Verma, Priya  

She lectures straight out of the book for our class. Take the titles from the power points, find the matching headings in the book, and read the following paragraph.

NR 142 was the class not ENVE 142, but Verma was new this quarter and all things considered, a really nice lady, cool teacher, class could get a little boring with management and planning technicalities, but all classes have that aspect of *yawn*. I basically did nothing for this class and got a B+, so with a little effort you could have an A easily. You don't do anything except 1 project, 1 midterm, and the final. Sooo don't blow the project--which is easy (group tho)-- and just define and know the terms on the study guide for the tests, and it's gravy. I'd take her again, she's worked in the field so has good experience, is nice, and is flexible.

NR142 not ENVE142. The only reason im writing this report is because I cannot believe there has been positive feedback on verma. First of all, who the fuck hired this person and why is she at poly? Judged by her teaching methods, she scooted by life doing the bare minimum. Her slides are straight horseshit, looks like a 3rd grade book report that unfortunatley lasts the entire class time, which brings me to my next point. This class was an hour and half and she would hold everyone until the second of, and multiple times she let us out of class late. She does not know how to answer a question which is the only reason i knew it was her first quarter teaching, becuase there was no other excuse for such dry, flat responses that come straight from the dry, flat slides. her slides have unlimited typos as do the tests. Grades were NEVER updated and to this day I still have no idea why I got a C in the class. Also if you plan on missing this class a couple times, think again. she cubes the number of total absences and takes that off of your final. Miss 2 days, miss 8 points on the final, miss 3 days, miss 27 points...so on. OH YEAH AND THE MAIN REASON I SWITCHED OUT OF MY MAJOR WAS BECAUSE OF VERMA NR142. dont

FUCK PRIYA VERMA! This lady is one of the worst teachers that I've ever had. Her slides are bullshit and so hard to comprehend and her lectures are pointless to go to but you have to sign in so you have to go. And if you try to leave she will give you a death stare the whole walk out. Her study guide for the midterm had NOTHING that was actually on the test. All of the questions were straight from the book which she mentioned nothing about and which half the class didn't even buy because it was $120. She is very rude and loves to make people feel stupid and lower than her. Verma has honestly made me consider changing my major because she is so awful.Try to avoid taking her!

Verma knows what she is talking about, but the way she presents the material is hard to understand. Her slideshows are confusing and the reading assignments for the class are insane. The books will literally make you want to pass out. However, she is usually a nice person.

Professor Verma is an effective professor. The first textbook is huge and heavy and not very fun to read, but all you really have to do is skim it and make an outline for the chapters she assigns and you're golden. The second textbook is considerably more interesting to read but near impossible to skim. Thankfully she provided a fairly detailed outline of the chapters for the second book. If you want to do well in the class, you're going to have to do a good deal of reading. Her lectures go pretty fast and at times are hard to follow, so I recommend taking notes on a laptop and asking any questions you may have during her office hours. On top of all this she assigns a hefty group project that's due just before finals week. This was my favorite part of the class because it was like a senior project, in that we devised our own project and were the ones responsible for making it happen. Overall, Verma is a headstrong, well-dressed professor who pushes her students not only to learn the material required for the course but to apply that knowledge to make a difference in the real world.

Verma is put together, cute, organized, and passionate about what she teaches. I mistakenly got placed into the intro class (NR 142) as an english major and what I thought would be meaningless and a waste of my studies turned out to be very interesting, impactful, and definitely worth my time. The course itself consists of a lot of reading, a group project, one midterm and one final. It is essential to do the reading yet very hard to keep up with. The exams are not as bad as you think they'll be (coming from someone with no background in NR) and the group project is random so you will get to know people in your major and have the chance to step up and be a leader. Verma is easy to listen to during lectures, prompt with grading and giving feed back, and approachable. Great professor!

A nice person but a bad professor. This was her first quarter teaching and i understand that but this is college honey. lets get real. she couldn't keep up with the work load. Grades weren't updated, lectures constantly had typos, including the final! Her final had 10 typos! how am i supposed to understand it? She lost me in lecture half the time b/c she doesn't explain clearly. GET THIS! if you miss a day she cubes the amount of absences and deducts that number from your grade. so if you were absent 3 times she will deduct 27 points for that one time. Thats not including the first and second absence. She touches the basics but when the final roles around the concepts are so broad and the text is so dry you find yourself going crazy trying to get every piece of info. I asked her what i could do to do good on the final. she said "read the book and study guide". Your study guide is the book!! I'm looking at getting a C+ to a B-. The course is doable. just gotta be interested. pay attention. and study your butt off. nice person though

I enjoyed taking this class from her. A lot of the material was pretty boring but the stuff she taught us from her own experience was really interesting, as were the guest speakers she chose. She put a lot of emphasis on practical application of lessons learned. The book was really bad, but I suspect she will pick a different book if she teaches the course again. She tries hard but it is evident that she is learning how to teach. I think she will improve a lot once she gets all of her curriculum down and only has grading to deal with. The class was not that hard, she curved the midterm to the highest score and I'm assuming she did the same on the final. Her mandatory attendance policy was pretty lame though. She's not bad to look at either.

Dr. Verma is the worst teacher I have ever had. She is a condescending bitch who looks down on her students and answers questions in the least helpful way possible. She makes you feel stupid and weak if you don't know something or ask a question. She gives no guidelines on projects, expects you to know what to do yourself, then belittles you if it is not done how she expected. Her tests are way too hard and you have to learn all the material outside of class on your own. Her lectures are pointless and she makes you come to everyone. If not, your grade drops exponentially. Avoid her if possible. Unfortunately for ENVM majors, this is not easy. I changed majors BECAUSE OF DR. VERMA. Her awful class is what made me consider changing and I am so glad I will never have to take another class from her again.

I wish all the Freshman who are bashing on Verma would step back for a moment and realize how lucky they are to have a professor like Verma. She cubes your absences in 142 so first-time noob freshman learn that missing classes is going to fuck them in the future. She does read from slides a lot, but she still knows what she is talking about. And if you don't act like a total brat in class and show that you're actually trying to learn, she will DEFINITELY help you. I have taken a few classes with Verma and she is easily one of my favorite professors in the NRES dept. There are WAY worse teachers that you are going to have to put up with, so really, recognize how lucky you are. Other 142 details: read the book. It's a lot of reading but it'll help you pass the exams. If your group is a pain in the ass during the project, talk to Verma. She is more strict in 142 than in a lot of her other classes, so don't get on her bad side by whining all the time in 142.

she looks at you with laser eyes and tries to kill you with them if you try to do something she doesn't like

she is one of the worst professors that I have had while at poly. THE DAILY QUIZZES SUCK ASS.Her grading is inconsistent. she lectures STRAIGHT off the slides and when you ask her a question about something on the slide she answers with information that is already on the slide...ya wtf. She is definitely not the professor to be teaching a biology class, she needs to stick to policy. She also added an insane amount of work to the final so that it would be three hours long. The amount of lab reports sucks and she grades VERY VERY inconsistently. There is exponentially more complaints that I would list, but it would take another hour. Here is the basic scoop, if you want to ... work your ass off outside of class take her.

All of you who are bashing Dr. Verma are living a sheltered life... How many teachers do you know that let you show up the day before a major assignment is due and say "We need more time" and she'll say "OK no prob turn it in next week" She's down to earth... young, cute... Hell I'd take her over pretty much any other professor in NR if she were teaching a course... I mean think about it... who are you alternatives?

Great class. Super laid back lectures most of the time. She changed the textbook after the quarter I took it with her, which is probably really good for future students, cuz the book we had was hard as as hell to read. Labs are kind of dumb in the beginning of the qtr but they get better at the end. Read the labs before you go to class-- the quizzes can be really hard if you don't. She feeds you candy a few times. Overall good professor. Go to her for help if you need it and she's always really nice about it. Grading is fair.

Starting with presenting the course material grading, she gets a B. She relies heavily on slides, and the material is rather simplistic and shallow. However, for getting a general outline of a subject, it is easy enough to understand. The exams and quizzes reflect this sort of simplistic outline of the subject matters too. Overall, reading her slides and doing the work should net an easy B, and arguably, some would say an easy A too. In regards to handling student difficulties, Verma is also very approachable and willing to listen to student opinion and input, often going as far as to ask the class what they want to do. However, as an instructor, she is rather lazy. She is terrible about posting grades and sticks to simplistic slides. She shows up to classes late, up to 10 minutes late in fact. If you are looking for high conceptual rigor and detail in her class, you are on your own.

This is the worse class I've taken at Cal Poly. Coming from an agriculture background, it's clear that Dr. Verma does not know the first thing about agriculture industry even though she is teaching a class on it. Horribly misinformed and bias against the commercial agriculture industry. For the love of God do. not. take. this. class.

I really enjoyed taking this class with Verma. She was nice and helpful and really sweet. The class isn't hard. Do the work well (don't half ass it) and you'll do fine. I got a pretty low grade on the first midterm and still managed to get an A in the class because I put effort into the assignments. Very fair. She is really excited about teaching this class too. Participate in the negotiations and they are actually a lot of fun even though the first one seems super awkward because you have to pretend to be buying a house. I learned more than I thought I would.

She picks out AWESOME and Applicable books for this course. These books will help you in day to day life and in your career. The labs are so awesome, you get to simulate real world situations and gain a better understanding for every party involved in a usual negotiation in natural resources. If you are sick, get a doctors note that day if you miss the lab.. she is strict on this. Also do the reading early to apply strategies in lab, I wish I would have done this. The applicability of this class is beyond words Her lectures are clear, easy to follow. Study the slides and you will be fine. Also she plays very interesting movies about natural resource conflicts Some students do not take this class seriously, but that negative attitude will really block them from gaining some great skills in this class

I'm so glad it's over. My grade was due only to the fact that I showed up and listened to her squeaky little voice...believe me that's all you have to do. But get ready as she is partial to the men in class and condescending to women. I have never been so happy to know that I will never have to take a class of hers again. I couldn't take anything seriously as she would look down on you like you were some sort of idiot, even while asking pertinent questions related to subjects being discussed. Who made you queen?! Apparently Cal Poly did by hiring you, and that, imho is an epic waste of money. Avoid this class if you can and good luck.

Where to start. Avoid this teacher at all costs. She will destroy you with "death by powerpoint," teaching the class in a similar style as some of my worse high school teachers. Her tests are an abomination. She will expect you to answer her terribly worded multiple choice questions where most of her questions pose debatable answers that she chooses. She will not reverse any of her answers, even in the case of a class unison. The debates are the only redeeming quality of this course, and coincidentally she is not involved in these at all. If you are looking for a teacher that will pick favorites, bore you to death with her teaching style, and present to you the worst tests you've ever encountered, this might be your class.

This class was easy and the lab was super fun. Verma basically reads off slides but the midterm and final are easy if you study the power points. If you talk to Verma in office hours she really nice and personable. Really enjoyed the class and Verma

The class material itself is not difficult. However, Dr. Verma has the absolute worst teaching style possible. She refuses to accept responsibility when she makes a mistake even when the entire class is in agreement that she did not clarify something well or worded a question in entirely the wrong way. Every week there is a huge amount of reading required online from very long, wordy articles and there are 7 pop quizzes throughout the quarter on that reading. The questions on the quizzes do not test you on the key points of the articles but instead on very random, specific parts that you would have had to read the article 4 times to remember. Dr. Verma also has a very obvious preference for men; you are graded on your participation in the class by how many times you raise your hand and contribute to the discussions after lab. However, she often only gives points to the guys who raise their hands even when girls contributed more to the discussion. If you're a dude and/or manage to get on her good side by sucking up to her, then you will do fine in the class. If you pose a threat to her intelligence, good luck with her psycho lazer eyes

This is the second class I took with Dr. Verma, and has confirmed my dislike of her teaching style. She changes her course curriculum every quarter because everything she implements doesn't work. The class consists of her talking the entire time with very little breaks, while students sit on their laptops doing other tasks. The only reason everyone in the class doesn't fail the tests is because of the study guides she gives for each test. This quarter she added two new aspects to the class called Policy briefs and Group Case Studies. Both had very vague instructions and were graded overly harshly. As a whole I learned little to nothing in this class. Dr. Verma is nice and I don't dislike her as a person, but this class felt like a waste of my time.

Dr. Verma is one of the worst professors I've had in my entire college career. Every lecture it seems as though she doesn't even really know the material and is simply reading directly from slides provided by the authors of the book we are using. She changes things up every quarter and then doesn't seem to have a good handle on what she is even requiring from the class. She grades harshly and unfairly, and these grades seem to only be based on her personal opinions and views and not any real grading rubric that she can explain. Lastly, she absolutely has a preference towards men. She will intently listen and make comments on their thoughts, but when a women speaks she either just brushes it off or makes a somewhat rude comment to prove her superior intelligence. The only benefit of this class was the curve.