Carney Curve

Boston College course evaluations · every published number, ranked class by class

Top of the board1.ECON 9902962.LAWS 8856973.PRTO 3300984.BSLW 2299975.PHIL 4932986.LAWS 8308987.SCWK 9960998.EESC 99011009.MUSP 16609610.UGMG 10109811.UNCP 55119712.SCWK 883197

Positions account for how many records stand behind each number, so one perfect review does not outrank a semester of them. Every score shown is the real average — only the ordering is adjusted.

Class record · UNCS · MCAS

UNCS 2245

First-Year Topic Seminar · 32 instructors on record · 107 sections

What the course score is made of
89BC evaluations107 records · weight ×1.0 · Fall 2021 – Fall 2025
—Student reviewsno reviews — does not contribute
—RateMyProfessorsno ratings — does not contribute

That is the class itself, averaged across everyone who taught it. Who taught it, and how each of them scored, is the board below — that is what a student picking a section is actually choosing between.

What the challenge rank is made of
—BC — “Intellectually Challenging”107 records — does not contribute

Boston College's “intellectually challenging” question was not reported in these records, so there is nothing to show. That is missing data, not an easy class.

What the workload rank is made of
—BC — “Workload”107 records — does not contribute

Boston College's workload question was not reported in these records, so there is nothing to show. That is missing data, not a light class.

The Freshman Topic Seminars give freshmen an opportunity to meet with their faculty advisor once a week to enjoy small group discussions on a topic of research and intellectual interest to the instructor. The Freshman Topic Seminars are limited to 14 students per section, meet once a week for 75 minutes, end before the Thanksgiving break, earn one credit, and are graded pass/fail. The short readings in the Topic Seminars focus on specific topics unique to each section and are designed to allow students to explore new academic areas. A list of current topics can be found at http://www.bc.edu/offices/fye/cornerstone/freshman/

The board

32 instructors · ranked on this class onlyCompare the top 3
Filters the rows below. Positions are always against the whole class, so a rank does not change when the list is narrowed.

Scores are real averages. The order also accounts for how many records back each one — the count is under every score — so one perfect review does not outrank a semester of them. 4 of the 32 rows carry a mark saying so.

RankInstructorOverallWorkloadChallengeRMP overall
1Joseph NugentProfessor of the Practice · English1004 records——864 ratings · all classes
2Devin PendasProfessor, Professor of Law (by courtesy) · History974 records——7813 ratings · all classes
3Can ErbilProfessor of the Practice · Economics955 records——9257 ratings · all classes
4Thomas Kaplan-MaxfieldAssociate Professor of the Practice · English955 records———no page
5Adrienne NussbaumUniversity and Capstone938 records———no page
6Penelope IsmayAssociate Professor, Director of Undergraduate Studies, Director of Undergraduate Engagement · History Provisional fewer records1002 records——1001 rating · all classes
7Geoffrey SanzenbacherProfessor of the Practice · Economics945 records——9821 ratings · all classes
8Robert StantonAssociate Professor; Director, M.A. Program · English fewer records954 records——1004 ratings · all classes
9Elizabeth KensingerProfessor · Psychology and Neuroscience fewer records963 records———no page
10Tracy ReganUniversity and Capstone934 records——5061 ratings · all classes
11Matthew RutledgeProfessor of the Practice · Economics904 records——9026 ratings · all classes
12Jason CavallariHistory895 records———no page
13James SmithProfessor of English & Irish Studies · English Provisional fewer records902 records———no page
14Joseph QuinnEconomics Provisional902 records——1002 ratings · all classes
15Karen MillerHistory Provisional901 record——801 rating · all classes
16John BurnsUniversity and Capstone Provisional891 record———no page
17Charles HoffmanProfessor & Department Chair · Biology864 records———no page
18Jeremiah McgrannProfessor of the Practice · Music805 records——1007 ratings · all classes
19Elizabeth ShlalaAdvancing Studies745 records——1004 ratings · all classes
20Gregory KalscheurUniversity and Capstone605 records———no page
21Patricia RigginAssociate Professor of the Practice of Theatre · Theatre605 records———no page
—Dacia GentilellaUniversity and Capstone—4 records——829 ratings · all classes
—Lynn DibenedettoAssociate Professor of the Practice · Biology—4 records——6410 ratings · all classes
—Brian GareauProfessor, Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs · Sociology—3 records———no page
—Deanna DanforthEnglish Provisional—2 records———no page
—Ellen GoldsteinMathematics Provisional—2 records——6026 ratings · all classes
—Julian BourgAssociate Professor · History Provisional—2 records——928 ratings · all classes
—Sean MacevoyDistinguished Senior Lecturer · Psychology and Neuroscience Provisional—2 records——3425 ratings · all classes
—Sunanda BhattacharyaUniversity and Capstone Provisional—2 records———no page
—Bonnie RudnerAssociate Professor of the Practice · English Provisional—1 record——8613 ratings · all classes
—Deborah HoganCounseling, Developmental, and Educational Psychology Provisional—1 record———no page
—Michael NaughtonPhysics Provisional—1 record———no page

All 32 instructors listed.

How this board is orderedPositions account for how many records stand behind each number, so one perfect review does not outrank a semester of them. Every score shown is the real average — only the ordering is adjusted. The comparison here is the class itself: a thin record is read against how this class was rated overall, not against the university.

Every instructor with an evaluation record for this class is on this board — it is not a top ten, and nothing is hidden behind a “show more”. Overall is the instructor's blended score for THIS class only, and its one contributing source is Boston College's evaluations for the sections in the row's record count — nothing on this board is an average across the other things they teach. Workload and Challenge are RANKS against every class we hold, not scores: BC's questions all sit near the top of the 1-5 scale, so a raw number would put almost every row in the high eighties and tell you nothing. Challenge is BC's “intellectually challenging” item, which students answer positively about courses that stretched them — it is not a measure of difficulty or grading. Neither column is ever marked better or worse. 13 of 32 rows are marked provisional: fewer than 3 records stand behind the number. That is thin evidence, not a bad instructor — the record count is in every row. The RateMyProfessors column is an instructor's overall figure across everything they teach; that site has no course dimension, so it is shown for information and kept out of the ranking. Neither workload nor challenge was reported in any record for this class, so both columns are dashes — that is missing data, not a zero.

The line

All 13 items · means across 107 records

Nothing reported

None of the evaluation questions were reported for these records.

Game log

107 sections · newest first
InstructorTermSecInstrCourseWork
Lynn DibenedettoFall 202501—80—
Geoffrey SanzenbacherFall 202502—87—
Adrienne NussbaumFall 202504—92—
Can ErbilFall 202505—93—
Deborah HoganFall 202506—89—
Joseph NugentFall 202508—80—
Deanna DanforthFall 202509—91—
Adrienne NussbaumFall 202510—83—
Jeremiah McgrannFall 202511—83—
Brian GareauFall 202512—98—
Sean MacevoyFall 202513—80—
Tracy ReganFall 202514—96—
Thomas Kaplan-MaxfieldFall 202515—84—
Patricia RigginFall 202516—90—
Jason CavallariFall 202518—93—
Dacia GentilellaFall 202519—88—
Gregory KalscheurFall 202520—89—
Elizabeth ShlalaFall 202522—93—
Sunanda BhattacharyaFall 202523—70—
Charles HoffmanFall 202525—75—
Joseph QuinnFall 202526—87—
Matthew RutledgeFall 202527—96—
Lynn DibenedettoFall 202401—93—
Robert StantonFall 202402—91—
Michael NaughtonFall 202403—69—

Showing the first 25.

How to read this boardInstructors are ranked on their record in this class only, never on their average across everything they teach. Scores are out of 100 — Boston College's 1–5 agreement scale, ×20, the way these numbers were printed for years. Workload is BC's own five-band figure, not a number of hours, and is shown as a rank. A dash means the question was not reported, and is never a zero.