101 isn't going to be a lot of fun, but Prof. Nicks made it as fun as possible. The assignments are tough but so detailed that you know what she expects, but you learn a lot and she's really helpful if you ask. The reading was challenging but not so tough you couldn't do it.

She's a really person, really funny, but a hard teacher. The beginning of the semester was a breeze, but towards the end papers came back to back and it got really hard. You definitely learn time management. Go to class, pay attention. Overall, if you want to take her, prepare for a lot of intense work.

This was probably the best english class I've ever taken. Dr. Nicks really pushes you and your writing to the next level. Don't get me wrong though... it was a lot of work getting there. As long as you show up to class, do the readings, and actually put some effort in to your essays, you'll do fine. I would definitely retake her class!

she's really great, i love her class. but it's not easy and you have to show up and participate, participation is 15% of your grade, but i've found i always have something i can add. she is a really great prof

Overall she is a great teacher. There is a lot of work but most is completion for 100 points..which brings grades up alot. You just have to show up and keep up with when things are due. She is a hard grader but she gives so many chances for office hours. I went and asked her to fix my paper 3 times and did a WHOLE lot better than half the class.

She is probably one of the best English teachers I have ever had. She really pushes you to do your best on every paper and she is so incredibly helpful. As long as you show up for class and do the work, you're sure to get an A!

Dr. Nicks was great! She seemed very interested in trying to make the class fun..most people really didn't open up though. Hard work, but she is definitely willing to give you help.

Dr. Nicks is amazing. I had the opportunity to take two of her classes and she is really helpful. It was an easy A.

Great material, not so great overall class experience. SKIP this class.

Dr. Nicks is wonderful, her class is interesting and she is very helpful. This is by far the most fun I have had in an English course.

I had Dr. Nicks for English 254--American Detectives. This class requires a lot of reading and writing--more than necessary, I think. She is very clear about expectations and she grades fairly. Participation in class discussions is absolutely vital. Most of the books are pretty interesting. Don't take this if you know that you won't read the books.

Dr. Nicks is the best English teacher I have ever had. Wonderful powerpoints in her class lectures accompanied by her wealth of knowledge regarding Early American Literature. While there is a lot of reading and students are required to write blogs throughout the semester, she makes it fun and entertaining. Highly recommended!

Dr. Nicks is a cool teacher. Her lectures are interesting and you don't have to work super hard to get a good grade in the class!

Awesome teacher. One of the best I have ever had, if you get the option take this teacher. She is understanding and accommodating of all opinions.

This class was great. She made it a lot of fun and you could tell she loved the subject. There was a lot of reading and a few pop quizzes, but if you come to class you'll be fine. It was a fairly easy A. She is very clear with what she expects.

Dr. Nicks is a GREAT professor. Participation and Attendance are easy grades. She's fair and clear on what she wants. She's very willing to help and responds to emails timely. She's very knowledgeable on the texts and loves class comments. Just follow her rules and read and you will do fine.

Professor Nicks is a good teacher, she is willing to help with your papers. She will look at your drafts before you turn the final paper in. When you first meet her, she seems kinda uptight, but actually she is an okay teacher. You will need to put your all into your papers because she knows when you don't. I would take her class any day.

Be prepared to read a lot! She's a great teacher, and the tests come straight from the powerpoints. Participation is mandatory, so speak up! She's really nice, and offers help when asked. Good times!

Dr. Nicks is an awesome teacher. She is very helpful and also makes class fun. She is also very hot!

Dr. Nicks is very helpful if you will go to her office hours. She will provide suggestions and criticisms. There is a lot of work in the class such as blogs, hw, and reading quizzes. Be prepared to have something to do after every class. Overall, she is a very good instructor!

I've taken several classes with Dr. N. She's clear and insightful, helpful and descriptive, and the closest thing I've found to the perfect English professor. She expects a lot from her students and isn't shy about showing her disappointment when they give her any less than their best.

Dr. Nicks is a good professor and I think most people would have fun in her class. Most meetings were discussion, so if you don't speak in class, maybe not your thing. She is helpful and can be a bit if a goofball. I recommend.

I really like Dr. Nicks. She was my first english professor here and she is VERY helpful. This is a class that is her doctorate interest (fairy tales) which means she is very enthusiastic about it. It is not hard if you do the readings and submit things on time. Would big time recommend her.

She was an AWESOME teacher. She not only held discussions and office hours, but she also helped IN class with students who were too busy to go see her. I DEFINITELY recommend taking FYS 101 with her.

I really enjoyed this class. She is a great teacher, and challenges her students to become better writers. She is very organized and has high expectations which makes her students want to try even harder. I would recommend going to her office hours because that makes a big difference. She is a great teacher and nice person.

LOVED this class! Dr. Nicks is such a fun teacher. Class is manadatory, but I never minded going. She does grade pretty hard and has high expectations of he students. I was an A english student until her class. I was unable to attend her office hours because of class conflict, bt I heard that going to those signifcant helped your grade.

I liked this teacher until the final project. We had a meeting where she went over our rough draft of our final paper. At our meeting she told me that it was my best papers. When I got my graded paper it was substantially lower than my other two papers. There were also problems she took off points for that she hadn't even mentioned in the meeting.

Fantastic teacher. I always looked forward to her class. Strict on attendance, but class is fun. Tough grader, but you do learn in that class. And she does so like the "punks"...I wore a studded vest with my band shirts and patches on it every day and she loved me!

She is a great professor and I would take her again. She clearly cares about how we do in the class. When the class was struggling with one paper she pushed back the due date to give us more time. It is not difficult to get a good grade if you put in the work and even if you don't do well on a paper she does allow you to rewrite.

Dr. Nicks has been my FAVORITE professor so far at UTK. She assigned a pretty lengthy in-depth rhetorical analysis, but offered two classes for reviewing and revising. She gives great feedback and even made me a better writer! One group project is a big part of the class. The class as a whole isn't the easiest, but it's worth it. TAKE DR. NICKS!

Dr. Nicks wants every student to succeed and will help you to get there. She loves what she teaches. I DON'T CARE IF IT'S AN 8AM TAKE HER!

Dr. Nicks is hands down one of my favorite professors. Snarky, funny, and clearly loves her job. She has high expectations, but she's totally willing to go over a paper with you in office hours so you can make corrections before you turn it in, she's very responsive via email, and overall will do whatever she can to help you succeed.

I was worried about taking an English class as an engineer (who is not very good at rhetoric). Doctor Nicks made the class easy to follow, and she was very accessible outside for class. She grades very fairly. Her class is one of the hardest A's I have ever earned but she is a wonderful professor and I highly recommend her class to anyone.

Shes great and makes you work for your grade. If you miss class your attendance grade will go down. But more importantly youll miss class work. I would however take the class again. Shes a great professor. She works with you, just communicate.

Her class is informative and really helps you improve your writing skills. She is always willing to meet with you and is super understanding of the craziness of college life.

Dr. Nicks is one of the best professors I have had. She is very willing to work with you and she wants to see her students succeed. The class wasn't extremely easy but she is there to help you if you need it, and really helps you develop your writing skills.

You do have to work for your grade in this class, but Professor Nicks is super helpful and approachable. I definitely would recommend. I intend to take this class again for 298.

I enjoyed this class and would recommend it to anyone who is willing to put some effort in. As long as you go to class and turn assignments in on time, you should be fine. There was a lot of writing but every assignment was dependent on your opinion of the material and allowed for justification for your choices. I would love to take Dr. Nicks again

I loved Dr. Nicks so much that I took her again for 255 (originally had her for 298). She tells you exactly what she is looking for in your papers and gives great feedback and allows you to correct some of your work. Also gives a lot of homework and participation grades, which is a nice buffer. She's really respectful of all opinions as well.

Dr. Nicks is absolutely amazing. The class is somewhat difficult by design, but she is a supportive and knowledgeable instructor. If you ever need help, don't be afraid to ask! She is always more than glad to help. Her feedback is very helpful and she offers clear information about scoring and your grades. And she brought in home made donuts!

I absolutely adore Dr. Nicks. I took her class for 198 and 298 and highly recommend her. She really helped me improve my papers so I could get the best grade possible. There are a lot of writing assignments but that is a course requirement and she did so much to help me with the assignments because I am not a strong writer.

Dr. Nicks is wonderful. She truly cares about her students and wants them to succeed. Her class is a lot of work, but it is worthwhile. I took her for both 198 and 298 and will take her again if I have the chance.

Dr. Nicks is an amazing 198 and 298 professor. I would definitely recommend her class for any Chancellor's students.

I took ENGL 332 specifically because I wanted another class with Dr. Nicks. She is absolutely incredible. Yes, she expects you to work in her class, but the course is manageable. She genuinely cares about her students and their success. ENGL332 is a great and very unique class. I strongly recommend the course and the instructor :)

I have taken Dr. Nicks for two classes now (English 355 and English 332). She is an amazing professor. If I get the chance to take one of her classes for the third time, I will. She gives great feedback on drafts if you go to office hours. She is so willing to help. She is the best, and I highly recommend taking her!!

This year, our UNHO101 class was asynchronous and mostly service-based. I really enjoyed working with a nonprofit organization and Dr. Nicks was very supportive throughout the whole process. She's very interested in getting to know her students and she's very understanding. Not sure how she is in an actual English class, but she's a good person!

I've taken Dr. Nicks for 198, 332, and an independent study course. I can't tell you how much of impact she's had on my life. You have to work in her classes, but she will help you, you will grow, and it'll be great! Every semester, I check what classes she's teaching, hoping there's one I can take. Definitely my favorite professor.

Dr. Nicks is amazing! I had her Fall 2020. She gave us grace periods and never really counted anything late if you communicated with her. She is very clear in her expectations, gives good feedback, and never wants a student to fail. She told us she mostly gives A's! If you struggle with research methods, definitely take her class.

I really like Dr. Nicks. Her class was challenging but super helpful. She's makes class enjoyable and funny! We were graded on 3 big papers and daily homework/ discussions. She was easy to reach outside of class and willing to meet for office hours to discuss the bigger papers. This class was a good bit of work but it was definitely doable.

Dr. Nicks is so caring and is so nice. She feels like talking to one of your friends (or a therapist), and she makes it be known that she cares about her students. Her class has a lot of homework involved, but if you put in the work, you will succeed. If you are required to take ENGL 355 for your major, I would recommend Dr. Nicks for that easy A.

Absolutely loved her English class, Dr. Robin has such charisma with her class and also educates herself given she is the teacher. So open minded and really works with her students to analyze the readings in class, opens up amazing discussions too. She has such respect for her students and converses well with them, amazing person, will take again.

Dr. Nicks is SO helpful and generous. Several times during this course I felt like I couldn't meet the deadline because of external factors/stressors in my life, and she worked with me around this. As long as you communicate with her, there is no reason to get a bad grade.

TAKE DR. NICKS! She is my FAVORITE professor I've had so far. She cares about every person and is flexible and understanding. If you need an extension, she'll give it to you. The class wasn't super fun since it was just writing papers, but I enjoyed class just because she was so engaging. I'll definitely be taking another class with her.

THE BEST! I love this woman. She really cares about her students and let us do rewrites on papers.. I gained so many research skills from her class. She is also pretty lenient on deadlines for classwork, and gave me extensions on papers when I needed. This class is writing intensive, but if you put in the work and participate you will succeed.

I really enjoyed taking Dr. Nick's class. She was always good about looking over my paper and giving solid feedback. However, she focuses a lot on copyright and plagiarism just because she really likes it. It doesn't really contribute to the course. Other than that, great teacher.

As someone who was always used to academic writing and not public writing, I really enjoyed this class. There is a good amount of work but it isn't overbearing. As long as you do the work and put a good effort, you will get a good grade in this class. Most of the hw and discussions help build ideas and aspects of the papers you will submit.

Dr. Nicks is a great professor and very caring. Her class had a lot of homework but it was all essentially graded for completion.

As a CS major, taking a 3XX English course was scary. Dr N however has a fair class that meets you at where you are and tries to improve it. I never felt at a disadvantage over the English Majors. My main critique was the idea of watching the lectures at home and then discussing it in class. It made the in class portion feel like a waste of time.

AMAZING TEACHER AND PERSON! Understanding if you need an extension on an assignment. Very helpful when you have questions. Gives good feedback on papers. Is willing to meet with you when needed. Lots of work but you will learn A LOT. Big transition if you've only written academic papers, but you can revise one paper. she was my fav prof! 10/10 rec

I am a CS major, but actually enjoyed taking Dr. Nicks. She was a very understanding and nice professor. She asked that we all try our best and understood CS majors didn't exactly "love" english. But, she tried to show that it wasn't so bad and we all could do it. Through her leadership, I was able to pull through and make a pretty decent grade.

A really good professor. Very understanding that this course is required and most students aren't English majors so very accommodating to that fact. Always willing to give extra credit and help outside of class. There is a lot of work and will take up a good amount of your time especially if you want to do well but overall, a really sweet professor

I loved having Dr. Nicks this semester! She has such a fun personality and always made an effort to get to know each of her students. We had a few big papers and projects, but she made her expectations for each assignment clear and was always accessible outside of class if you needed help.

Nicks is an amazing teacher. There are only 4 main projects throughout the semester, 3 of them being essays. She gives great feedback on rough drafts, making it very easy to get a good grade on the final draft. Attendance is very important though, missing too many classes will kill your grade

If you have the option to take her, DO IT! She is easily one of the funniest and "real" professors I have had. She makes it incredibly hard NOT to like her. She will tell stories about her life and her kid in such an interesting way. The class itself features you choosing an issue and doing projects about it. I learned so much in this class.

One of the best English teachers I've had. She makes sure you can get the best grade possible.

Easily my favorite professor at UT. I took Rhetoric & Writing and Women in American Lit with her, and both were super engaging and fun. She's very flexible (and honestly was a bit too lenient with my late work, for which I'm grateful), and the work itself is not very demanding.

I absolutely LOVED Dr. Nicks. I genuinely wanted to go to her class to hear her speak, her lectures are purposeful and she makes them interesting. She also gives great feedback, and makes it easy to get a good grade if you put in the work. For ENG 112, there are three semi-lengthy papers, but she gives a very fair timeline to get the work done.

Professor Nicks was wonderful! She is extremely understanding that her class is not the only one students are taking and is lenient on deadlines. While there are a good amount of paper, she gives awesome feedback on assignments and grades easily.

Dr. Nicks was an absolutely amazing professor. Her insights on papers were valuable yet necessary. The class follows a project that is completed in three main papers throughout the class, however, the topic is up to each student's discretion. Overall, such a kind, caring, and funny professor. I would love to take another class of hers in the future

I love Dr. Nick's class! This class definitely hones your reading and writing skills. There was a bit of a learning curve adjusting to writing research things. Dr. Nicks provides very structured class content on Canvas that is easy to follow. She uses "un-grading" and allows you to adjust papers after turning them in for the highest possible grade.

Dr. Nicks is the sweetest and cares so much about her students. She makes every class interesting and related exactly to what she wants in your papers. The rubric is always very clear and she offers rewrites if you aren't happy with the score you get the first time. She conferences before every due date and helps you with your papers!

I really enjoyed taking 298 with Dr. Nicks! She uses a scale called "Ungrading" in which she basically gives you a complete if you do the paper with the bare minimum requirements. However, she also gives feedback, so if you are looking to improve your writing you still can. I would highly recommend this course with her.

Dr. Nicks lectures are pretty straight-forward, but she does give a decent amount of homework. However, she gives you homework passes, and she is fairly lenient on turning in assignments late. Her feedback was always super helpful, and I could tell she loved hearing her students' perspectives.

Dr. Nicks is such a fun professor. I've taken multiple of her classes and have had great experiences in both. Her lectures are fun and engaging, she is able to make what could be boring topics interesting and relatable. The work is mild and a respectable amount. She gives students grace and is very understanding!

Dr. Nicks is a one of the best English professors I've taken from. I took her class my first semester of my freshman year. Her grading scale makes it easy for you to make a high grade as long as you participate and put effort into your papers. She is very understanding and gives great feedback.

This class was such a fun one that I often looked forward to in my week! Each of the books we read in class were unique in their own way. Dr. Nicks creates an insightful discussion, and it was interesting to hear everyone's own perspective on novels. There are 3 main papers, and the homework load is very manageable. Definitely recommend!

For an online course I honestly thought she was great. She is accessible outside class and always answered my emails in a reasonable time. This course is pretty niche in my opinion, but it was kinda fun even as someone who doesn't love English. She gives solid feedback on everything which is nice. It is not a super easy course but I enjoyed it

I was nervous taking a college level english course after taking all standard classes in hs, but Dr. Nicks made everything so easy and she truly cared for her students!! Assignments are pretty straight forward. There's two major ones and the others help build and lead up to them. She's chill, nice, and gives really good feedback during meetings!!

This class was reading heavy (about 1 book per week) but easy reading because it was children's/YA. Dr. Nicks is one of my favorite teachers I have every had. She is the most caring, encouraging, and passionate professor i've ever had. I wish I could take every class I ever have to take from her.