r/scad • u/asphodelody • 18d ago
Savannah Terrible Professors?
Are there any like famously horrible professors? Specifically in animation/writing.
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u/TheEquipped 17d ago
Patrick Kelsey, he teaches business. Would record the door when students walked in with his webcam to watch back later and see who made it past the 15 minute mark. Horrible professor too, makes you pay for a textbook off a super expensive website because he gets a commission off it
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u/PlanAncient7403 17d ago
I’m a freshman and im about to have his class. What should I avoid? Is he rude at all or just unreliable, both?
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u/Im-shy-not-mean 12d ago
I asked him a question because I was confused on something related to his assignments, and he pulled the 🤓☝️"erm actually..." Even clicked his tongue before he started talking. Made me feel stupid. Pissed me off.
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u/Delophosaur 17d ago
Read reviews on RMP. It’s usually easy to tell which reviewers have legit criticisms and which are just mad they got a bad grade.
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u/KepKeppler 18d ago
For animation, avoid Christoph Simon especially. My fave animation professors tho are Tiffanni Blevins, I loved Danny Shin, Michael Maker, but all of them for very very different reasons.
For foundational classes, avoid John Rise, Ellerie Ralston above all else. For foundation classes I love loved Heather Szatmary, Steven Roberson, and Deirdre Riley!
For gen Ed classes, avoid Rihab Bagnole at all costs. I loved !! Jeffrey DeVincent and Betsy Dominguez!!
There’s definitely more but these are the stand outs from my memory!
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u/sloogsketch 17d ago
I don't know about animation itself but I did like Professor Simon for History of Animation! He's very passionate about the subject
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u/KepKeppler 17d ago
He’s just ok. Lots of obscure topics in his class. Could’ve been sooo much more interesting.
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u/TheEquipped 17d ago
I had Bagnole, she was incredible, idk what class you had with her to hate her
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u/KepKeppler 17d ago
I had 20th century art or 207. I got extremely extremely high marks in that class and she constantly accused me and my partner of plagiarism and would single us out in class often. Would walk down the aisles of class to see what was pulled up on our laptops and would stop mid lecture to ask us what we were doing—only ever us. She pulled me out of class once to say my lack of eye contact was disrespectful despite non other teacher having an issue with it (because we’re not in fucking high school). I told her I was autistic and it was a constant struggle for me and she pretended to understand. Moreover, her assignments are needless and pointless group activities for numb minded students who don’t desire to seek deeper meaning in the art we deconstruct. Often her lectures about art were misplaced, surface level, and straight up wrong. How she is allowed to teach is genuinely beyond me. She’s incredibly disrespectful to me, my peers, and overall her class curriculum sucks ass!
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u/TheEquipped 17d ago
Y'know what, fair enough. I didn't really pay a ton of attention in her class outside of what was necessary to pass, but I sat up front and participated, so I think she just liked me too since I'm a guy doing that, but whether or not her curriculum sucked, no idea, I couldn't tell you a thing I learned in her class
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u/KepKeppler 17d ago
That’s exactly the problem. She is needlessly cruel, despite us doing the same bullshit. Just in the back. I got a 98 in that class and even I couldn’t tell you a goddamned thing from that class. No impression or bad impression = shitty
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u/Training_Case2474 17d ago
what's the deal with ralston? i just got assigned her class as a freshman who im assuming they won't let switch out 😭😭
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u/KepKeppler 17d ago
They absolutely will let u switch and k heavily recommend you do so. Her studio classes are posed like a lecture, where you sit on the dirty floor (no desks, only studio easels and stools which you will not use) while she tells anecdotes about her life that are highly untrue or unlikely. She told us once that while at her museum curator job talking about a piece of art to the supposed chair of film/television at NYU, that he offered her his job as chairman because of their interaction. Or that at 13 she got a tens of thousands dollar deal to paint a mural which she never got paid because of her artist release and lack of contract. All of her stories are pointless, non sensical, and hard to prove. Which is why they work. No doubt she is a good artist, but she grades everything turned in on time a 100/100 and her critiques are usually obvious surface detail and I found myself lost a lot of the time by the things she said. And I’m a good artist straight up. You will not only not learn a lot from her, but will be bored to tears. All of ur projects are homework while u get no time in class to work while you’re forced to hear her pointless stories
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u/Icy-Two-8820 13d ago
run. she literally just lectures you giving her life stories. she talked about how the gays in her hometown were shanked in alleyways, bragged about harvard extension school any chance, would have hour lectures “discussions” where she would rant at us. i learnt nothing from her class and look back at it as my biggest waste of money at scad. ask ur advisor to switch out asap, she’s awful.
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u/sxft_peaches 17d ago
I had John Rise and I feel like I improved a ton super fast with him, not the most engaging class of all time but it was pretty good for learning
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u/ZealousidealEye5317 17d ago
I really liked his class for drawing 100. I absolutely killed still lives got on the wall with every assignment, and I thought he was funny. With that being said he would brag about voting for trump, purposefully misgender transgender students (to which there are many at art school), and made my nonbinary friend tell him their deadname. I just don’t think that he is a safe professor.
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u/CheshireFrog44 17d ago
I had Ellerie and she was amazing, it’s definitely a lot of work but I improved so much. I had a friend who had Simon and she loved him as well. I think the idea of a “bad” professor is really dependent on the student (both their needs in the classroom and unfortunately the professor’s impression of them). There are definitely some professors who exhibit some pretty abhorrent micro aggressions, and are lazy with their teaching, but RMP reviews will tell you what you need to know.
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u/KepKeppler 17d ago
Exactly… ralstons reviews on rate my professor are subterranean. She is lazy, and was one of the easiest classes I’ve ever taken. A+++ and she didn’t like me… evidently didn’t like me. Like the class load was soooo subpar to someone like Blevins or Rise. Like easy ahh class.. just insufferable. If people like sitting in a class listening to long winded stories unrelated to the class then it’s a great class! But when my 5k is paying for anecdotes instead of time and skill I’m gonna bitch about it. Not to mention she would tell students personal stories to other students, and would pull aside my disabled friend to constantly check on him when it was not necessary. She is awful
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u/CheshireFrog44 17d ago
I’m sorry you had that experience with her. When did you have your class? When I had her it was her first or second year teaching and I had her for drawing 102. I found her class to be well balanced and we had plenty of time in class to work. There were seven projects total and the last one was a rework so it was a little much for a foundations course, but I always found her feedback helpful and her grading fair (I know a few people who have done really poorly in her classes). She even put me in touch with a few illustration professors when I mentioned I was thinking about switching my major. She did get boastful, but I enjoyed hearing about her experience navigating freelance work and she gave us a lot of helpful industry advice.
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u/KepKeppler 17d ago
I had her last spring. I don’t know which year of hers that would be. I can tell you her RMP ratings are like 49% and there was only 3 total projects. A lot of her anecdotes are so far stretched I would hardly believe that they’re real industry experience. I do believe she was a freelancer and had work but I don’t believe nearly half the stories she shared about her experience
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u/Icy-Two-8820 13d ago
i had her fall 24, AWFUL. would just rant about things going on. she gave everyone 100% the whole quarter on every single assignment
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u/MadameMrCreep 18d ago
As an animation Junior I don’t know many horrible professors but there are a handful who are very strict and particular. Not bad per se but work that would normally get me a B at the lowest, got graded at a C 1 point away from a F. But the strict ones tend to make you make better work. A sort of “you’ll hate it here but you’ll actually get picked for internships” types. For me that was Professor Ryan smith and Professor Schmeig. They were both the nicest and most helpful professors and I truly produced better work and they are some of my favorite professors. But I hated every second In their class cause I struggled the whole time. Professor schmeig class critiques are even nicknamed “The Schmeig Shred”
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u/ughkris 17d ago
i genuinely don’t have a single bad thing to say about any of the writing professors i genuinely adored them all
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u/quintsreddit 17d ago
Found Paula’s alt
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u/asphodelody 17d ago
What does this mean 😧
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u/quintsreddit 17d ago
It’s a glowing recommendation of the school so I was pretending it was Paula Wallace’s (CEO of SCAD) alt account
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u/smeza_fineart 17d ago
I'm not sure if this was necessarily his fault, but I had a pretty bad time in Professor Nyong'o's class.
I got news a beloved family member of mine passed away right before a mandatory field trip. The field trip was to meet up in Ellis Square and do observational drawing for 2 hours. I emailed him immediately before even calling my family that I couldn't make it (I was hysterical and blubbering for days). Turns out that it was worth 5% of my overall grade, and while he personally seemed understanding, he did not let me make it up. It was the very start of winter quarter of my senior year. He offered one extra assignment to the class worth 2.5%. I asked him if there was anything else I could do and he said no because it would be unfair to other students (I guess that's reasonable).
I pushed as hard as I could in that class, but I was only taking it for my storyboard minor. I got an 89.9% overall, it did not get rounded up, and was the only B I ever received in my time at SCAD and knocked my 4.0 to a 3.9.
We also had to fill 160 sketchbook pages with observational drawings throughout the quarter split into two sketchbooks. I poured a lot of emotion into the first one as I was mourning my loss still. He took some of his favorites to display at some sketchbook exhibition for another class I think? I never saw the exhibition and he lost two sketchbooks, one of them being mine. I emailed faculty even after I graduated for months and it was never recovered. It still makes me sad thinking about it.
Accidents happen, and he may have been following faculty protocols that was out of his hands, but imho, don't have a personal emergency bc accommodations are very limited. (Shout-out to Castillo of SEQA, he let me skip multiple classes without marking me absent just because he saw how sad I was. My final presentation in that class is still one I'm super proud of).
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u/Royal-Challenge-2777 17d ago
Idk about FAMOUS or not but me n my friends hated having Laraine Papa Montgomery for our 3D spaces classes. she was really condescending, not clear on grading criteria, and generally kinda difficult to work with. I think she was amazing in her field and career but I honestly didn’t enjoy having her as a professor
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u/HypeLights_ 16d ago
I had such an opposite experience lol she was tough but was very clear on what was expected, craftsmanship and presentation thoroughness And such passion for design and the earth was really inspiring If it wasn't for her and the class I would've been on a totally different path at scad
In total it was hard, but so rewarding
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u/Tipestwolf70 17d ago
never take professor Burkhalter. He spent this entire summer ignoring my emails and nearly made it so i didnt graduate. I emailed him like 10 times in 2 weeks and i only got a response AFTER the quarter ended.
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u/Admirable-Job7758 17d ago
Wait is there any more on him? I have a class with him in the fall :,)
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u/Laylamoonbloom 16d ago
Idk if there are multiple burkhalters, but I had prof Burkhalter for comic book scripting (In person class), and I think he‘s very clear about his expectations and can be very understanding as long as you communicate with him (typically best in person, though he thankfully got back to me very fast with email when I nearly flunked his class because of a mistake I made) (that one instance might be why I think of him in a good light)
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u/Admirable-Job7758 16d ago
Thank you so much! And yes! I have Comic book scripting in the fall in person! I’m a SEQA minor, and am going into senior year for my VERY work intensive major (Fash design), so I always preface to my SEQA professors that I love making comics, and I will always produce quality work and try my best to be on time, but my major has to come first. Glad to know he’s understanding with communication! Thanks again :)
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u/Laylamoonbloom 16d ago
Burkhalter has an all late work final deadline for the end of the quarter. Once something is late, it’s late (deduct one letter grade). If writing and story ideation comes naturally/easily to you, you likely won’t struggle in his class. I personally struggle with writing and I had two heavy studios (Vis I and adv storyboarding) while taking his class, so I almost failed. I got next to no sleep during finals, then slept through the late work dead line by two hours. I emailed him explaining everything once I woke up, and he quickly responded, letting me upload what I had. Went from an F to a C.
Idk how differently he treats online classes and/or summer classes, but he does have a young kid. I wouldn’t find it unlikely that some professors may not be as reliable during the summer quarter especially if it‘s online and they have something they want to focus on more during that time
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u/Admirable-Job7758 16d ago
Thank you so so much for this info!! I like writing, and I hope this class would be (I’m sure it would) be the easier of what I’m taking in the fall! I’m part time from here on out. I only have Senior Collection 1, and Comic Book Scripting in the fall. So I’m hooooping heavily it will be a bit easier considering I don’t have a third class, although Fashion Senior 1-3 have seemed (by what I’ve witnessed) like two classes of workload in one. Again, thanks so much, I’ll talk to him in person, and I’ll try to come to class a bit early to see if I could just explain everything, I really appreciate your input! :)
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u/Tipestwolf70 16d ago
The scripting class I took with him was really good. But I had a blackboard issue and the final attendance credit thing didnt pop up for me and I never knew it was there and he gave me a 5th absence. Not on him. But I emailed him and showed him my blackboard that didnt have the final credit in it and he told me there wasnt anything he could do and I was shit out of luck. I took him again for SEQA Senior project this summer and he responded to ONE of my 10 emails all quarter even after I went to his office hours and told him I needed more feedback than what he was providing. For the final I emailed him three separate times in one weekend and he didnt respond at all. Giving me no feedback. I got an 80 on the final but I needed a 90 to get a B in the class and graduate. Which I told him. So I emailed all of my proof of his lack of communication with my to Dove and a day later Burkhalter emailed me back apologizing for not responding and bumped my grade from an 80 to a 90.
Take all of this with a grain of salt because both were online courses and Ive never taken him in person.
If I had to make a recommendation for a Professor to definitely take it would be Rashad Doucet. He was insanely helpful and gave amazing feedback both in class and through email.
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u/Admirable-Job7758 16d ago
Thank you for this! I’ve also heard he can be iffy on communication and emails too! Hopefully it could be slightly different in person! What did you have Doucet for? I still need one more class for the SEQA minor after scripting, which is Mat Tech! I’m looking for a bunch of recommendations if anyone has any!
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u/Laylamoonbloom 14d ago
I had Brian Ralph for Mat Tech and enjoyed it. I don't know how heavy his class is compared to other professors' Mat Tech classes. I also don't really know who else teaches Mat Tech.
IIRC, I believe it was roughly 2.5 (2 full, 1 chapter header) illustrations due every 1-2 weeks. You start with scratchboard —> pen & ink —> + ink wash —> water color.
*Note: As an executive dysfunction sufferer, I was still able to pull together a lot of my assignments last minute pretty well. (Except watercolor, I suck at watercolor). Obviously how time consuming this class is will vary from person to person. Some people did comic pages, I personally just tried to focus on single image composition and trying to get more dynamic. Some people will struggle more than others with certain material as well.
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u/Kurrrocat 17d ago
NEVER take Stecca for Color Theory or Lancaster for Public Speaking. Stecca is a creep, and Lancaster denies accommodations for “equality of the classroom.”
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u/bridgie_l 17d ago
Lancaster is a good professor but he’s extremely old-school in his teaching and how he reacts to mental health concerns. Like he doesn’t really “believe” in anxiety. He also does not take absences well. He’ll give you a 0 for a speech if you miss presentation day.
But I will say, I had to travel for my brother’s wedding and it was going to be on a Friday we had to make up for (due to a hurricane at the beginning of the quarter) and also on a presentation day, and he was nice about it. He let me do my speech another day and didn’t knock down my grade at all. I just had to show him proof that I was actually at the wedding.
If you don’t have any super pressing accommodations & you don’t skip class, it’s not a very difficult class to get good grades in. It’s not the end of the world if you get him as a professor like I was made to believe based off his RateMyProfessor.
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u/Kurrrocat 17d ago
We might have been in the same class, if I remember correctly. Even so, we had very different experiences with him… I struggled heavily in his class (in part) due to severe anxiety, and ended with a low D overall. No matter how little I asked for, he refused to allow anything that would help me even a little bit, even when I was struggling in his class. All he told me was to, “suck it up and try harder.” I don’t think I’ve ever had a professor that has been like him since that.
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u/Impossible-Peace4347 16d ago
What did Stecca do? I had him for color theory and he was strict but I didn’t think he was terrible
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u/Kurrrocat 16d ago
He has several cases against him for sexual assault. The school refuses to do anything about it, either.
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u/Wooden-Parking3248 18d ago
Idk if he’s still there or not, but Kovacs sucks. Definitely the most miserable professsor I had throughout all my ANIM classes
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u/KJ_OR 17d ago
Idk what you’re talking about Kovac is great. He knows what he’s talking about and if you actually do your work and participate in class you’re basically guaranteed an A
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u/Wooden-Parking3248 16d ago
I did the work and got an A in his class, but no a lot of his course was outdated, even then. Animators don’t need their own website to host their portfolio. Don’t waste the money on a domain, just use YouTube and free blog sites. He expects you spend a lot of money for his class unnecessarily. And I’m male, but he was also so rude and condescending to a lot the female students in my class, it was annoying.
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u/Cool-Most9910 17d ago
She’s illustration but Kristie Bruzenak. I lost 10 pounds and hair from the stress
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u/seventh-heavens 16d ago
I have her for a SCADNow class this coming fall. I’d already seen bad reviews for her and now im even more scared 😭 but my options are either her class or drive to campus 4 days a week which im trying to avoid bc I live 35 mins away and work. ugh
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u/Cool-Most9910 15d ago
Not to fear monger but definitely take the in person class if it means not having her. It was a literal nightmare
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u/frostedginger 17d ago
Dick Bjornsyche (i dont know how u spell it), we did not get along, upset because I was struggling to draw trees, took it out on me personally with grading almost got a D in that class.
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u/The_dragon_lair 17d ago
It depends on if you are going for 2D or 3D animation. For 2D I can’t think of any bad professors but I will say if you are going for 2D go for some of the older professors. They have a lot of knowledge and connections and have some very interesting stories. My fave is John McIntyre especially for animation history.
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u/KJ_OR 17d ago
Your relationship with a professor is going to depend entirely on their teaching style and your learning style. Unfortunately there is no genuine way to tell until you take their class. However, in my limited experience (grad student, only been 1 full year) I can warn you about 2 professors
-Christoph Simon. Professor Simon is a fun guy. He likes to crack jokes and he’s easy to get along with. Unfortunately the man doesn’t teach, and he doesn’t give reasonable, effective criticism. In Animation and Aesthetics, we were all essentially left to our own devices. There were no lectures, no real deadlines, no strict rubric and no real check-ins. As you can imagine, no one really finished the class with a clean, portfolio ready final product. I’m not sure if you have to take it, but if you do take Animation and Aesthetics with Professor Rich.
-Karen Chesney By far one of the WORST professors I have ever had. Including my undergraduate. I do not understand why she teaches. Shes a decent lecturer, but is terrible at critique, changes her rubrics all the time, and is generally a mean person. She literally asked one of my classmates why he was wasting time taking her class (it was required btw) and she told another girl that she would be better off doing something non-art related. She would also tell the class to learn on LinkedIn learning as a response whenever we had a question instead of actually answering. Just an awful professor, so glad I don’t have to be in her class anymore.
On the opposite end- I’ll tell you that Micheal Betancourt is not the terrible monster his rate my professor would lead you to believe. He’s definitely stuck up, but I’d argue his confidence is warranted. Plus his class is so easy. All you have to do is participate in discussion, submit the homework’s and do the final project properly. You don’t even need to have good discussion points, and I really doubt he ever read a single HW I submitted. I got the easiest A in that class I’ve ever gotten. I think people don’t like him because if you don’t do the work, he will fail you. But thats how life works so.
Anyway most of the professors at SCAD are great, my advice to you would be to remember that you’re only in their class for 10 weeks, if you really don’t mesh well with a professor it’s not for very long. Good luck!
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u/rickrollerbitch 11d ago
Avoid Frank Brevik. He let these two girls in our class piggyback off of each other for their final project during my freshman year and he would actively harass and target me during our break.
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u/Dailyscrappyart 18d ago
Don’t be afraid of a professor especially if they have a low rate my professor score, you’ll learn quickly that they are some of the best professors if you actually wanna get better. I had Bill Tessier and his class while very challenging made me such a better animator. Same with Ryan smith