Class record · UNCS · MCAS

UNCS 2245

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

How the curve score is built

79Teaching89 raw · 57th percentile of BC classes

±0Easiness adjustmentworkload not reported — takes nothing off the score

79Curve scorethe teaching curve — nothing added or taken off

Boston College's ratings are bunched at the top — the median instructor averages about 88 out of 100 on the raw scale, and 44% of them clear 90 — so a raw score cannot separate anybody. Every figure here is ranked against BC classes and that rank is re-expressed out of 100, which is what turns a raw 88 — the middle of the university — into a figure that says where somebody actually stands. On this scale 77 is the median, 84 the top quarter and 91 the top tenth. Workload is then an adjustment on top of that, worth nothing at all for an ordinary one. Boston College's workload question was not reported in these records, so easiness could not be worked out. That is missing data, not a heavy class — and it takes nothing off the score.

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

The class itself, averaged across everyone who taught it — who taught it is the board below.

How is this worked out?

That is what a student picking a section is actually choosing between: the board carries each instructor's own score for this class, and the score above is the class averaged across all of them.

What the challenge rank is made of

—BC — “Intellectually Challenging”107 records — does not contribute

Not reported in these records — which is missing data, not an easy class.

How is this worked out?

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

Not reported in these records — which is missing data, not a light class.

How is this worked out?

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

Find an instructor among the 32Filters 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.

Rank	Instructor	Curve	Easiness	Challenge	RMP overall
1	Joseph NugentProfessor of the Practice · English	99100 raw · 4 records	—	—	864 ratings · all classes
2	Devin PendasProfessor, Professor of Law (by courtesy) · History	9197 raw · 4 records	—	—	7813 ratings · all classes
3	Can ErbilProfessor of the Practice · Economics	8895 raw · 5 records	—	—	9257 ratings · all classes
4	Thomas Kaplan-MaxfieldAssociate Professor of the Practice · English	8895 raw · 5 records	—	—	—no page
5	Adrienne NussbaumUniversity and Capstone	8593 raw · 8 records	—	—	—no page
6	Robert StantonAssociate Professor; Director, M.A. Program · English fewer records	8895 raw · 4 records	—	—	1004 ratings · all classes
7	Geoffrey SanzenbacherProfessor of the Practice · Economics	8694 raw · 5 records	—	—	9821 ratings · all classes
8	Elizabeth KensingerProfessor · Psychology and Neuroscience fewer records	9096 raw · 3 records	—	—	—no page
9	Penelope IsmayAssociate Professor, Director of Undergraduate Studies, Director of Undergraduate Engagement · History Provisional fewer records	99100 raw · 2 records	—	—	1001 rating · all classes
10	Tracy ReganUniversity and Capstone	8593 raw · 4 records	—	—	5061 ratings · all classes
11	Matthew RutledgeProfessor of the Practice · Economics	7990 raw · 4 records	—	—	9026 ratings · all classes
12	James SmithProfessor of English & Irish Studies · English Provisional	7990 raw · 2 records	—	—	—no page
13	Joseph QuinnEconomics Provisional	7990 raw · 2 records	—	—	1002 ratings · all classes
14	Jason CavallariHistory	7889 raw · 5 records	—	—	—no page
15	Karen MillerHistory Provisional fewer records	7990 raw · 1 record	—	—	801 rating · all classes
16	John BurnsUniversity and Capstone Provisional	7889 raw · 1 record	—	—	—no page
17	Charles HoffmanProfessor & Department Chair · Biology	7486 raw · 4 records	—	—	—no page
18	Jeremiah McGrannProfessor of the Practice · Music	6980 raw · 5 records	—	—	1007 ratings · all classes
19	Elizabeth ShlalaAdvancing Studies	6474 raw · 5 records	—	—	1004 ratings · all classes
20	Gregory KalscheurUniversity and Capstone	5760 raw · 5 records	—	—	—no page
21	Patricia RigginAssociate Professor of the Practice of Theatre · Theatre	5760 raw · 5 records	—	—	—no page
—	Dacia GentilellaUniversity and Capstone	—— raw · 4 records	—	—	829 ratings · all classes
—	Lynn DibenedettoAssociate Professor of the Practice · Biology	—— raw · 4 records	—	—	6410 ratings · all classes
—	Brian GareauProfessor, Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs · Sociology	—— raw · 3 records	—	—	—no page
—	Deanna DanforthEnglish Provisional	—— raw · 2 records	—	—	—no page
—	Ellen GoldsteinMathematics Provisional	—— raw · 2 records	—	—	6026 ratings · all classes
—	Julian BourgAssociate Professor · History Provisional	—— raw · 2 records	—	—	928 ratings · all classes
—	Sean MacEvoyDistinguished Senior Lecturer · Psychology and Neuroscience Provisional	—— raw · 2 records	—	—	3425 ratings · all classes
—	Sunanda BhattacharyaUniversity and Capstone Provisional	—— raw · 2 records	—	—	—no page
—	Bonnie RudnerAssociate Professor of the Practice · English Provisional	—— raw · 1 record	—	—	8613 ratings · all classes
—	Deborah HoganCounseling, Developmental, and Educational Psychology Provisional	—— raw · 1 record	—	—	—no page
—	Michael NaughtonPhysics Provisional	—— raw · 1 record	—	—	—no page

All 32 instructors listed.

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, not a figure about this class. Neither workload nor challenge was reported in any record for this class, so both columns are dashes — that is missing data, not a zero.

How this board is built and ordered

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. 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”. Curve is the instructor's score for THIS class only, ranked against every instructor we hold and printed back out of 100, with the raw BC average underneath it; nothing on this board is an average across the other things they teach. Easiness is an adjustment on top of it, worth up to about ±6 — BC's workload item, ranked and turned over, so a lighter section gains and a heavier one loses, while an ordinary one changes nothing — and each row prints the adjustment, signed. The board is ordered on the same figure it prints, adjusted for how many records back it. Challenge is BC's “intellectually challenging” item shown as a rank against every class we hold; students answer it positively about courses that stretched them, so it is not a measure of difficulty or grading, and it is never marked better or worse.

That site has no course dimension, so its figure is shown for information and kept out of the ranking.

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

Instructor	Term	Sec	Instr	Course	Work
Lynn Dibenedetto	Fall 2025	01	—	80	—
Geoffrey Sanzenbacher	Fall 2025	02	—	87	—
Adrienne Nussbaum	Fall 2025	04	—	92	—
Can Erbil	Fall 2025	05	—	93	—
Deborah Hogan	Fall 2025	06	—	89	—
Joseph Nugent	Fall 2025	08	—	80	—
Deanna Danforth	Fall 2025	09	—	91	—
Adrienne Nussbaum	Fall 2025	10	—	83	—
Jeremiah McGrann	Fall 2025	11	—	83	—
Brian Gareau	Fall 2025	12	—	98	—
Sean MacEvoy	Fall 2025	13	—	80	—
Tracy Regan	Fall 2025	14	—	96	—
Thomas Kaplan-Maxfield	Fall 2025	15	—	84	—
Patricia Riggin	Fall 2025	16	—	90	—
Jason Cavallari	Fall 2025	18	—	93	—
Dacia Gentilella	Fall 2025	19	—	88	—
Gregory Kalscheur	Fall 2025	20	—	89	—
Elizabeth Shlala	Fall 2025	22	—	93	—
Sunanda Bhattacharya	Fall 2025	23	—	70	—
Charles Hoffman	Fall 2025	25	—	75	—
Joseph Quinn	Fall 2025	26	—	87	—
Matthew Rutledge	Fall 2025	27	—	96	—
Lynn Dibenedetto	Fall 2024	01	—	93	—
Robert Stanton	Fall 2024	02	—	91	—
Michael Naughton	Fall 2024	03	—	69	—

Showing the first 25.

How to read this board

Instructors 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.