3.0
Quality3.2
DifficultyN/A
Would Retake86
ReviewsN/A
Would Retake
86
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
86 total ratings5
23
4
12
3
21
2
20
1
10
What Students Say
“Funny, but sometimes needs to listen to his own advice on public speaking”
COMS101 - 5.0 rating“He's a good teacher though, funny and nice”
COMS110 - 4.0 ratingClass Info
Textbook Required
100%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A+
Grade Distribution
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.55 avg changeRatings by Course
101
5.0
(1)COMS
5.0
(3)COMSTHEORY
5.0
(1)COMS680COMS520
5.0
(1)COMS520
5.0
(2)Difficulty by Course
COMS0011
5.0
COM101
4.5
COMS201
4.0
COMS680COMS520
4.0
COMS465
4.0
Reviews (84)
awsome, very helpful.
Funny, but sometimes needs to listen to his own advice on public speaking.
Ok, it's hard to get an A in this class because you will have a big group project that you are graded on based on the group. I think I did very well in the class and still finished with a B. He's a good teacher though, funny and nice.
Fun teacher, nice guy, easy to pass his class if you put some effort into the work you do
Mullen is an okay teacher.. his tests are just ridiculousy hard, and the stuff he lectures on is quite dissimilar from what's actually on the test... he's a good professor, however his sub-teacher-wenches are very finnicky and weird.. but you can still do well in the class if you try.
ok mullen is boring and doesn't know how to teach. i made As on all my speeches and projects, but failed almost every test. he doesn't teach you whats on the tests. he needs to make his GA's do recaps on his lectures from mondays...otherwise we're not being taugh ANYTHING...
At the expense of irony, Dr. Mullen is a very dry, boring, and vague communicator. Not to mention the fact that he has extremely ditzy and poorly trained GA's handling most of his teaching workload, who did not prepare us for tests properly, causing most of the class to get Ds and Fs on most tests.
Dr. Mullens is a quality teacher. Avoid the sections of speech classes that are setup to have Dr. Mullens for one day and someone else for Monday and Friday.
Anyone who thinks his tests are highly difficult shouldn't be in college. If you study and have mild intellegence, you should easily get at least a B.
Mr. Mullen is sooooo nice. He's a great teacher as well. I highly recommend him.
he's okay... got an A by the skin of my teeth... Tests are not on the material that he lectures on but once you figure out how they work they are pretty easy (I got a 75 on the first test and a 100 on the final)
Was an okay class...but that group project stunk!!
Mullen was extremely boring and did his dull lectures did not prepare us for the rediculous tests. Save yourself and take someone else.
I've heard hes good for the upper level courses, but for 101 hes was awful. Irrelevant lectures, very hard tests. He did have good extra credit opportunities, but it barely made up for the harsh grading. Take someone else if you can.
The guy may know his stuff, but the irony of teaching us to how to keep an audience was just too much. I never got a 95, 97, and 98 respectively on my speeches, but got 70's and 60's on the tests. There's just something wrong about that. Tests have nothing from the material covered in the class.
He has very long and boring lectures along with power-point presentations...ZZZZZZZZZZZ.
Tests were almost impossible, didn’t get higher than a 70 on any of them. Studying the notes and book did not help what so ever for tests. Speeches were a breeze got close to a 100 on all of them. With the easy extra credit pulling a B is no problem if you can give a halfway decent speech, but you might want to try someone else.
at first the lectures were okay, but it just got so boring and i found him monotonous. but he is very nice and strives to be really clear to the students..
No Comments
This guy knows what he's talkin about, but he's SOOO boring, and makes corny jokes all the time.
Dr. Mullen makes it easy for you to understand his lectures. He uses real examples from the media to explain and he starts off every class with a joke. He prepares you very well for the tests and gives you plenty of time to study. His projects are fun, he gives you a lot of leeway in what you want to do.
he's pretty ok, but i learned everything in our smaller class, if you can, take rene peckham for your grad assistant, she's awesome and our class was great
good lord this guy is boring. don't put your self through the agony of his lectures... ITS NOT WORTH IT!!!
One word- boring. Stay away from this class if you can.
He tries really hard to be funny and he's a nice guy, but I think he is an idiot. The class is required so it doesn't really matter one way or the other.
i have to give this guy credit, he teaches a huge boring required class. he is a really wonderful guy and puts a lot of effort into his teaching. i really liked him.
Tests were really hard. But probably a better choice than anyone else for COMS 210
quite boring, only because his classes are non-stop lectures. I guess I'm biased because I had him for large lecture on mondays, but he still took a bite out of my attention span. Tests were decent. Everything's online... Both chapter quizzes and tests, so they're open book, the teacher just doesn't know. Lol. jk.
COMS 101 with Mullen is the way to go! He covers all the material that will be on the online tests during his lectures on Moday's and then as you split off with the Assistants to give speeches you get small classes which allow for great interaction with the COMS grad students. I reccomend this class.
Mullen is boring, and he basically reads the textbook to you. He likes to play a "funny" clip before each class. If you enjoy 50 minutes of monotone, then this is the class for you. Over all the class isn't too bad. JUST DON'T GET MS. OLSON AS YOUR SECTION TEACHER. That woman is the Devil.
the only time you really need the textbook for tests(that is if you like to cheat on tests) and actually th test are on to many chapters to use the book. you better read the chapter before quizzes and tests because he babbles about nothing for the whole class. well all i can say is the class as a whole isn't bad as long as you have a decent GA
He was a very personable professor. I felt like I could come to him with questions. He taught large lecture and even though his jokes are rather lame, he made the time fly. I recommend him for a large lecture prof.
His lectures are interesting and engaging, usually. Beware of the funnies, they will get you at some point in time. His tests are extremely difficult and are pretty much useless when it comes to grading your understanding of the material. Speeches given need to be well thought out and interesting.
Dr. Mullen is very boring. His jokes are lame, I hated his video clips at the beginning of class, his lectures don't help you at all, and he doesn't respond to e-mails. The class is very hard. The only thing that made it fun was my GA, Miss Meng Zhao. She's awesome.
Monotone and boring. His quizes are impossible because you can know the material perfectly and still fail them because the questions are worded so retarded. DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY BUYING THAT STUPID TRANSMITTER IT IS NOT REQUIRED
Great Professor. This is the class no one wants to take and he tries to make it interesting. He has a daily funny at the beginning of his classes which I enjoyed and puts a little dry humor into his lectures. He seems really helpful and understanding. Easy class, nice attendence policy!
If you can avoid him, do so and save yourself some aggravation. He is not a good public speaker, tells dumb jokes, and is monotone - this coming from "Dr Mullen" who should be able to not be monotone since he has a doctorate in Communications! The exams in this class are pretty tough and vaguely worded. Take it with another professor if you can.
had this guy for my public speaking class. Overall im still in shock at how flipping hard the tests are for his class. He makes the test questions tricky and they are just a pain. Other then that it was an ok class. If you do well on your speeches his hard tests wont matter but im telling you BEWARE OF THE TESTS
Avoid him at all cost. Not a hard class, but I have no idea how he has a doctorate and is teaching at an university. His jokes are horrible too.
Tests are too tricky to be a 101 course.
I liked Dr. Mullen. He's not very uptight; in the beginning of classes he would always show us a "funny clip" on the computer from youtube or something. He's good speaker and understands that attention spans only go for so long. Tests seem a TINY bit tricky, but I think if I studied they would be okay (advice to all :) ).
Had him for large lecture once a week-The class was pointless and boring! He just outlined the chapter for us-which our GA would talk about the next class day anyways..His quizzes and tests are hard! They're very tricky questions-you def have to keep up with the reading in the book if you want to get a good grade.
fun professor easy class makes the lechure enjoyable.
Terrible class to take, the class is very large and the tests are online. Textbook use on tests and quizzes is not allowed but its as though he knows you will cheat and deliberately makes the test extremely tricky and confusing. Lots of "whats the best answers" and which of the following is least likely etc.. avoid this class!!
Brilliant man, but for a communications professor, not a very good speaker. He's kind of monotone. Quizzes and tests are entirely on the reading and always online. I liked the smaller classes with the GSA's on Wed/Fri better than large lectures on Mon.
My class were good sometimes boring. Funny Clips are good. Dr.Mullen knows what he is talking about but, the class in general is sloppy scheduling. Plus my GA forgot to hand out important study guides before test, after promise by Dr. Mullen. I love to speak and Coms is good on that report wise. Bad Communication between GA's and Dr. Mullen.
Large lectures suck and feel like a complete waste of time. Your experience in this class depends on which GA you get. If you want an A, you'll have to work for every single point.
This was an easy class made to be hard. Quizes and tests were made to confuse. You could get the right answer but it wouldn't be the "best answer" so it would be wrong. My GA was great. You have to work at getting every point you can so do all the extra credit.
I HATED this class. His tests are multiple choice but the answer could be A or B or C. DO NOT TAKE him. He will put you to sleep and his TA's are not very good either especially Cao if you get her get out.
Do not take him. His quizzes are ambiguous and he is boring.
Terrible Class. Professor isn't bad but the tests are almost impossible. You can study for days and still get a D. Take someone else!
An absolute failure... Fails to realize that COMS is NOT our major. His tests are ambiguous and he asks questions with multiple correct answers and one "best" answer. Arrogant and he does not individually teach the class. GAs every bit of work for him except large lecture. F F F F F!!!
Dont take him. He is boring and you dont really learn anything of importance from his lectures. His tests are ridiculous. Grading on speechs are depending on the GA, if you get a bad one, no matter how good you speak you will not do well.
He's a great guy and tries to make class interesting. He always shows a funny video clip to his morning classes to get us going, and enjoys asking the students questions. The class is pretty easy, the GAs are friendly, but the test questions can be very ambiguous. As long as you take good notes and pay attention, you should be fine.
For a coms prof he was monotone. You will have Exams, quizzes, and speeches. The exams are very confusing. The quizzes are out of the text. Speeches aren't hard, but graded very harshly.
Class consists of four speeches, four exams, and a boatload of quizzes. The speeches and quizzes aren't bad. It's his demonic tests that are absurdly hard. Never in my time at LU have I taken tests as hard as his, simply for the fact that they are ambiguous and can seemingly have multiple right answers. Try to find another professor if possible.
DO NOT TAKE HIS COMS 101 CLASS! This class is ridiculously difficult for a 101 class. I am a straight A student taking courses such as Greek and Philosophy, but I've never taken a course with exams so purposefully difficult and confusing. Other 101 classes are normal. Avoid this class at all costs.
Dr. Mullen is a great communicator! I guess some people just don't know how to stay awake and focused during class. The speeches and quizzes were not hard and I had a pretty awesome (and HOT) GA. The tests are not as hard as people are making it to be. There are a few ambiguous questions, but I've never made less than an A. Great class overall :)
He is the most boring professor, you will fall asleep in his class. The test are like math word problems they make no sense what so ever...I have pity on those who have him
Dr. Mullen is the most boring Communications teacher you will ever come into contact with. He is so prideful and self-absorbed in his thinking that he is the greatest gift to the communications program. His GAs are almost as prideful and self-absorbed as he is. Overall this class will both upset you greatly but bore you at the same time.
I usually make A's in classes...and did in this one because of extra credit. do every bit of it! this class is hard. You MUST show up or you automatically fail after 6 absences. speeches are not bad. The tests are killer. I would not recommend this prof. He's nice and has some dry humor, but it's not worth taking a class with him. My GA incredible
He didn't have a great teaching style.Extremely boring. You have to work really hard to get an A too because the tests are all trick questions. Try to take someone else for COMs 101. You will probably do better.
just like as a race car driver can't suck at driving a comms prof can't suck at communicating. I learned nothing of value. If you want an easy way out of comms it's not a bad option, it really depends on your GA but if you want to leanr ot communicate take another class.
This teacher is very boring. He teaches STRAIGHT from the book but the tests are not over what he teaches on. The tests are mostly random little things in the book. The class is doable but very exhausting. Plus 3 speeches on top of once a week test/quizzes.
Pretty much this class is super boring. The quizzes and tests are ridiculous and it certainly doesn't help to have a crappy GA considering you only have the prof. on a Monday in a class of like 300. Would not recommend at all.
The only good thing about this class was my GA but sadly I can't rate him. Dr. Mullen finds the dumbest things funny and subjects you to watch stupid clips. The tests are insane! Studying for them will not help you.
He likes to talk...a lot. Most of it doesn't make sense. He really likes bad jokes and terrible videos that he finds funny. They most often don't have relevance to class. If you get a good GA, you're in luck. He has a few cool ones.
When I had him, he would teach on Mondays and then a GA would teach Wednesdays and Fridays. He seems like a pretty nice guy, but his lectures are boring and not very helpful. The tests are very hard! You need to know the textbook very well and be able to apply concepts to get a good grade on those tests!
The lectures are very boring. The tests are insanely hard. You really have to know the textbook.
Tests are very hard! His lectures are very boring! Avoid him if you can
I don't exactly understand why a 101 class has to be that hard. Large group professor is stuck up on himself and not that great of a communicator. Speeches aren't hard but low grades are given for silly stuff.
ridiculously hard online tests
Take him for Honors COMS 101...he grades fairly hard (especially on the first speech) and the online tests are pretty much impossible to get a decent grade on, but he provides extra credit opportunities, and is generally a good professor--at least in a small class setting.
If you want to take an actual Coms class, and not just 101, I highly recommend Dr. Mullen. He is a good lecturer (at least in smaller classes) and he is very flexible on the final project. He let us make a video, then gave us a totally unexpected A on it! He grades surprisingly easy and loves his students. Take him if you are a Coms major.
You only see him on Mondays. I didn't really get much out of him to be honest, but he does his job and can't complain a lot about him. Good guy, and you have to take Communications sometime as a student so you might as well take it with any teacher.
Extremely hard tests! If you can opt of takign his class, go ahead, but I doubt you can since he is one of the only professors for Coms 101
I find it extremely ironic that Dr. Mullen is a communications teacher yet he did not communicate well to his class. I had a breakout session twice a week and only saw him once, and honestly I learned nothing in his classes. His tests are pretty hard, but you can still get a good grade in the class if you do well in your presentations.
Incredibly helpful and attentive to the needs of the students. Always responds to emails and messages and in a timely manner. Very knowledgeable of the material being covered and always prepared for class. Very encouraging professor. I enjoyed my time in his classes immensely. Sad that I will not be able to take more classes with him.
Dr. Bill mullen is a wonderful professor. He genuinely cares about his students and always gives kind, constructive feedback to help us further our academic understanding. I would highly recommend him to any student
Bill Mullen is one of the best professors I have ever had. He is kind, he cares about my life and my education, and he is Godly (which trickles down to me). I am blessed to know him.
Dr. Bill Mullen is responsible, competent, organized, patient, and kind. He is very thorough in answering our questions and is very punctuate for his class. His kind character allows us to ask him questions in and out of class. His testimony in his career and life and a great example for all of his students. It is my blessing to be his student!
Out of all my classes at LU I have probably learned the most in Dr. Mullen's class. His class was hard but not impossible and he really takes his job seriously. He is great at fostering in his students a desire to grow and learn and I could tell that he deeply cared for us. He is definitely one of my all time favorite professors!
Dr Mullen is an excellent professor who has genuine care for his students. He teaches well and professionally. His lectures are interesting and interactive with the students. Dr Mullen is a respectable man with integrity. The workload is not difficult in class but it does challenge us to work hard and to learn through it.
Dr. Mullen is an excellent professor. I would not have been able to start my thesis proposal without taking his class. He is always there for his students not only as a teacher, but as a mentor as well.
Class Info
Textbook Required
100%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A+
Grade Distribution
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.55 avg changeRatings by Course
101
5.0
(1)COMS
5.0
(3)COMSTHEORY
5.0
(1)COMS680COMS520
5.0
(1)COMS520
5.0
(2)Difficulty by Course
COMS0011
5.0
COM101
4.5
COMS201
4.0
COMS680COMS520
4.0
COMS465
4.0