2.5
Quality4.2
Difficulty25%
Would Retake97
Reviews25%
Would Retake
97
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
21
4
13
3
9
2
10
1
44
What Students Say
“Neil is a nice and approachable but he is honestly the worst teacher ever”
ENG151 - 1.0 rating“Do not reccomend him if English is not your forte”
ENG161 - 2.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
98%
Textbook Required
33%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-1.26 avg changeRatings by Course
ENG92
5.0
(1)ENG092
5.0
(1)ENGLISH151
4.0
(2)ENG161
3.4
(11)ENG286
3.0
(3)Difficulty by Course
COS126
5.0
ENG163
5.0
151
4.5
ENG286
4.3
ENG151
4.2
Reviews (97)
Professor Stubbs was clear, direct, and enjoyable to learn from. The in-class essays were challenging in the sense that deeper examinations of the given topics were necessary to do well. Professor Stubbs knows his stuff; don't let his kind personality lead you to believe otherwise. Work hard, pay attention, and you should do well.
Great instructor.
Neil is pretty old school and strict, but you can tell he is passionate about what he is teaching. Class discussions can be interesting and his powerpoints are clear and easy to understand. His tests and essay topics are death. Even though i liked him as a person, I wouldn't take a class with him again because the tests and essays were really hard
A very nice person and passionate about his subject, but hard marker to say the least. Tests are quite difficult and assigned topics for term papers are near impossible. All were subjects that he was interested in but very specific and hard to find good resources on.
Neil stubbs is definitely passionate about what he teachers and i enjoyed his class. However, he is a ridiculously hard marker. Half my class dropped out of a first year english class. What he teaches is definitely practical knowledge, but i haven't encountered anyone who has gotten higher then a B on any of the assignments so far.
Quietly chips away at your grade with many 1%-3% quizzes watch out!
Awful teacher. His English class was harder than any course I've taken
This was a tough course, so was the marking. But Stubbs was fair and always available for help, which helped my grades. Though, first grades will come as a shock to most. Make sure you attend class, stay on top of readings, and do the work, and you will do fine.
Well organized approach to teaching, with clear lectures on concepts that were imaginatively explained. Extremely high standards, but not as unreasonable as some would want to believe (or have you believe). Not overly difficult if you have a passion for the subject. Great Power Point slides that combined art, history, and some humor!
This course opened my mind. He has a genuine interest in sharing his ideas, and love of literature. Inspired me to read more Hemmingway!
So glad he decided to not retire!! Really enjoyed taking his 151 class. I had good classes with multiple good teachers at Camosun but Mr. Stubbs defintely is top drawer!
I hated poetry but after taking Stubb's class, he actually made it make sense. He explains things clearly and gets you motivated and interested just by sharing his interest in the subject. If you dread having to read poetry you should take taking it with this prof. You might just see things differently and have fun doing it.
His class frustrates me because it is very interesting, he knows what he is talking about, and he makes you want to do well - however, he is a ridiculously hard marker. In the first class, he provided a speech about how "he doesn't give A's"... I understand wanting a student to work hard for a good mark but it is a little much for 1st year English.
Fantastic sense of humor! Mr Stubbs creates good team chemistry in the classroom. He shows an impressive ability in sharing knowlege. Lectures were useful to explain the (vague) concepts in the textbook. Good balance of challenging work and creative (fun) group work.
Good sense of what interests students. Excellent research topics (even the essay on the final exam was fun to write!)
Koodos to a great teacher!
Though he comes across as a strictly by the book professor, at first, Mr Stubbs revealed a cool laid back side to himself. HIs marking was thorough but fair always. Textbook was pretty basic, his lectures gave more details about the readings. But make sure you read the textbook first.
Total. Mad. Respect.
Got a whole lots respect for this profs, cause he gives it back. Also gives alot of test. Ginoramous project due on last day. But stil satisfy by grade i got
I was intimidated by what I had heard about how tough Neils's standards were. But I made sure I kept up with the work and started my assignments early for the most part. I got an A+ on the research essay and I learned a lot. Neil appreciates when students make an effort. Notice who often he says "I appreciate" in class, he really means it.
Best English prof I've ever had. You can tell right off the get go that Niel is an amazing guy that really wants you to learn. Tough marker? Yes but honestly thats the way it should be. I love Neil and would 100% take another one of his classes
Neil was one of the best profs I've had! He cares about students' success, his lectures are very organized, and grading is fair and clear. Buy the textbook and don't miss class as he gives in-class work that can easily drop your grade if missed.
The epitome of the dapper professor. A pleasure to learn from.
If you are an ESL, I suggest you take other choices.
Now taking 2nd year of college after being out of school for 17 years. I was thankful to have had Neil for English. He was positive and gave students sufficient support and guidance. His marking could be considered strict but comments were fair and grades were reasonable. I don't know how any one could have any thing bad to say about this man.
I see what people mean when they say Neil marks hard. But I have mad e myself to work much more, and my writting gets better. I would like to take this class with him again an other time.
Neil is my nicest professor! I will take another class from him again!
English can be a very dry subject; however, Neil fills the classroom with humour and energy. You are graded based on participation, but Neil engages the class enough that it's easy to participate. The textbook is used heavily. If you are competent in English then this class will be relatively easy, but you can certainly expect to learn. A+ for Neil
Neil is a passionate about his subject and a lot of fun too. He really gets in to character when reading speeches by famous characters! He's a fair marker but takes up to 3 weeks to return assignments. Beware of his 1% or 2% quizzes which quietly chip away at 10% of your grade. Overall I was really Impressed. I would take his course again.
I thought this class was going to be great. As the semester went on, however, more problems within this class started to emerge. First off, he is the slowest marker. Second of all, he marks heavily based on his opinions of essays and not ones writing style. Finally, when he does hand stuff back he runs for the door so no questions are addressed.
Mr Stubbs is a nice guy but I found his class frustrating. Since he is such a slow marker I didn't get everything handed back by the end of the semester. It is now past the grade deadline for last semester and I still haven't received my final mark, which I need for my applications at other universities. How is this acceptable?
He is a nice prof in the class. The class ambience is easy ,but he really give low grade to all my work. Honestly, If you simply want to pass this course not for seeking knowledge or challenge , obviously he is not your first choice. And he grade really slow. I got my research paper grade at my first day of new semester.
Neil is a knowledgeable professor, provides great inputs on assignments. However, doesnt use D2L at all which makes it hard to keep track of what's going on in class, any assignments due. Also, if you miss a class there's no way to find out if there was a surprise assignment due, and very slow in grading assignments.
He takes way too long to give back marked assignments and once you get them back they extremely low grades. He constantly lies about when he will hand the marked assignments back. I would never take his class again in my life.
This class was a challenge but held a lot of learning.
Neil is a very nice man. He is funny and his lectures are lively! And the best part is I never feel like falling asleep or leaving and I have taken two of his classes. He will teach you everything you need to know about grammar and in a fun way. Only down side is waiting to get grades back which can be very stressful. But all in all you will learn!
If you want to get higher GPA, you are better to choose someone else. I will NEVER retake his course!
Neil's lectures can be fun, but he focuses so much on grammar that I never learned proper essay writing in that class. He also takes forever and a day to give back assignments, in fact my class didn't receive final grades until 2 weeks into the next semester. Hard to reach out of class, rarely responds to emails,and is rarely in office during hours
Neil is a funny guy and really nice in his lectures but that's where it kinda ends. He doesnt use D2L and uses slides in his lectures so attendance is mandatory. Takes him months to mark papers didnt know my final grade until 2 weeks into the following semester. Do not reccomend him if English is not your forte
Wont mark your first assignment until you've handed 4 in. Marks harshly and barely on quality of work, only on formatting details (he will not specify importance of beforehand) He is not open to questions about marks or feedback. He will focus on grammar for the entire semester and then require a perfectly structured final essay with no preparation
Extremely involved and fantastic at conveying concepts and criteria. There was no d2l for the course which I believe couldve been useful for quick references.
Neil is a nice and approachable but he is honestly the worst teacher ever. His lectures are so boring that it's impossible to pay attention. He focuses so much on grammar and barely goes over how he wants you to write. By the end of the course he had only handed back 1 assignment so I barely got any feedback on how he marked or what he wanted.
I had Neil for ENG 151 and found him to be a great teacher. Very thorough, knows this subject well. I am not an English major, but would take one of his courses again!
Neil is pretty funny but overall a pretty bad teacher. he isn't clear when assigning work and only cares about grammar and structure more then what your write.
Neil was one of the worst teachers I've had at Camosun. He takes forever to hand assignments back and when you do get them back he writes snarky comments and doesn't use a proper rubric so you are left confused as to why you received the grade you did. His lectures were extremely boring.
Neil is the worst professor I have ever had. His lectures put you to sleep, he takes forever to grade papers, and he marks like we are all 4th year english majors. He also spends way too much time on grammar that no one cares about. He is straight up bad. DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS!
Poor quality program, zero feedback, no clue where you stand. Non English related lectures, wont tell you your mark even if you ask.
Probably one of the worst decisions I have made at Camosun was taking a class with Neil. His lectures are so dry and I had a really hard time focusing on what he was trying to teach, he spent too much of the semester focusing on grammar and pointless class discussions. Neil has a hard time giving proper feedback to students too. Avoid at all costs!
Neil is an overall funny individual and is very knowledgeable but receiving anything that's not a C- requires you to basically be Shakespeare, and even then you will probably just receive a C. If you don't enjoy grammar tests do not take his course, however If you're up for a challenge, by all means, test your GPA.
Cried after every class. I didnt know I was so bad at English until I took his course. I have no idea if Im okay or not as Ive gotten two assignments back and the semester is over. Goodluck.
Anxiety attack and a half. Studying honestly seemed pointless for tests. Wish he did D2L so I could pay better attention to his lectures instead of putting all focus on taking notes before the slide changes. Have to show up as a genius, because he doesn't really teach much, basically had to teach myself. Lots of red flags. goodbye grade and money.
He was really boring and a really tough marker. I recommend taking English with a different teacher.
The worst of the worst instructors I have ever had at Camosun, had to retake the course from anther teacher for a better grade.
Very nice guy and fun lecturer. He is a very hard marker. He started our first class by explaining that to get an A on an essay we would have to write something that he couldn't have written in first year, and getting an A+ was out of the question. Has some irritating submission policies as he doesn't use d2l. Overall a good class despite this.
I was one of few who got a good grade but this man is a horrible teacher, and should be removed from staff immediately. Its really a shame, because hes a nice guy.
Neil is nice honestly though a really bad teacher and I got the sense from talking to him that hes been in trouble with the department before for being an unfair grader. I didnt find him unfair, just ridiculously hard to the point that its harmful to students.
He is an extremely tough marker. He is super picky with grammar and doesn't go over how he wants you to write Also, he wasn't a very tech person, ex: never answers emails, was against students bringing a laptop/iPad to take notes in class, and he doesn't use D2L. Overall, it was not a good class.
Definitely wouldn't recommend taking Neil's English class, he taught a lot irrelevant things we didn't need to learn. We took notes than actually learning how to write essays and other things. He graded as a tough grader, gave bad feedback on my papers. Gave pop quizzes that we didn't need and made them extremely hard, he is a horrible teacher.
won't mark my work
Neil straight up does not mark work. I have no idea where I stand in the course and its been over for weeks. He told us we'd have our final marks posted before Christmas while having received marks for nothing prior to this. It's now January 4th, and nothing. No final grade. No feedback. Nothing. Worst instructor I've had. He's nice tho.
Neil is a kind, but asks for a lot for a first year course. Takes his time marking assignments despite advertising a max 3 week wait in the course outline. Doesn't put grades into D2L, making it hard to figure out your grade as you go. Does not make use of rubric for students at all, so you have no idea what he looks for when marking your papers.
Very tough grader. Next to impossible to get an A in his class. This course would be a bit easier if you had just taken English classes, but if you are returning to school after a break it's a very steep learning curve. Marking often takes over a month. That being said, he is extremely accessible and helpful if you have any questions.
If you read what you need read before the next class (which is no more than like 50 pages) you'll be fine. Show up to class and hand ur work in on time.
Would never take his classes again. On the first day he tells the entire class no one will get an A. He acts like hes at an Ivy League instead of community college, and definitely did not treat this like a 1st year course. Acts like being able to memorize is the key to learning. All he does is read off slides. He made me hate my favourite subject.
Neil expects way too much for a first year class. He starts off the class by saying if you get above a C you're pretty much a genius. To achieve and A or up in this class you would have to have perfect writing and grammar skills because he marks from perfection down. All of the quizzes and tests are on difficult grammar concepts.
The worst teacher in Camosun. Before Eng 151 my grades were straight A and with him, probably I will fail. He doesn't share PowerPoint presentations, takes long time to get the result for essays and quizzes. He is grading is ridiculous hard for a first year in college, forget a good grade, that's the first thing he said to you in the first class.
very nice guy but his class was just terrible. attendance is mandatory and if u happen to get sick you cant get anything done again without a doctors note. as I said, fun guy, but not a very flexible teacher. the way is he grades is really hard too. don't expect to get an A+ even when you've revised with him personally.
Doesn't post anything online. Very strict deadlines. Condescending
In class instruction is possibly the most comprehensive of any instructor I've had to date. His knowledge of pretty much anything covered in class is outstanding, and he encourages in-depth discussion in class. His exams are absolutely insane - possibly too difficult.
Really hard marker, overall a good guy though
Attendance not mandatory, but lecture slides were not posted to D2L (excepting the times he didn't get through the slides during class, which only happened twice). However, the lectures were great. Marking was tough but was always justified/left feedback. Content included a period piece and few female authors, which was frustrating for 1900s Lit.
he's really nice; however, ive never had a teacher who grades so hard. how do i get a 1.3/2 on one question? takes forever to mark, participation matters, i raised my hand at least three time a class and i got 4/5 on participation. this was a first year english class by the way. he has good intentions but is just kinda boring
Do not take this prof he attendance is mandatory and he does a lot of quizzes and very tough marker
Neil never posts slides on D2L and measures students by his ability to write even for international students. Tribble teacher I have ever had. He is also strict and inflexible.
Neil is kind and has very enjoyable lectures! Be very thorough and proofread your essays carefully. The key is understanding exactly what he expects from each essay you write for him, and to watch your grammar. The tests are tricky, but he is very clear with what will be covered and there are no surprises. Actively participate and ask questions!
Expect to do a lot of reading and grammar-related studying. Also, expect to have your assignments marked late even though his expectations of handing in assignments are strict. Avoid him if you can.
try to avoid this professor. you will not enjoy this class. simply choose another professor. trust me man
Neil's teaching is wildly different from his grading. He added things to the final exam that weren't on slides that are not provides on d2l. Neil is a great guy quite funny and involves students in class discussion but is highly unreasonable when it comes to marking papers and assignments. expect little mistakes to take off a lot of marks off.
Neil is a very good teacher but he is not flexible at all. You have to keep up with the readings because he does a lot of pop quizzes and they are hard. He does not upload anything on D2L. Long essays and good analysis in the readings.
Beginning of the year we had 16 students in the class. By the time the final exam rolled around 7 people showed up. I would spend hours and hours writing a paper with everything he wanted on it, just to get 52%. Terrible teacher, terrible marker, definitely would not take again.
Neil is kind, funny and very approachable. He was my favourite teacher his class however was quite difficult I never missed a class, I did the readings and I still would fall behind and struggle. If you go to him he will help but this is a course you'll have to put hours into. Great teacher loved the lectures but very hard to please.
I would like to preface by saying I like Neil. But he is a weird guy and not very online savvy. You'll have to print out every take-home assignment however he is aby saying I like Neil. But he is an weird guy and not very online savvy. You'll have to print out every take-home assignment however he is a relatively engaging lecturer and he's a joker
Tendency of targeting students and making a big deal of something minor.
horrible grader, takes grades away for bs and things that are not even correct in his feedback, will never give your grades back for a month unless you ask him and is overall a horrible prof
just dont sign up for this guys class save yourself
horrible grader way to much work for a first year class
dont take this class
extremely old fashioned
Horrible professor
terrible prof
Worst class I ever took
he is stuck in the 1800s which is im guessing when he graduated university
Very old fashioned, need a doctors note if your sick
This teacher is absolutely terrible do not even bother to go near this guy. He is literally using ancient techniques to teach us and is actually not the sharpest tool in the Shed . How is this guy still a teacher?
makes u hand in everything with paper and is way to strict for a first year class. if you are new to college, goodluck.
Terrible grader, bad teaching
I did not find this course to have clear expectations or outcomes that aligned with material learned. It is difficult to stay motivated in this class. The professor is passionate, but I would be wary of taking this course if you want to succeed. No online info and extremely long wait times to receive grades back (if you even get them at all)
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
98%
Textbook Required
33%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-1.26 avg changeRatings by Course
ENG92
5.0
(1)ENG092
5.0
(1)ENGLISH151
4.0
(2)ENG161
3.4
(11)ENG286
3.0
(3)Difficulty by Course
COS126
5.0
ENG163
5.0
151
4.5
ENG286
4.3
ENG151
4.2