Everyone has at least one of them, the great professor who makes you look forward to class. Professors who engage their students, make time to give extra help and show they actually care about you learning.

The class environments of these amazing professors can become the fondest college memories for students and the best learning experience they ever have.

Then there are the pension professors. The ones who put as little effort into teaching as possible. Professors who cancel office hours often because no one ever wants to talk to them.

Classes that students dread not because they’re difficult, but because they are practically worthless. The class that makes heads turn and ask “Why am I paying for this?” and “Is it just me or are you not learning anything either?”

Most students recognize classes are going to be challenging. You learn the most in classes requiring a lot of effort, but no one wants an unreasonable class with a professor who is not respected when he or she walks in the room.

Thankfully, most professors at Sacramento State actually give a damn about their students’ education and want them to succeed in the future.

“(Teachers here are) concerned about their students – not just going through lectures, and making it enjoyable,” said junior health science major Karen Dangca.

While most of her professors were good ones, Dangca said she has also had her share of professors she could have done without.

“Some professors just weren’t really involved at all,” Dangca said. “(They were) boring and weren’t enthusiastic about what they were teaching.”

Students having to think critically and participate in class is a good sign you have a professor who wants you to excel. The classes where students can text on their iPhones the entire class because they are not missing anything by not paying attention is a waste of time. Professors who stare at text, recite and never bother to look up are a sign the class is going to be useless.

“The (professors) that are there for the check just run PowerPoint or read out of the book,” said senior business major Anita Yaroshuk. “I could read out of the book at home.”

Yaroshuk said she thinks about 75 percent of her professors care about their students.

There needs to be a way of getting rid of the few bad apples among the large majority of professors who do an excellent job here at Sac State. It’s a shame students avoid taking classes in a particular semester, hoping a much more respected professor will teach the same course in the future.

Near the end of the semester, students get to evaluate professors by filling out forms. Far too often, students fill in the circles as quickly as possible and head out the door. The evaluations should be much more in-depth and written in a way that makes students analyze each particular class.

While it is unrealistic for department chairs to talk to each student about every class, having discussions with groups of students and faculty every semester about what could be done to continually fine-tune the program would be beneficial. In those discussions, students should be able to be honest about the professors who are in demand and the professors who are loathed.

A professor who receives negative evaluations by an overwhelming majority of students should not be fired, though. They should meet with students and other faculty to discuss how to improve the class. Repeatedly getting negative reviews semester after semester should be the reason a professor is let go.

Tenured professors have earned the right to teach classes the way they want without fear. However, a tenured professor who is avoided by students for valid reasons should have to at least alter his or her methods to some extent.

So many professors give students everything they need to embark on their careers after they graduate. It’s those professors who students should be spending their time with while at Sac State.

Sub-par professors must be phased out. An institution of higher learning must command quality education.

Mitchell Wilson can be reached at [email protected]