No Comments

there is something to say when a foreign Japanese girl that can barely speak English gets an A in a speech class, and a "great speaker" gets an F...What a ****. enough said.

RON IS BY FAR THE WORST, CONFUSING, IRRITATING, WEIRD, AWKWARD GUY TO BE AROUND AND HAVE AS A PROFESSOR. I DON'T CARE WHAT OTHER PEOPLE THINK ABOUT HIM I DISLIKE THE GUY A LOT! HE SENDS YOU NOVELS OF EMAILS THAT CAN BE REDUCED TO A CHILDREN'S STORY. HE HAS A VERIZON SO IF YOU'RE NOT A VERIZON USER, YOU HAVE TO CALL HIM AFTER 9 AND ON THE WEEKENDS.

This professor is the worst one ive ever come across. hes rude, hes arrogant, he doesnt help at all he makes the students all feel like there not smart. he shouldnt have this job.

In my opinion, Mr. St. John likes to hear himself talk. He is egocentric, arrogant, condescending, rude--the kind of person I try to steer clear of in life. His classroom is not a place where great speakers are made. They're just mistreated and verbally abused for a few months. If possible, avoid this professor.

Absolutely the worst teacher ever. He talks down to you, tells you how terrible you are and how you will fail. He is the kind of person you DON'T WANT TO BE AROUND. He is arrogant, makes you feel bad about yourself and expects you to FAIL. It was the most unpleasant class I've ever been in. DON'T TAKE HIS CLASS!

This teacher is terrible. He shouldn't be a teacher, he disrespect students in front of everyone. Doesn't take any consideration with the effort you put into work. All he wants to hear is himself& everything has to go his way Otherwise you ain't passing. This guy should have his license remove. He doesn't deserve to be a teacher

First off let me start this by saying I don't rate instructors often but I thought this was a special occasion. If you are strong willed or a hands on learner this may not be the class for you. Ron may teach communication and speech but hardly makes the effort to be an effective listener. EMAILS ASSIGNMENT DETAIL OVERLOAD! DO NOT ASK QUESTIONS.

He likes to talk to the class then suddenly single a person out which makes it awkward and intimidating for the individual. Furthermore, his class schedule contains way too much information it contradicts him telling you be "clear and concise. " You must follow his instructions exactly on outlines because it's "superior than the rest." :/

DO NOT BE CREATIVE in anyway. He has created an outline that he MAKES you follow. And honestly I'm an A-B student and this professor is honestly the worst I've ever had. He is so disrespectful toward his students. I've personally seen someone cry in class. DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND GO SOMEWHERE ELSE.

DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS!!!! He is so mean, like there is no other word. HE IS SO MEAN, he doesn't take anyones feelings into consideration AT ALL!!!!! You will always be wrong and if you try to explain yourself, he will CUT you off. HORRIBLE.

bad , bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad , bad, oh and RUDE. I'm honestly scared to ask for help because he calls you out in class and embarrasses you so negatively.

I felt better about giving speeches before this class. He made me feel worse.

Please do not take this class. Avoid this man at all cost because he is very rude and whatever he says goes. It does not matter what you think only what he says matters.

If you love word vomit both in person and on paper, this guy is the right one for you. Goes on and on and on in both his instructions and lectures that the point often gets lost. Rude and will embarrass you in front of the class. Constantly contradicts himself. It's his way, or the high way. Do yourself a favor and find another instructor.

Worst class I've ever taken. I broke down in class multiple times, couldn't sleep at night sometimes, and it made me question continuing my education. I'm an A/B student with a GPA over 3.8 but this is the hardest class I've ever taken. I had to make over 20 rough drafts for my final project and it still wasn't perfect. He's rude and just mean.

Big yikes! I should've listened to my friends when they told me to not take this professor. WORST PROFESSOR EVER! I thought it wouldn't have been as bad but, YEAH! IT WAS BAD. The outlines are nightmare. I would become depressed and have a hard time sleeping at night because of my outlines and how it didn't meet up to what was expected.

Ron was the worst teacher I have ever had. He made everything so confusing and unnecessary, yet prided himself on how "clear and concise" he is. For the final project, you have to send him your outline at least 5 or 6 times before he will "approve" it. Along the way, you will be insulted and publicly humiliated. I wasted my time & learned nothing.

The class itself is not hard at all if you are able to speak in fromt of others but he makes it harder than it really needs to be. He is really rude and degrades students. Also, if you dont understand something and you ask him to re explain it yet he continues to explain it in the same way over and over again then talks to you as if your dumb.

This instructor is a liability to the entire University. Unprofessional, petty. One good thing about the class is learning the outline which anyone can teach.

Ron is meticulous when it comes to doing your outlines which will make you stress. This class is all about outlines that has to be done the way he wants it. If the work you do doesnt meet his standards, he does not let you move on. He often gets loud which will make you think hes yelling at you. Hes sarcastic. This class will take your free time

Confusing and Unclear emails and instructions. Degrades students everyday. Gives bad feedback. Material is easy but the way its taught makes it hard to comprehend and follow. Personality is egotistic,condescending,unnecessarily forceful, unprofessional,uncompromising,not understanding. Disliked by many students. Very unpleasant experience.

Do NOT take his class!!! 1. Won't respect you as a grown-up; he will insult you like you are a 2-year-old child. 2. Doesn't know how to communicate; his instructions and emails are typically 7-8 pages long. 3. A total control freak; words like "enjoy," "like," "happy," "share," etc. can't be in your speeches. Take online from another UH campus!!

-Poor communicator, needs to adhere to fundamental rules of witting -Very confusing, hard to follow, class instructions are all over the map -Take offense when asked to clarify instructions -Provides conflicting due dates and times on assignments "If a Student fails it's probably the Student, if all Students fail maybe it's the teacher"

By far the worst professor I've ever had. He makes instructions unclear, copies and pastes emails from old classes which can and will contradict his new instructions, and generally makes everything way more complicated than it needs to be. He focuses a lot on "feedback," but generally gives horrible feedback.

He says a lot to not take what he says seriously, that it just how he talks. then he should learn how to be more polite, ive had people criticize my writing and art tougher than him and they were still polite about it. he is rude and does not know how to treat people with respect at all.

Took this as a writing intensive. Glad I withdrew. Big assignments due after big assignments. His instructions are 35 pages long and you have to read them all because he wants everything a certain way. His feedback is insensitive and sassy. He DOES care, it's just hard to believe. My AP classes in high school were easier than this speech class.

He grades according to his opinion

If you don't want to fail, I wouldn't take this class. He assigns so much work on the first day and expects you to finish it the next day. He is extremely rude and disrespectful to his students and expects everything to be done in a specific manner.

It's remarkable to know after the fact of taking this course that UHMC has allowed Mr. St. John to lead and teach students. College is a time for growth, education and finding one's way to become a good member of society and community. This teacher lacks nearly all leadership skills. Ask your counselor for additional teacher options for Bus/com 130

He is awful! Bus/Communications 130 shouldn't be taught in such a manner. I would prefer to have known about this teacher prior to taking this class. This is why I feel obligated to let you know.

If I could give a 0, I would. Emails are unnecessarily too long; not helpful at all; claims to care about your success, but degrades you learning; won't answer emails unless sent through Laulima without any format, spelling, or grammar errors; very rude when replying to emails unless it's "perfect"; DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS. take it somewhere else.

Ron St. John says hes been teaching for 30 years and I have no clue how he is still teaching today. He degrades people and is though. He says he cares for his students and in the beginning I could appreciate and understand his straightforwardness but after a month with him it began to feel overwhelmed with his harsh tone and comments.

I attended this guys class close to 20 years ago and it looks like nothing has changed. His class wasn’t that hard but he is not a nice guy. Narcissistic is a good description. I had unpleasant run ins with him before I even took his class and even after I took his class. I would not recommend taking any class from this man.

This class was one of the worst I ever attended. He bombards you with unnecessarily long Emails with simple directions and is consistently rude. He wants your work done his way and no other. I broke down several times due to stress and physically got sick. This is a PREREQUISITE class btw. Unless you have no other option, DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS.

BEWARE!!! He is the only speech/communication teacher for UHMC. This class is mandatory for prereq's I would not, repeat, would NOT take any of his classes. If you were like me and had no other option since he is the only speech instructor, I would take an online course from Leeward or Kapiolani. He wants you to succeed, yet do things his way.

I started his course for just a few weeks but already about to have depression/anxiety. His instructions and emails were many pages long for very simple tasks that he made it unnecessarily complicated and repetitive with contradicting deadlines for the same tasks. Lucky I was able to withdraw at the last hour after I read reviews on here.

It's remarkable that the below comment sounds exactly what Ron St. John would say and says all the time about "Wanting students to succeed". Ron your comment won't take away from how many students are displeased with your teachings and how disrespectful you are! We will stop you from not allowing us to use our EDU email! Say NO to verbal bullying.

save the trouble and take this prerequisite class from a different teacher. he's going to waste ur time and frustrate u until the very end. BEWARE!

BEWARE, BEWARE, BEWARE! Ron is condescending and rude. He doesn't value anyone's opinion--except his own. If he doesn't like your ideas, then it will have to be his idea for you to get a good grade. He says he "means well," but he doesn't. I tried to stick it out till the last day possible of being able to withdraw, and I'm glad I left.

He gave us lots of homework before we even met him. His emails are long, with 2-3 links to YouTube videos saying the same thing. He is rude. He wants you to read his long emails and expect you to find the answers in his emails. He gave me anxiety. He's not helpful at all.

Horrible experience with this professor. After receiving unclear, extremely lengthy, hard-to-follow instructions for the first assignment. His feedback was "this is all wrong, start over, reread the directions." I had read the instructions 10 times at least, and had my dad read them too. Not helpful teacher. Take class with another professor.

Prof says he wants to help us succeed, then berates us in class because we failed to fully comprehend the extremely lengthy string of instructions via email. Much of the feedback consisted of "this doesn't make sense" or "fix this, why didn't you read the instructions?" if you need this class, check another campus for a different professor.

Ron is poor at teaching and a lackluster professor. He is extremely condescending and passive. He is incomprehensive in his instructions and includes irrelevant details. He does not change his emails and most of his class is content used from years past. If you can avoid taking this class that would save your time!

Ron St. John is highly redundant, which convolutes necessary details. He doesn't link references except in discrete locations. He chastises students regularly. There is only one way to do things in his eyes. He doesn't follow his own advice. I reached out for help, but received shaming instead for sending something, “I DID NOT ASK FOR.”- Ron.

Gives wayyyyyyyy too much work for just being one class. Unless this is the only class you're taking for the semester, I do not recommend it unless you absolutely NEED to take it. Overall horrible experience and just way too much work for only 3 credits

Ron St John is adversarial, disrespectful, chastising, and demanding. His favorite claim is that he "wants you to succeed", but this is the contradiction of the century. Professor St John does not provide any clear instructions and puts links in the middle of 12-page weekly instructions. Despite getting an A, it has been a miserable experience. NO!

I put "hilarious" because it is funny how bad of a professor Ron St. John is. UHMC should be ashamed to have him as a professor. He does not teach you, has an ego, and thinks his way is the only way, and is negative. Please don't take this class... save your money, mental health, and time.

This teacher single-handedly made me think about dropping out of college. My anxiety for this class became so bad that I would go whole days without eating or drinking anything. DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS UNLESS NECESSARY. If you need to meet the oral communication in English credit take COM 145 instead. Overall horrible teacher and should be fired.

I took this class in Fall 2024 and was recently looking at classes for a business elective in Spring 2026. Seeing Ron offering one of the classes I might be required to take just gave me an anxiety attack because I remembered how awful his class was before. Trust me, don't take his classes. They messed with my mental health and gave me anxiety.