Allen is the man, IS323 is pretty boring, so his antics definitely help keep you awake. Let's students know whats really going on with grading, and the plans, etc

Allen is funny and a nice guy, but you don't completely learn half the time.

If you are an IS (info systems) student, or are interested in the subject, this professor is the best in the school. He is energetic, interesting, extremely knowledgable, and has years of real-world business experience. My favorite professor at BU

This guy is hilarious. Funniest prof on campus while also bringing in good real-world knowledge. True, he's not helpful at office hours and IS is a waste of time, but he does his best. Watch out for JoJo and Ham Hock, you'll see.

great professor. willing to help and adds humor to the classroom. this course is bogus, but thats not his fault. his advanced IS courses are aweseme and hes really knowledgable about the stuff he teaches.

Whoa, Professor Allen is incredible. He really makes the subject of Information Systems come alive and brings students to the area. I felt very fortunate to have him this semester as many of the other IS classes were terrible from what my friends told me. Thanks Prof Allen for a wonderful semester

Professor Allen is first of all an excellent professor. He knows the subject matter very well but most of all his examples are very understandable . He is incredibly humorous and keeps students very involved in his classroom approach. I'd say he is one of the best at Boston University in Business

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Professor Allen is the ONLY person who could make IS interesting. The course is BS and he knows that, but he makes it really fun. He gives you his home and cell # so if you're ever really stuck, he is 100% accessible. He's on your side ALL the time and he's really funny. WATCH THE EXAMS, THEY ARE TRICKY

Hes a very dedicated professor and as long as you keep up with the assignments youll be ok. Only the database creation is a bit tricky. He gives you all the things you need to know to do the work but make sure you cover all your bases. Helpful in office hours also. J Allen the man.

Professor Allen is a super professor. He knows the information systems area incredibly well but more than anything his examples are colorful, clear, enlightening, understandable and many times very humorous. I don't think sometimes students even recognize how fun he makes the learning experience. He easily ranks in the top 5% of professors in SMG

He jokily calls himself the Sherpa like the nomads who lead climbers up K2 and Everest. He is all that and more. Professor Allen is intelligent, funny and he makes 1 hour and 40 minutes fly by. Why can't all faculty understand how to make this work from both a learning perspective, life perspective, and just teaching perspective. Thanks so much!

Professor Allen was incredible in the class. Nopushover, he demands you be able to defend and justify your ideas and your rational for decisions and he is not easy when pressing you. This approach prepares you for the final presentation when students present to a different set of faculty. Other IS323 faculty are creampuffs, you want the "Sherpa

IS 479 is a GREAT class. As close as it comes to a real job situation. The learning which takes place in the class in incredible and projects are rigorous. Professor Allen delivers the goods and his approach in the class is perfect. No exams, but don't think this makes it easy. I'd rank it easily as one of the top three classes in SMG.

Prof. Allen really makes a very boring subject intresting and shows great compassion for his students and teh subject.. his real life speech in hte middle of the semester made a few students cry as it was real touching.. amazin guy

A great professor! He will not tell you the answers but challenges you to find the answers for yourself. His teaching strategy is effective. Cares very much for his students success and class is by far one of the most entertaining classes I have ever had!

The ability to make some pretty dry subject really interesting and fun is his major talent and he does it so very well. Funny, energetic, challenging, motivating and really inspirational. Professor Allen is unique and special in his teaching. Be prepared to have your ideas challenged and be able to justify your rationale for decision making

great professor. Gets you thinking. Talks too much, however. If you want to get into a long conversation with him, he's the man. The "sherpa"

Allen is incredible. True, IS is an odd fit but that's not his fault it's just the nature of the project. His care and concern for students is unbelievable and I love the humor and passion he brings to the class. Allen is simply a superior professor and easily in the top 5% of SMG profs. A bit disorganized, but I feel thats part of his genious.

I had Prof Allen for both IS 323 and IS 479. No doubt about it, he is GREAT and unconventional in his approach to teaching. He makes you learn by doing and be a problem solver. Don't expect him to tell you how to do the assignments but he is super helpful when you ask questions. Thanks Jeff for two great semesters. He's very handsome also.

Great teacher! Jeff is energetic,funny and knows the material well. Gives great examples. MS Access material was excellent and helped me secure summer internship. He taught 3 classes and I was in last one and he was like a fireball. Can't go wrong with "JO JO". Even gave his cell phone # to students to call him for help. Life lessons an added plus.

Professor Allen is excellent. Granted you are going to have more work than the other IS classes but it's well worth it. The Access skill sets were second to none and friends in other classes learned nothing from what they told me. Love the fact that we went more in depth than most. Good humor and really cares for students. Good Work "Jo JO"!!

IS 323 is a bad fit in Core; Allen is clearly the best teaching the class. Challenges you to learn by going to the highest level in teaching Access while other sections don't do much with the valuable tool. Yes, he can destroy your team during a workshop but they aren't graded and the feedback is invaluable. Highly recommend him over others.

Allen is great, Will beat your team up during workshops though, but feedback is really good and detailed. Fair grader and allows you to redo the Access homework if you really screw it up. Cares that you learn something in particular the hands-on skills such as MS Access. Concerned, honest and always available and even gives you his cell number.

He is Excellent! Core is a lot of work and Allen gives you guidance about the workshops and business plans. You know exactly what to address in S portion of the plan. Funny, entertaining, easy going and a tremendous lecturer. Learning Access database helped me get an internship just like he said it would. I learned a huge amount.

Allen is one of those professors that you will either love or hate. Personally loved his class because I enjoyed the Access assignments and found him hilarious. The exams were easy as long as you know access and study the textbook & cases. Also, he is really friendly outside of class! Take his class if you can!

Professor Allen is a tough grader but he is really funny and entertaining. He has office hours twice a day four days a week and always makes himself available to students! He is the only IS 223 professor who knows what he is doing, and he actually reached you how to use access!

JOJO is the best SMG professor out there, a great teacher and wonderful discussion leader, cant stop laughing in his class. He teaches you more than a class could ever, life lessons and more.

Professor Allen (aka Jo Jo) is easily one of the best in SMG. Class is challenging , fun, educational, entertaining. He cares and you learn some useful hands-on skills like database management. MS Access was the best. Did macro programming which I found very useful. Knows the material well, always helpful. He is no-nonsense and honest.

Even though you have no idea what he is doing during class, you got a high curve. So don't worry!

Allen is excellent. Course in all sections is a hard, Allen's knowledge of the material is superior. Went in depth with database, ERD's, etc which was great. Energetic & fun, and he cold calls which I enjoyed so don't be distracted. What I learned was incredible and has already paid off in multiple internship offers. Thanks Dr. "JO JO"!!

Professor Allen is one of the best professors I've had. He's funny and animated -- there's never a boring moment in his class. Beware: The exams are no joke, and the content isn't always simple (but that's the point of college). Allen made me want to be an IS concentrator. Definitely harder than other IS professors, but I have a huge skillset now.

Most useful class of concepts and how to use them in real world. From process modeling, entity relationship diagrams, SDLC to learning high level database skills the best class I've had so far in Questrom. Allen is caring, inspirational and makes you work hard. Big curve at the end which is good. You can Trust what he says Final Grades.

Jeff (or Pook/Jojo) is an enrapturing professor. He makes his lectures of heavy content understandable and applicable to students. He teaches more on MS Access than any other IS prof, which has pros and cons. His tests are VERY book-heavy, and very curved. As long as you're around the mean & do work, let Jeff do the rest and you'll at least get a B

Professor Allen is extremely charismatic and funny - reminds me of Steve Harvey as a professor. The test averages in his class are in 60-70 range but there is a HUGE CURVE OF 10+ POINTS in the final grade. Professor Allen goes much more in-depth for Microsoft Access than other professors which is great for jobs. He is also really funny and loud.

Professor Allen is the most entertaining professor I've ever had. The course material was extremely difficult for me - there's just a lot of information - but the way he taught it (with stories and examples and case studies) was very helpful and kept me from getting burned out. He does take attendance every day, so you do need to go to class.

Allen is absolutely the best. Most amazing Professor I've had in Questrom. Honest, challenging and cares for students. He is excellent. If you wait around to begin homework assignments then send emails seeking help, not a good approach. Solving MS Access issues via email isn't possible. Use his office hours, his TA's are also great.

Be prepared for class as there is a huge amount of cold-calling. Be thoughtful in your answers as he is not one to allow you to sit in Zoom and daydream. Do so and you will regret it. Incredible examples in class to help you grasp the material. MS Access tutorials are great. Those who rate him low want to coast and chill. Super Professor.

Professor Allen is easily one of my favorite professors ever. He is very lively and makes zoom fun. This definitely is not a class you can take lightly, so if you do not want to work take the other profs. Utilize his TAs' office hours for hw and you will be set. Put in the work and let Jojo do the rest as he says. I learned so much in this class!

Professor Allen is amazing. You def wont regret taking his class as he not only gives you great advice, job opportunities, and career applications, you also get one hell of a curve. Class is hard with exam averages around 40s. But with the cliff, that 40 becomes a B and anything above that is an B+ and A

One of the best Questrom professors I've had. Homework is doable. The exam is no joke. Be prepared to read a lot. The exam is heavy reading-based.

He is the best professor I've had so far from Questrom. He makes every class entertaining and worth attending. He will call everyone out and ask them questions every lecture, which ensures your understanding and participation. The only bad thing is that few people get an A because the tests ask very specific questions. He gives big curves!

Couldn't have asked for a better professor, he is amazing. There isn't a single moment in class where you are bored thanks to the amazing energy he brings to the room. He convinced me to switch my major thanks to him going out of his way to show how amazing of a field IS is.

Professor Allen is an incredibly engaging professor, who truly cares about students and their mental well-being. Definitely, take him if you have the chance. I would recommend taking his class as a sophomore as a lot of time is spent talking about the IS concentration, which if you are post-core and have already declared then it is a waste of time.

Professor Allen is hilarious and a super nice professor. That being said, he doesnt teach most of the stuff that goes on the exams which is really confusing to me and tests super specific details from the textbook that you would never know unless you have photographic memory. While he does curve, getting an A is really hard.

Allen is a great guy, but the exams for this class are too hard. Doesn't matter because there is a curve so stay within the average. Class itself is easy, material is hard.

One of the best. Yeah, the exams are impossible but if you get a 45-50 on midterm/final and A's on all the homeworks you're set. He's so funny, so engaging, and so kind and in spite of our exam scores, you really do learn so much APPLICABLE knowledge. He gets you familiar with so much stuff that's useful for resumes, interviews, and future jobs.

Professor Allen is an out of this world talented. Uses application, theory and skill building. As he says "Skills to Pay the MOFO Bills". The real life examples bring the material to life and help you understand well. His analogies allow non IS savvy to fully understand. Pookie Jay is Questrom's best. Knowledge, Humor, Talent, skills.

BEST faculty member in Questrom. Great energy, knowledge, examples to help make the class material easy to understand. His analogies and stories make the material relevant attached to the work world. Those JOBS JOBS JOBS emails helped me secure an internship. Easy going, focused, smart, inspiring, Professor Allen is a Gift to all.

Allen is magnificent.Person below is just upset because they don't like to be challenged in class.Allen says upfront the exams are challenging.Exams require you to fully understand the material not memorize.If you want to learn IS, Professor Allen is the person to take.I have an internship due to the skills I learned in class. He's the Best.

Prof Allen is a dope guy who brings awesome energy to class. He makes something that can be boring very interesting, and interests all of his students into Information Systems. His exams are tough, but he also curves a lot and offers tons of extra credit. I would take him again in a heartbeat.

Tough exams but amazing lectures

This professor is known for being funny, and he is. The lectures are really content-heavy, but he makes it go way smoother. However, he does not give a lot of material that is important to the exam, so prepare for them. He provides several office hours to help with homework.

Materials are very practical to the field, but the exams are not. I have never seen some of the vocabs on the finals. They are neither in the lecture nor on the textbook. Allen is an amazing lecturer, but if the exams are more related to the lectures, this class would have been perfect.

Allen was a Star. Great lectures and examples. Exams require you to fully understand material and not rely on memorizing facts. Information Systems is very applied so each question is a small scenario so you have to know what your doing. People complaining are lazy and want to be spoon feed answers and have someone teach to the exams. Videos help

This was one of my best classes at BU. The content itself wasn't too crazy but I agree with others that exams were tricky. However, he consistently keeps lectures engaging fun. He includes funny stories that keep you in tune. This is one of the classes where I did not have to read much after classes to understand what was going on. Would recommend!

He is absolutely a nice person and always tells the truth. He is always hardworking and willing to help students. But his exams are very controversial. I guess he was trying to simulate the real-world work place situation.

Hes funny sometimes can offend or embarrass you in class but still a great guy. His lectures a bit useless since the exams are mostly from textbook. Otherwise, I simply dont know how to succeed in this class except praying to the god for a generous curve. Another good thing is that he gave 6-7 extra credits for both mid + final

One of the best professors I've had and makes the class actually fun. Super funny guy but does cold call. The course is VERY heavy material wise and exams are 99% from the textbook. He and the TAs are super helpful outside of class and want people to understand the material. Averages for the exams are 50s but gets curved massively at the end.

Allen is Exemplary. The knowledge imparted and his ability to take a difficult subject and break it down into understandable chunks is amazing. Energetic, smart, inspirational, funny, engaging; it was an memorable semester. No doubt one of Questroms best. Challenging yet fair, be prepared in class as he will be calling on you. He is remarkable.

Material is challenging but Allen is great with analogies, examples and stories to clarify. Every class is a case of real world application around the subject matter. Book isn't fun but his knowledge, experience and teaching IQ make it an incredible experience. Questrom has a diamond in J. Pookie. He is awesome, honest, transparent and caring.

Most engaging lecturer in Questrom. He makes class interesting with stories, but you do need to read the textbook in order to do good on the exams. The homework is relatively straightforward and his office hours always help if you are unsure. You can tell that he genuinely cares about his students, and provides a ton of extra credit.

Allen is incredible, Questrom superstar!! This semester his father died and he never missed a beat and was as engaging and focused on Zoom as he is in person. Literally blown away by his dynamic teaching under such challenging circumstances. Wonderful learning experience and great help in office hours. "J-Pookie", much respect and thanks.

it's known that is223 midterms are difficult, so utilize the textbook as much as you can. prof allen can come off as 'harsh' but that's only if you're used to professors and people who are never honest with you. he genuinely cares and wants to see you succeed.

The absolute man. Every class is a breath of fresh air. High energy and motivating. BUT, you MUST read the textbook and spend time making a VERY detailed cheat sheet to do well on exams. Lectures and slides don't go in depth enough. That's the tradeoff for such a great professor and great man. Make a really good cheat sheet for the test. Trust me.

Do extra credit & focus in class. Does a lot of cold calling on students so you don't need to be daydreaming. Allen is superb,knowledgeable,helpful & the stories & analogies give life to a boring subject. No phones,no laptops so be prepared to take notes the old fashioned way. No doubt a Questrom superstar. Energy,humor & wisdom are excellent.

J Pookie is the best teacher you will ever come across, makes lectures super entertaining and easy to understand. The class material is hard though, so you will need to put in the effort if you want to succeed, gives good curves at the end of the semester.

Better understand the material. Test are not memorization. Questions are applied. If you seek easy then IS223 across all sections are similar test wise. Allen is the best, great examples, knows the material, relevant stories, extra credit. I appreciated the challenge of the course. Invaluable in what you learn and the applied skills acquired.

Get ready to be called on and put your phone away. Allen is engaging, intense, humorous and brilliantly talented. Analogies are genius and while exams are tough they are fair. Extra credit is essential in learning and gives great skills. Curve is generous and he is super helpful. He keeps it real and has high expectations so get ready to work.

His dad died this semester,he didn't miss a class,assignment,office hours,email response or anything. Who does that? Allen is the best and fully appreciate the knowledge, energy, humor and honesty. Yes,test are hard but the learning is in depth and extra credit is beneficial. Best college experience to date. Professor Allen is a superstar.

Professor Allen was an amazing professor. Really knows this stuff and teaches the class in a way that is very easy to understand and engaging. Be prepared however, this course and the homework/tests will be very challenging so don't be afraid to ask him for help in office hours, he will be happy to answer any questions and guide you.

Professor Jeff Allen is quite frankly awesome! 7 day a wk office hr coverage with TAs. Start early on assignments as they are challenging but lots of help available. Super engaging class lectures, energetic, great examples and stories help make material even more understandable. Challenging exams which are fair and lots of extra credit learning.

Professor Allen is the BEST. Yes exams are challenging but it's Questrom so it's expected and those complaining about difficult exams are in the wrong place. Learning is spot-on from database to cloud computing,AI,SQL,diagramming & process modeling. Course helped me secure an internship at PwC and his knowledge, stories and lectures are excellent.

Allen is a gem and IS223 is an annoying class regardless, exams are all so low you just have to stay above average. You won't learn much during the actual class but you will laugh and his analogies are great. Put in the work to do well on the HW and stay above average on exams and you'll be fine - Allen is a great human

Professor Allen is so funny. He keeps you engaged throughout the entire lecture. Just make sure to keep up with the class, or you'll fall behind. Truly one of the best, if not the best.

Inspirational,motivating,energetic,witty,sharp. Allen is a Questrom legend both in & out of the classroom. His Jobs emails,expert knowledge of the curriculum and concentrations,advice around internships & job search in addition to superb teaching makes him well worth the challenging exams which are expected. Don't miss JPookie, he is the Best.

Curve is no joke,very generous and needed. Class is excellent learning and acquiring skils to prepare you for internships and career jobs. Allen is unique, talented, great story teller to make information relevant and understandable. His use of analogies is top-notch. He is available and loads of TA help. Every class was energetic and motivating.

Acquired huge knowledge and skill set. Exams tough but lots of extra credit which adds to the learning. Someone with limited IS knowledge the class was the perfect blend of difficult high level and introductory. Allen is honest, caring, motivating brilliant professor whose knowledge and depth is splendid and conveyed in an understandable way.

Great and hilarious professor! While the workload is definitely steep, I think I learned the most from this class out of all my Questrom courses. Exams are difficult but definitely doable, so make sure to read the glossary and textbook. Only complaint is that I wish the grading was a bit more transparent, but otherwise highly recommend!

Allen is the best. Smart, energetic lectures, great examples and stories to help you understand the material. Exams challenging but very transparent grading even giving you detailed grade distribution beyond just averages. Extra credit available which is added to midterm and final exam grades. Most I ever learned in any Questrom course taken.

Pace of learning and assignments is perfect. ungraded hw's help with learning and understanding without pressure of grade and Allen covers them in detail in class and/or video explanations. Intelligent, funny, inspirational, motivational, easy on the eyes he keeps you working hard and on pace. Should have taken IS 223 much earlier.