1. Humor
When you have a class at 8:00am on a Monday morning, not much is going to make you smile. The majority of the class looks like zombies; they're walking to class clutching a coffee or Gatorade and trying to shake off last night. Having a professor with a sense of humor is great because they bring life to the classroom. Being able to take a moment and chat with the class before lecture and getting them to laugh about something even if it’s at their own expense will do wonders for participation.
2. Personable
There’s nothing worse than having a professor with a monotone voice and even more bland personality. Out of the twenty-five or so professors that I have had at Towson, the ones that I liked the most were all approachable. If I get a vibe from a professor that they would laugh in my face for a dumb question or concern, chances are I am not going to ever talk to them. It is important for professors to be approachable and show their own personality through their lectures and discussions with the class.
3. Easy going
When you attend the first day of class and find that you have an uptight professor, more often than not your interest in the class decreases. Strict professors that establish rules such as not being allowed to leave the room to use the restroom are some of the worst. Yes, it is distracting, but if nature calls you should really just let the student handle their business. Creating a classroom environment that feels more like a detention center isn’t going to benefit anyone.
4. Passion
Expecting a professor to be knowledgeable in the class they are teaching seems pretty obvious, but it goes beyond just their basic knowledge. When a professor lectures and you can tell they have a true passion and interest in the subject it makes paying attention and wanting to learn so much easier.
5. Punctual
I think most of us can agree that after a quiz, test, paper, etc. is turned in or completed, we ideally would like the grade to be posted within a week. In most syllabi it is stated that students are expected to be on time to class each week, and some professors even issues penalties if you are five minutes late. So when the professor is late to class, students get a dose of an annoying double standard.
6. Tech savvy
This is more of a pet peeve of mine. Professors that still write on chalkboards or refuse to use Blackboard stress me out. In my three years at Towson I have found that most professors have handwriting that is nearly impossible to read. Blackboard: the lovely online system where students can find additional readings for class, important papers, and most importantly, our grades. When a professor doesn’t use Blackboard, it leaves students in the dark about where they stand in the class. That is unless they are meticulous and keep track of every grade returned and calculate the weighted average.
7. Encouraging
It seems kind of dumb to hope for this quality in a professor, since their main job is to create a learning environment for us. Unfortunately, there are professors out there who take a less than polite approach at constructive criticism. In the past I have had a professor that discouraged students from pursuing a career because, “they wouldn’t be able to handle it.” Another professor chose to put giant x’s through a classmate's paper, saying it was "awful." College is a time for learning and we should have instructors who want to help us reach that goal.
8. Organized
There is an unspoken agreement between student and professor that we both will remain on top of our responsibilities during the semester. Students turn in assignments on time and in the right format. The same should be expected from the professor in the returning of assignments. In my junior year, I had a professor lose my 15-page paper only because he wasn’t the most organized guy. It took two weeks for him to find it and then additional time to grade which left me unaware of my grade in the class going into finals.
9. Understanding
Having a professor that understands that we, as students, have four other classes to give time to, not to mention those of us who have jobs and are involved on campus. As is, finding a time other than on the way to class to eat a decent meal or call home is hard enough. Sometimes we are going to have heavy eyes in our 3:30pm class, and we are sorry, but due to either work load or poor planning, we are tired and when the body wants to sleep, who are we to ignore it?
