negative reviews. I think a legal disclaimer should be enough to protect the site, but I also think reviewers should be responsible when making their comments.

You have to bring the site back online. If this teacher is putting pressure on you, its probably because they suck. The reviews on your site are acurrate. In fact I was looking forward to giving rave reviews to my current teacher as soon as class was done. There have been many sites like this. I recall Atomic Orange from a few years ago. Freedom of speach is huge in this country. They cant make you take down a web site because they dont like it.

Your site performs an extremely important public service for students, and their professors as well. It would be tragic if you have to shut it down because some idiots post foul remarks and other idiots threaten you with meritless lawsuits. Is there any way to do what newsgroups do to keep from being innundated by spam and fools -- that is, to have a moderated section with guidelines for posting, or moderated sections for the most active schools?

pelase bring the site back soon... there are some really lousy teachers out there and all it takes is one or two of them to totally kill your academic motivation. being able to sidestep these people is SO crucial to a student's success. please, please, PLEASE bring the site back up soon!

FREE SPEECH??????? teachers need to notified if they are not performing up to par. Yes, people can take their comments too far, but a site like this is much needed for the students. How do we know what we are getting into if there is no prior warning. I have used this website for the past year when chosing my classes and i find the site to be around 99% accurate. Getting rid of, or modifying this website will hurt its reputation. Please keep the site, get rid of the immature comments made and leave the rest for the students to decide. STUDENTS ARE THE REASON THAT TEACHERS HAVE JOBS!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for keeping the site up and running for so long (and paying for the costs by yourself). Teacher Reviews has been VERY helpful and I'm extremely dissapointed and sad to see it go. I can't believe that this one pissed off professor has ruined it for everyone, it's just not fair. What happened to our freedom of speech?

Teacher Reviews has been a very helpful web site in helping me find the best teachers at SFSU. The information gives me an insight on how the class is before I register for the class. I think teachers are worry about your web site because they don't want students to know what the classes are really like. Please keep your website going for the students who need this information.

Hey, Dylan thanks for the good work ^_^ I base my schedule on the reviews too. Your website is really helpful; too bad you had to take it down for now. The "donation" button is a good idea too. I bet people will help support you to bring back the site. Hope you bring the site back before I register for classes next semester =P Good LUck!

I am a college professor and this site has helped me be a better professor. I sure don't want to have a bad reputation, so I go out of my way to work with students. I've gotten good reviews and bad reviews, in all cases I am interested in knowing what students think of my class.

Dylan: just ask everyone who posts a review to contribute a couple of dollars towards a legal defense fund. Hey, it is a small price to pay for our freedom to speak our minds. In fact, what is your checking account number? I am sending you a donation!

EXCUSE ME IF I POST A REVIEW: The worst Math professor at CCSF is Jeff Darck. The guy is rude and he will ignore your question if you are a dude, but always answers questions and flirts with the women in class. The guy wants to be a teacher, entertainer, story teller, show off, flirt, magician, speaker, and stand-up comedian all at the same time. He fails at everything, including teaching Algebra. F

Is it possible to have a different methodology? I mean, teachers get upset because of the bad reviews... right?

The (possible) solution:

Why dont just have a system that only takes GOOD REVIEWS??? Those teachers that HAVE reviews are GOOD and those who don't are NOT UPSET because of bad reviews. That way nobody is posting any offensive comments about teachers, nobody gets bad reviews, everybody is happy and has the information they need. All of this while at the same time allowing for a RANKING SYSTEM.

Does it make sense??

i suggest you do a few things:

1. put the site back up now, no one can sue him.

2. make the site open source and get other people working on it using group project software like sourceforge.net (free)

3. add a link to each review to 'report slander to mods'

saying someone seems bipolar is not grounds for a lawsuit. and if teachers are worried that people will slander them on a website, they should start treating their students better, not threaten the website owner.

ive had so many legal threats since i learned html it isnt even funny. 0% of them have ended up with a legal battle and ive fought 99% of them without paying a lawyer.

stop being a fuckwit and strap on a pair.

Yes, me me me again.

In my post, #57, I forgot to mention that a GOOD-reviews only system will allow for non anonymous posts while at the same time will avoid legal troubles.

PUT THE SITE BACK UP PLS!!!!!!!!!!!!

please put it back the website. i think all students need this website for their reference. it was 98% accurate.please please put it back

Bring back the site, Dylan. And reveal the name of the bitching professor so we be sure to avoid his or her classes.

Hey post #57: sorry but your idea is too wimpy. What happened to free speech? Why do we have to be so afraid of a bitching professor such that we have to conceal our thoughts? I we happen not to like a certain professor, we ought to be free to say so. Das ist Amerika, no?

Dylan: would it be feasible to get the site hosted outside the United States, at a foreign server, so you (or anyone) wouldn't be subject to U.S. law? (just a thought)

students and people have the rights to say what they want and instructors have the rights to do what they like with the reviews. but teacherreviews.com is a valuable source for anybody who is a student around the world. Freedom of speech!

NOW I DON"T KNOW HOW TO PICK MY CLASSES!!!!!!!!

Sean - I don't know about hosting TeacherReviews outside the US. Does anybody have any experience with this?

Either way I would still make the modifications to the site.

come on Dylan, your site is one of THE best out there !!! It has helped me not only take classes with good teachers but inform others of teachers who are here directly from hell. (smile). I hope you put the site back up ...... I'll be your best friend.

It's terribly unfortunate that one professor could single-handedly shut down such an important, honest resource for students. Yeah, sure, some of the reviews were written (not very articulately) by students with a problem, but generally students were sincere. As an instructor, I value my students' opinions of me--and I know I'm speaking for a lot of professors in saying that.

This "bitching" professor should perhaps spend less time complaining about what his students are saying about him and, likewise, less time looking for someone to sue for it, and a whole lot more time rethinking his teaching and classroom attitude.

I wish you the best of luck, Dylan. And I hope you can get your site up and running in the near future.

James

hosting a site outside of the us does not change the liability unless it is owned by a company as equally as outside of the us as the website is. this is a common misconception and even if you spend the lengthy amount of time and money to set up an 'off-shore' company you are still liable in that country.

Your site is great. Do what you need to do because the students will be behind you 100%. Some of us depend on your site to get great teachers and the best education.

What kind of bullshit is this? Teacherreviews.com was so helpful for me to find out who the best ( and worst) professors are. I've been a user for the past 2 years and I revolve my schedule around the reviews, if possible. I seriously hope that the website will return soon. I'm puzzled as to why a professor would be so offended as to get an entire website taken down. One bad review doesn't equal the end of the world.

This is such a blatant infringement upon our first amendment rights. The beauty of freedom of speech is that it allows people to voice their honest opinions without fear of repercussions, and to have their opinions acknowledged by everyone. Such views from people should not be condemned or ignored, for to do so would be to strike against our fundamental values. People should be able to see others opinions on professors regardless of what is said, and make their own opinions and evaluations. Please do not let one professor with scare tactics take down such a true voice in freedom of speech. Many people depend on this site to get a pure unedited opinion of other students just like them. Please try to resist this; I am sure many people will back you up.

I love this site and am sorry to see that it is down at the moment. I have not read all the comments, but I do hope you can get the site back up and running again someday. I feel it provides a really good service for college students. :)

Also, I have a comment concerning your proposed instant review removal. Perhaps instead of allowing any user to remove a review, you could let people flag offensive reviews where they would be reviewed by yourself (or staff). That way, you would still retain control over removing articles from the site. I'm not sure which would be easier in the long run though.

Best of luck!

Ok, this is really bs, that teacher is a schmuck, and most likely the student who wrote the review wasnt untruthful, and he must have hit a nerve, i know what it feels like to get stuck with a crappy professor, i had had a few, and your site was an ass-saver, good luck with all of this, you have my and many others' support!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dylan, comment #57 is a good idea for now. Just post the Good teachers reviews with high scores...

I can't believe this site has been taken down! This is the only website I ever come to just because I want to read ALL the reviews about the professor. The majority is true and so helpful when I choose my classes. I really do not want to get stuck with bad teachers, and this site really help me avoid them, I have been getting a 3.73 GPA. Please dont give up! Ever since I was introduced to this website, I would always tell my friends, and the website was so trusted!

I am sure that all of these comments will help put the site back up. Good Luck to you, and I hope you get this site up and running soon!

http://www.virtualratings.com

Guys and girls...don't worry. There is another site where u can rate ur professors!

http://www.virtualratings.com

http://www.ratemyprofessors.com/index.jsp

Hey Dylan. I think any revisions you make in the format or utility of TeacherReviews should be well thought out and not just reactionary. I don't believe "watering down" the content of the site, or making it convenient for the "reviewed" to manipulate the contents of the site or a post would do TeacherReviews any justice. Howewver, a notification of new reviews forwarded to the reviewed professors via email seems a reasonable option.

It seems like you have a pretty loyal fan base going, and I would hate to see TeacherReviews lose it's credibility by not standing up for the virtues on which it was created.

I thinkk that it is enough said that you are recieving 80 some comments about this in around a day - very useful site (and I really don't mind the negative comments I have recieved here!)

This is a tragedy. I have always relyed on your website to rate my professors. And so far, they have always turned out to be just as the review said. I am at a loss for words...THIS IS TERRIBLE!

Dylan -

Your website is the best thing that happened to students for a long time. Please don't take it down!!! Who is this prof anyway?

Dylan,

This is such a shame that your site had to go down like that!! I based the bulk of my schedule off of teacherreviews.com. We live in a country where freedom of speech is a right NOT a privledge so I really hope the site will be back soon!! Good luck on everything and thanks for such an amazing resource you have provided students with your site!!

This is preposterous! No, this is ludicrous. No, this is a tragedy. No, this is a travesty. No, this is a ludicrous travesty of a tragedy, a total indignity! (Dont be like me: failed English because I did not consult TeachersReview.com before selecting a teacher)

I wonder if this is why alot of my comments at that other site were taken down. Seriously, fight the good fight.

Funny how when the profs are handing out grades off the cuff or launching personal attacks it's ok for them to destroy your future and GPA. I guess they can't take alittle critisism?

Oh, I forgot , how about doing it as a mailing list so if you sign up then you obviously want the reviews......right? Just put a big fat disclaimer or don't keep archives, or the emails can self destruct after printing them out or something....OK I'm reaching here but hey......Good luck...

I can't believe this. For the past two-year teacherreview.com had really helped me in find excellent professors. I find it unbelievable that because someone who cant handle alittle criticism and teacherreview.com has to shut down. If someone can sue because a bad comment or bad grade that one had receive, then those of us should sue those unprofessional, unreliable, irresponsible professors out there that had wasted our time and effort. Teacherreview.com had saved me a lot of time in class shopping and professor shopping and also the headache of being stuck with a horrible professor. Teacherreview had really helped me especially in my first year in college, since I was new to the campus and don't know anyone or any professor. If someone has to delete and presort the reviews than this is like a communist country where theres no free speech.

FREE SPEECH! FREE SPEECH! FREE SPEECH! FREE SPEECH!........

This site must be put back up. Everyone has the right to free speech and therefore can say whatever they wish about professors. Just because one lousy professor didnt like that he was told that he was lousy doesnt mean that all should be punished. Maybe he should take it as a wakeup call as to how bad of a teacher he really is.

I think you should go ahead and let the students that read reviews help police the site for you. Any time someone sees a review that may get you in trouble they should have a way to notify you so it can be removed. I'm sure that many students will let you know when something inappropriate has been posted.

One thing that is feasible would be to put each review through a type of dictionary which could contain the words that have been known to offend people and not let these reviews be posted. It would almost be like a spell check program.

How is this website any different from any other website on the entire internet. Every internet website i've visited expresses views of different people. If this were a crime than I need to sue the ENITIRE INTERNET. Don't let this guy scare you he can't do a damn thing about it. Also, if he doesn't want bad reviews...learn how to teach your course!!

#93 - I do plan on putting a dictionary filter on, but they are easy to get past. For example, "s h i t" would still work, and text without offending words but with a slanderous purpose would still get past, such as "he likes little boys".

The dictionary would have to be semi-intelligent to fully work.

I would hate to see teacherreviews disappear down the memory hole. But it doesn't come as any surprise that there are opposing forces who want to shut it down. Teachers have transformed universities into little empires of political correctitude where they can do and say as they please and never be held accountable. They shouldn't be allowed to get away with it. It's time to fight back.

Maybe it would be helpful to contact Students for Academic Freedom http://www.studentsforacademicfreedom.org

and NoIndoctrination.org

http://www.noindoctrination.org/

just to give them a heads-up what's going on and see if they have any useful suggestions

This is total bull. We have all grown up with freedom of speech being something that is put to use everday. Your site has done nothing wrong and if some prof. want to get his panties in a bunch because he is a jerk off let him. I love your site and I hope you fight Dylan. You do a great service for everyone here at Truman who utilizes this and you are an awesome person for it. If you ever need anything as far as money goes you can certinly count on donations from me, as well as many others I am sure. Keep fighting! Don't let the man get you down!!!

hey, we all need this site. come on! don't be so mean. keep it open!!! teachers can keep their style by ignoring the reviews but students need the site to make the schedule!! come on!

Seriously Dylan, you are being such a pussy it's unbelievable. Don't bother to put the site back up if you are going to dilute it to such a degree that it is useless to students (I.E. your first four suggestions for "improvements"). Either do it right or give in to the man and dump it completely. What if I threatened to sue you? Would you take down this site too? Get some balls. man.

Sorry if somebody already suggested this (I don't feel like reading and scrolling through all the reponses), but is there anyway you can just take off those comments that the particular professor was offended by and put your website back up? It's just that particular professor complaining, right?

the answer seems pretty simple... just don't permit anonymous posts. If someone has something to say, let them be responsible for it.

As for the people who are angry at you, (the posts above) there's a great example of exactly what I mean by the danger of anonymous posts.

Standard beginning: THANK you very much for your website! :-)

Surely it helped a lot of students and hopefully at least few professors to think about what/how they are teaching.

I hope you will bring it back online

My suggestions would be (may be I missed them somewhere in the comments)

1) if it is the first review of some professor: ask for his valid email, check it automatically using google (name + email ?= search results? if yes it mostly probably to be valid.) Send that professor and email stating that he has being reviewed on your website and give him an option as you mentioned to inform him on all new reviews or send them in digest every week/month/year. His reply would kinda confirm that he is the one and then you can create a DB of professors and assign them accounts so they can do 2)

2) Let professor close his reviews completely. It means that your website will state: professor Blah Blah asked to don't post reviews on his teaching performance. And also let the teacher to leave comments on any his review if he decides to be open minded and let people read it.

I understand that it is not very strict scheme but it would let you to avoid too angree letters from probably not that good and very concervative teachers. Label that professors forbids reviews would tell a lot by itself.

Thanx again for your website

#100 - I took down the reviews from the professor who complained, but the problem is that there are other professors who have reviews simular to his that should be removed otherwise I will just get more and more complaints.

It seems to me that the "victim" is a little too concerned about his ego and he needs to get over it since you took the reviews down. Although the comments may have been untrue and in bad taste, this site serves as a valuable tool for students to be able to take control of their education. Lets face it, there are some rotten teachers, but there are also some very good ones. Most of the reviews I have read have been fair, AND true. This is very unfortunate. I agree with the donation suggestion and I would be willing to contribute. They grade us? We pay tuition (which in my state seems to increase to no end), so why can we not choose teachers based on reviews whether they be negative or not?

What happened to Freedom of Speech? Don't let these people scare you. That is not fair and any good instructor knows a site like this is a constitutional right.

almost forgot...THANK YOU for working on this site for all of us for so long!

Why dont you just simply post the Good reviews only with high scores...

#107: You can put a smallest good score and write crap about teacher anyway... It isn't that easy

another (I think good) idea might be:

do scoring on reviews like scores on amazon's reviews, slashdot articles etc

1) 1 score per review per IP (so no misuse)

2) from -3 (this reviewer isn't really right!/review is too offensive) to +5(great/informative /usefull review). I would leave bigger scale for positives though...

3) reviews which after a month or two of existence didn't get any score - trash

4) reviews with sufficient amount of ratings (5-10) and negative score - trash

5) the rest is up to you

done

I guess the site at least gives correct reviews of our university profs........ :-))))

-- Comment Removed --

All the people that say a teacher can't take critism need to think about what is really happening. The teacher that has a review saying that he gives test that are almost impossible to pass and is really difficult to understand what the teacher is saying are reviews that oblviously will not be taken down but when you start insulting a teacher with remarks about for instance a "teachers sexual preference" they will be offended. It is the immature people that abuse the site that have caused this. Like the person that posted number #99 when someone talks like that about another person it is complete disrespect. It is one thing to say "Dylan fight the issue" it is another thing to call him names for being mature about the issue.

So really one way to deal with this is to have the people who read the reviews make a decision and maybe mark the review as something that should be removed. As a student in college I would mark reviews that were to negitive for deletion if it meant the site staying up.

Good Luck

I guess lousy teachers are afraid of getting called out!!!!!

damn! we are loosing a lot!! dear professor, we totally understand why you are so mad at this that you have to threaten to sue. but maybe you should reconsider about taking this out on innocent website runner and students who depend on this website. im sure that student did not put the review all out of random, there must be some reasons that he or she did that.

Dylan,

Thank you so much in creating teacherreviews.com! I rely on it

every semester before I sign up for my classes. I even check it

almost daily to see the new reviews posted. It is so sad to

see this site being closed down. I hope this is not a permanent

thing. I dont know how I will get this far in my college career

if it wasnt for your site. Your site allows me and others to avoid

the bad profs and to choose the good profs. I just hope the

person who post that review and the professor who is

threatening to sue will rot in hell!!!!!! They are ruining it

for everyone who depend on this valuable site.

Dylan, you can beat this lawsuit and to all of us who read

and post in your website and depend on it heavily, you are our

HERO!!!! I hope teacherreviews.com will be back ASAP. Good

luck!

I love this site its helps out on finding the right classes. I usually end up liking the class and it helps make my college learning experience worth while. I cant believe they are putting this site down.

Honestly, I look at it this way- you should be confident in your teaching so that people would rate you well. If you have 20 great reviews, and 1 nasty note thats totally opposite of it, well, those who are educated who use this site for information can comb through whats real and whats not. I'd say the teachers should thicken their skin a bit. Kids are going to say what they want to their friends, good or bad about the professor, and that can never be stopped. Why try to stop this way of expressing an opinion. Making someone use their name with a review will detour people from putting up responces until they're graduated (and its unlikely they'll want to go and discuss something from the past). For new students, this is a good clue to understanding whose class you may be taking. Now having someone monitor the site-- thats great. No horrible comments like "He's gay" or "Shes just a bitch" etc. Critique the teaching styles... let the voices live on, and those who are worried about what people would say about them-- be the best you can, and anyone who doesn't agree with that- well, don't worry.

Dylan,

Here's an idea-

When an individual decides to post an ad, get their ok to delete any obscene or inappropriate language before it is officially posted. This would make it more of a job for you to edit all the postings, but if all the users had to subscribe to your website, it would make it more worthwhile for you. You have the support of many as you can see, including some teachers (i.e., #69 - James Carranza, Associate Professor of English, College of San Mateo). Your idea has helped so many people make informed decisions about who they want to spend four months of their lives with. Maybe some teachers should put up their own postings to defend themselves. We are all adults here, right? Your website should be a "meeting of the minds."

geez...it's no surprise that word spread and you got soo many responses already...let us know if u want students to start signing a petition...perhaps that way the court will realize how much this site means to students...also will it be better if there was a membership involved...like 3 bucks a year or something....that way you will be compensated for all ur hard work...and that way it will be easier to track down certain users who are abusing this site =)...also my bf ( who is a comp junkie) said that the site is like a forum and free speech should be allowed right?!

Total Ratings

4,032,866

Total Teachers

650,286

Total Schools

33,467

Ratings added Yesterday

18,669

This coming from middle and highschool children. If they can do it, why can't we?

I think you should put it back up just the way it was, don't change anything. Other review sites are so watered down, they are worthless.

Dylan, think back and remember what it was that motivated you to start the sight in the first place. We'll all have children someday, and they will need resources like these, don't let the profs win. It will set a bad precedent.

Beleive me, rotten "professors" know that they stink, and don't care. We fill out the feedback reports at the end of every class and I've seen situations where one third of a class has even complained about one prof IN PERSON to the director. Nothing was done, she's still teaching and worse than ever. The school admins know who the bad eggs are teacherwise, why shouldn't the students? I'll bet tons of worse things have been written about teachers on the student evaluation forms, compared to the stuff on the website. The problem is only the admins and teachers ever see them, why? The papre and pencil evaluations are totally anonomous for good reason.

Why are foul language and bad reviews only for the eyes of the schools themselves, when they have no use for them anyways, and probaly use that information to their advantage or even amusement.

If they made the sudent evaluations publically available, none of this would even be necessary. I say take the site even one step further and include: Advisors, office people, coaches, high schools, bookstores (for pricing), career placement people, etc. to include all facets of academia.

The winds of change are flowing in our favor, Calgon take me away........

Stuupid teacher! please tell me his not a polyschi teacher...that would mean he doesnt know his rights as an American. he should focus more on teaching the class rather than worry being "called out". i hate people who have nothing better in life to do then bitch and whine. just the tyipcal liberal dike. PLUS he wouldnt have so many bad reviews if he wasnt such a bad teacher. =P best wishes D-boy

lets get this site up and running again for everyone.

Hi webmaster,

Please make necessary ajustments to bring this effective and excellent site up. I rely heavily on this site to meet wonderful professors and get good grades. Could you tell all of us who this professor might be or where he/she teaches? This really sucks because i hate to have a great site like this go down. This site helps many people succeed in school, educating students about professors before they take them. Please do what ever you can to bring this site back up.

May I suggest you building a system or whatever that automatically erase or not allow certain words. This way you could eliminate curse words or phrases that could be used to degrade a professor, if this is the main problem.

This website is truly a success that affect students' education. Do Not Let It go down!!!!!

Good luck and good bye

It's ridiculous that the "Bipolar Paranoid Schitzophrenic" professor is suing you for a negative comment made by someone else. Your website serves as a santuary for students to voice their opinions about their professors, using their choice of words.

It's true that some reviews are questionable, however the website has no impact on how students choose write their reviews. Therefore the professor should not hold you or Teacherreviews.com responsible for the insulting ad.

Besides, if he has enough confidence in himself to know that the insulting review about him has no merit, he doesn't need to start a controversy by bawling to AFT, and running around to sue everyone.

ahhh why are the professors scared of honest feedback(most of the time). It seems like the professor is acting like a child by getting frustrated with a bad comment.

your site has been quite helpful throughout my college years. gives me a good sense of how a teacher operates and what to expect in the class. hope everything turns out all right and the site can be up and running soon.

This is such a blatant infringement upon our first amendment rights. The beauty of freedom of speech is that it allows people to voice their honest opinions without fear of repercussions, and to have their opinions acknowledged by everyone. Such views from people should not be condemned or ignored, for to do so would be to strike against our fundamental values. People should be able to see others opinions on professors regardless of what is said, and make their own opinions and evaluations. Please do not let one professor with scare tactics take down such a true voice in freedom of speech. Many people depend on this site to get a pure unedited opinion of other students just like them. Please try to resist this; I am sure many people will back you up. Your site is very helpful for us, please bring it back.

This is the best site ever, it helps us students do whatever we can to avoid awful teachers. The bad teachers deserve the bad feedback. They should do us a favor and retire.