3.1
Quality2.7
Difficulty53%
Would Retake114
Reviews53%
Would Retake
114
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
49
4
9
3
7
2
7
1
42
What Students Say
“While he tries to be funny and laid-back, he's also a very tough grader”
ENGL101 - 2.0 rating“I took his online class”
ENGL103 - 2.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
28%
Textbook Required
15%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Improving
+0.51 avg changeRatings by Course
101
5.0
(3)ENGL101091
5.0
(1)ENG96
5.0
(1)ENG10128134
5.0
(1)ENG096
4.4
(8)Difficulty by Course
ENG10128134
4.0
ENGLISH103
4.0
ENGLI101
3.6
ENGL101
3.5
ENGLISH91101
3.0
Reviews (114)
Not a hard class if you do your work and follow all the directions. He is willing to help with anything you're uncertain of. Grading on papers is fair if you follow all the rules and you can even get perfect A's from extra credit by going to the TLC to help your paper. Attend class and be a good student.
This Professor on the bright side has a love for english. I personally found his teaching style to be disrespectful. He was not constructive and described in our online classroom as one students work being "just a mess" he didn't explain why. Only to resubmit it to earn half credit. He would call out on students who were being late as well. FAIL
Changes dates a lot and you absolutely have to read the book before his proposed due date as he will change that. Forgets to grade journals and assignments turned in online. DONT TAKE ONLINE!
I was excited at first. Then, I was very disappointed. Not constructive when it comes to feedback, unapproachable, he does not grade things in a timely manner as well as give you the assignments in a timely manner, he is particular, and maybe just not cut out for online teaching. His feedback makes you feel awful about your writing skills.
I was excited to do an online class, until I took this class. It was extremely difficult to understand all the ,arterial and do all the assignments in the time he gave us and the examples he gave us were weak. He does respond to emails quickly regarding questions.. Just glad the class is over!!
Took class online for intersession. A lot of writing in a short time. He is a fair grader and very knowledgeable.
I had professor Gifford for the first time in 091 and it was over summer. To say it was easy is an understatement. Took him again online in the fall. WAY HARDER! Already being familiar with his teaching style and what he looked for in papers,it was relatively easy. Structure is important to passing.
Surprised to see some negative reviews on here about him. He was a good proffessor and his teaching methods were easy to understand. Got an A in his class, would recommend him to anyone
This is a very good professor, not that his work was too easy but he made class enjoyable I highlt recommend him
At first I didn't get what was going on half if the time. But two weeks later I knew ,just write structured eassy with as little errors as possible. Even when he try explaining I had no idea what he was talking about. But he is a fun professor cracking a joke once in a while reallt helps. I read your textbook or you will regret it
great
I loved having Randy as my professor. I took him for English 91 and he gave very helpful feedback and was really understanding when it came to turning in assignments. He will answer any questions you have and is very helpful on your essays. Loved him! He even cracked some jokes during class.
I was in a "lower" english class and he definitely let us know it. He belittled the class and did not take us seriously. He also tries way to hard to be funny. He cared to much about being liked the interfered with his authority as a teacher
While he tries to be funny and laid-back, he's also a very tough grader. The guidelines for the three papers in this class were very confusing and detailed, and it seems like there was always something new for him to nitpick when you handed in a new paper that improved on the flaws from the previous paper.
Randy is a good teacher. He is sure to review the assignments before assigning them. Show up to class, pay attention and complete papers and you will for sure have a passing grade. Easy A!
I took enlish96 with proffesor gifford if you put effort and work into the class you will most likely pass. He is very very helpful when it comes to not knowing how to write an essay! Hes awesome i highly recommend this class! i loved even going to english class because of him he very respectful and very nice he wont let you fail his class!
taking him for 103 right now, he's not that bad. his in class stuff are all over the place, and lectures are always off topic. but his prompts for his essays, are really vague but he wants you to take that up for your interpretation, as long as your research backs up what the prompt is you should be fine. if you're late, he absolutely hates that.
Randy was a great professor, always sent out of his way to help you. However when he took attendance he used up half the class time since he always wanted a response from you about his topic for attendance. Very by the book with department assignments but easy class just one presentation.
Very off topic, rambles often, it gets old, opinionated to the max. He has detailed essay prompts so it is easy to follow although the topics are poo. I did not like the topics except the final essay which was reasonable, he can be harsh when talking about students work so it is not for sensitive ppl. He does know about English works at least.
i took this proffesor for English 96 i have to say he is the best proffesor at COC he always would help me out when i needed help he would always stay after class and help out students he truly cares about students and wants everyone to pass his class i definetly would reccommend him no doubt!!!
Proffesor Gifford is pretty cool! He tends to get off topic a lot but he has a great sense of humor and knows what he's doing. His teaching is easy to understand and he's very reasonable with grading.
He is cool guy and loves to talk about books. Simple class, 3 essays, few in class writings and dont be on your phone. For god sake dont buy the book. Essays as follows, write the essay, take essay to the TLC to fix what you did wrong and bam you got an A. Only extra credit you get is the TLC. He will help you if needed.
I took his online class. It takes him forever to grade an assignment. The class is literally over and he still hasn't graded the second essay yet. His prompts are really vague and confusing.
It will be a big mistake to take this class online. Had him for summer online class hard to keep in contact, emailed him more than 15 times a week but no response. Did three essays online but did not help any students at all. The only comment I got was the topic is irrelevant and grammar mistakes, never help to solve those problems.
Took this class in summer, got the grades for two essay the Last week of the course and he never helped with any of the essays, I mean never told us which part of it was wrong because he wasn't available most of the time. Even the tutors at TCL were confused. I am pretty sure that 70% of the class didn't had a good experience with him You becareful
I got an A in Giffords English 101 class and did not open my book once. He is a tough grader but he states his expectations clearly. He can get off topic and he says a lof of dad jokes that are before any college students time. Overall: 10/10
Having aced my placement exam, I wanted a professor who I could learn something from. Gifford is it! His feedback is thorough, thoughtful, careful, helpful- and lets me know he READS what we write. He did not hesitate to compliment or criticize specific parts of essays, which I quite liked and found helpful in my writing. Also he is hilarious.
I took his english 101 class online, and he was an extremely tough grader! It was ridiculous this is the first English class I had trouble with. I put time and effort into my essays and the feedback, or lack there of, was more or less him just saying " I don't it". Take another class. You can pass this class but it's not worth the frustration.
If you believe you should be respected as a student, do not take Prof. Gifford's class. Unless you have done something that he has not experienced, you will not be valued. He goes off topic regularly and barely gives enough time to do assignments in class. He allows off topic conversations often and makes jokes that only he thinks are hilarious.
He is always accessible via text and phone and email - he doesn't treat online like it's the lazy option. I know he reads my work.
This online class was stressful! It was hard to do online but the instructor does reply to your emails in a timely manner. I passed this class but it was not easy! God is good!
Not only was he funny, but truly a great teacher
There's a lot of work but he grades fairly and it's not very difficult. He gives good feedback and he makes the assignments fun and interactive. The journal posts made the online class feel like a community and I connected with the other students. Great teacher, definitely recommend if you don't mind writing a bit, but its an English class so yeah.
Just taking this class for credit. Ive never been good at English but I'm definitely not the worst. All I need is to pass but he is a tough grader and subtracts a lot of points for little mistakes. He definitely reads all of your assignments and gives back a lot of feedback, but it doesnt help my grade. I would definitely not take this class again.
ENGL 103 with prof Gifford is probably the easiest class I've ever taken. For the first 10 weeks there is a discussion; for the first 13 weeks there was an assignment of either 300 or 500 word minimum; one timed essay; and three real essays. Do every assignment and turn it in on time and you will get full points. Research for essays is required.
I truly enjoyed Professor Gifford's course. He gives lengthy feedback that is very detailed and helpful. If you do all assignments on time and show that you have an understanding of the assignments and essays then you are most likely to get a good grade.
Professor would sometimes forget to open the module for week, kind of frustrating. But reply's to emails for help. Felt he was very critical but I've never liked English class so... appreciated he didn't have us do crazy essays or crazy expectations for final. He was OK, too many essays, but manageable. Slow grader, this should improve.
Don't listen to these other reviews I know how easy it is to just focus on the bad reviews but those are usually made by disgruntled student who simply wasn't good enough to get through the class and too proud to lame themselves. He's easy, fun, and straight forward, gives three essays and a timed writing just do decent work you'll get an A.
Professor Randy is okay. I'm currently in his ENG101 class and the classwork is relatively easy he gives good feedback on what you need to fix to make things better but sometimes it can be quite vague. The worst part is he has nothing show up on your calendar so you may turn in things late and manually enter due dates like I have to.
3 essays a timed writing and a few other assignments I barely tried and got an A idk who is struggling in this class but I think I would need either a lobotomy or to not turn in any assignments to get less than an A.
Easy class, I technically didn't get enough points to get an A but he bumped my grade up anyway I think as long as you stay working and show effort on assignments he'll give you the grade you deserve. Also straightforward class took it over 5 week winter semester and it wasn't too bad
Easy class I messed up on the first essay but just followed his feedback and he graded my other essays quite nicely and the class was pretty easy from then on. I'd say just make an effort to do what he specifically tells you to do in prompts or in feedback and you'll be rewarded.
very easy class
great professor to take for this class easy credit
Great teacher made everything so easy and an easy A take him if he's available
Very simple class I just need the credit so I really appreciated how easy it was to get an A without too much focus on this class, I was taking a lot of major prep courses so I couldn't prioritize a GE class and I didn't need to take this guy
easy class barely even tried skipped some journals still got an A
Good professor, he has reasonable grading for the work you accomplish and explains. The work givin is standard college assignments nothing crazy. I took him last semester English 101 ended with an A and taking again currently have an A- for English 103. Love how work is due every Monday not randomly throughout week. Good for working students.
The assignments were clear and to the point. Assignments would be due every Friday and Monday. I liked this aspect of the class since I have a full-time job, so I could work while also being successful in the class. There are journal entries due every week as well as different writing assignments and essays. Topics are fun and exciting to write!
Love the professor easy class i do recommend
Great teacher really glad I chose him i heard some real horror stories about other guys
Professor Gifford is great
great teacher
Easy class, good teacher
Easiest english professor ever
Easy class, do recommend
Great teacher
Just follow the feedback and you'll be good
Easy and straightforward
Easy dub, dw about it
So easy to just do the assignments and you'll get an A
Great professor would take again
Great class easy professor
He was so helpful in saving my grade. For the whole semester, I did none of the assignments and I had to cram everything into the last few days. This was mostly due to extreneous circumstances that fueled my writer's block. But he so graciously helped me by getting credit where I could. The assignments itself were not hard, it was my mental block.
The class isn't too difficult, but it requires effort to earn a good grade. For the first 10 weeks, you complete 300-word journal entries and a writing assignment every Monday. The course is well-organized, making it great for students with jobs. The professor gives clear, helpful feedback on all assignments. I'd take this class again if needed!
easy class great professor
great class got my requirements done really easy heavily recommend if you take this guy it'll be easy
SOOOOO EASY BRO this class was great
I really appreciated the care and time professor Gifford puts into his class, he offers such comprehensive feedback and is always willing to accommodate you and help you with anything you're struggling with. He'll give you everything you need to succeed i definitely recommend
I really messed up on a lot but like he kinda saved me at the end let me submit a bunch of stuff late for full credit and he was VERY nice grading im like really bad at writing, i still could have got an a if i had paid attention and done any of the assignments on time instead of all in the last week. Love this guy!
great guy!!!
idk what to say it was really easy guy was cool id say take him
simple straightforward class easy a
easiest class of my life taking him for all my english GEs after this
I was dropped from his class as a system error, and contacting him is a nightmare. I did 11 weeks of work in his class and maintained an A. I just needed him to sign a paper. He hasn't read my email for over 2 weeks now; he wasn't on the Zoom intervention, the number that he has in the syllabus, he also doesn't respond.
This guy can't respond to anything and just spams assignments.
Great content, but communication is almost nonexistent. I reached out multiple times about an enrollment issue and never got a reply. Really disappointing experience.
Course itself was fine, but the professor is extremely hard to reach. Emails, messages, Zoom hours—no response. Made the class way more stressful than it needed to be.
Good lectures, but communication is terrible. Weeks go by without replies, even for urgent issues. Makes it hard to succeed in the class.
The biggest problem is the lack of availability. Tried every contact method listed and never got help. It feels like the class runs on autopilot.
Material is solid, but if you need support, good luck. Zero response to messages or scheduled office hours. Really frustrating.
Did well in the class, but getting any help was almost impossible. No replies to emails or messages, and listed office hours weren't attended. Really unprofessional.
I've never had a professor so unreachable. Weeks of silence, even for urgent enrollment issues. It left me completely stuck.
The course could've been great, but the professor doesn't communicate. No responses, no support, and office hours that never happen.
If you need guidance or quick answers, this isn't the class. Reaching the professor is nearly impossible and it affects your progress.
Content is fine, but the lack of communication overshadowed everything else. You're basically on your own the entire semester.
Tried contacting the professor through every channel. Got nothing back. Makes it hard to trust the class structure or support.
Not a bad course, but the professor is completely unresponsive. It's a problem when real issues come up and you can't get help.
Good material, but terrible accessibility. No replies to students, even when it impacts their grades or enrollment.
You won't get feedback or responses in any reasonable time. Office hours were never attended and messages went unanswered.
Pretty disappointing. The professor never responded to my outreach, which made a simple issue drag on for weeks.
The lack of response from this professor is unbelievable. Messages, office hours, nothing. You're on your own the whole time.
I've never had a class where the professor was this unreachable. Weeks with no replies and no support at all.
No guidance, no communication, no follow-through on posted office hours. Really disappointing for a college course.
Tried contacting the professor for actual problems and never heard back. Makes the whole class feel unsupported.
Good luck getting a single email answered. Communication is basically nonexistent.
Office hours were listed but never attended, and messages were ignored. Definitely not a supportive learning environment.
Instructor is completely unresponsive. Makes even simple issues drag on forever.
Wish the professor actually interacted with students. Zero replies and no help when it mattered.
The course suffers because the professor doesn't respond to anything. Felt like trying to contact a ghost.
It's frustrating when a professor doesn't answer emails for weeks, especially during real issues. Not a good experience.
Communication in this class is extremely limited. It's hard to get answers or clarification on anything.
The professor is often unavailable, and it affects the overall quality of the course.
Office hours don't seem reliable, and getting help can feel impossible.
Feedback is slow or missing, which makes it tough to know how you're doing.
The class feels very hands-off. Students end up teaching themselves most of the material.
The course could be much better with more active engagement from the instructor.
Assignments are posted, but support from the professor is almost nonexistent.
Students struggle because communication isn't consistent or dependable.
There's very little interaction from the professor, which really hurts an online class.
The structure is fine, but the lack of instructor presence makes the class frustrating.
The class would improve a lot if the professor were more available and responsive
I took his class over the fall semester and found myself only doing 1-2 assignments per week. He assigns some journal entries at the beginning, a couple group discussions, and essays. The assignments are quick and only a few of the essays are timed. One time he changed the due date of an assignment so I could turn it in. Super manageable class
Ignore all the negative posts that was all done in 1 day Nov 26 someone's mad. I had him for the spring semester online. You have a week to turn assignments in. Everything is straight forward do all the work you'll pass his class. I even made a mistake on one of essays but still got full credit for it. Take him his is easy.
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
28%
Textbook Required
15%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Improving
+0.51 avg changeRatings by Course
101
5.0
(3)ENGL101091
5.0
(1)ENG96
5.0
(1)ENG10128134
5.0
(1)ENG096
4.4
(8)Difficulty by Course
ENG10128134
4.0
ENGLISH103
4.0
ENGLI101
3.6
ENGL101
3.5
ENGLISH91101
3.0