SPAN 3020

the WORST professor I have ever had at UVA. Where do I even start. Will seem to be approachable because he encourages students to come to office hours, but when you're there he will cut you off and not let you finish asking your question before he chimes in and doesn't ever even answer your question. Will ask opinion questions on the test and take off points if your opinion isn't exactly his, and when you ask him about it, he gets very sassy and refuses to hear you out. Also, he expects you to know the texts verbatim for the tests. Even if you explain the concept very clearly and concisely, if you don't use the exact words the author used, you will not get credit. He also never follows the syllabus. I spent the entire semester wondering what the hell was going on. Half the times I would do readings and they wouldn't be discussed in class until a week and a half later. Just take this class with another teacher, or better yet, don't take it at all! Use another class to fulfill your requirements. I learned absolutely nothing.

Ditto everything that this person said and then más. Ortiz had a seemingly militaristic approach to his syllabus, deadlines, class procedure, etc, but in reality, he was as scattered as his average lecture. Of the 16 that started in the class, only 10 remained after a week. Every day I would get to class before him and ask everyone else in the room if they knew what was going on, or what was supposed to be due that day. I never knew they didn't know, and neither did Ortiz. If he liked you, he would grade your essays kindly, but otherwise, he was an asshole when grading tests and quizzes. I'll never forget that he asked us what his computing ID was during a quiz on the second day of class. Nice!

This class is really frustrating. I wouldn't recommend it with Professor Ortiz because he is really strict, but also never makes his expectations clear. It seems like he just expects students to read his mind. The syllabus is hardly ever followed. He will send approximately 5 emails a week changing what is due, when it is due, how it is due, etc. This should be one of my easiest classes this semester, but it causes the most stress and anxiety because no one ever knows what is going on. I thought that a lot of the class would be dedicated to practicing grammar and writing skills, but a majority of class time is spent listening to the professor's tangents on political problems.