Schaffner, David  

Well I guess I'm one of the first to have Schaffner for 101. But it's okay because now I know not to take him for 301! Schaffner's class was easy to get an A in, but it's nothing but BORING lecture and lots of BUSYWORK. If you are a fan of torture, agony, etc., take his class! But if you do take it, the multiple choice questions on the final are literally copy and pasted from all your tests. Take the time to go into his office, review your tests (cause you can't keep them), and the final will be a breeze.

yes i agree mr. schaffner can be boring at times (ok most of the time) but i think its just becasue its the intro class and its boring to him as well. he has a lot of inclass assignments that are a waste of time but they are really easy and he gives full credit to everyone! his tests are divided up into multiple choice (which are the easiest) and chart filling. i always got full credit on the multiple choice and usually bombed the chart filling. but who really cares his final is like all the multiple choice form the earlier tests (copy paste) and the MC are freakin no brainers! i didnt do anything in this class except answer his no brainer MC and do the in class work and i go t a B. take him he is real nice. (p.s. to all the ladies it might look like he is staring at your chest when you go up to talk to him but he is actually just staring at your shoulder. i dont know its weird. hehe)!

The students in my 101 class were like a trip back to 10th grade. Most of the time Schaffner was too busy trying to talk over rude students or explaining things over for those not paying attention. The course was VERY easy. Schaffner wrote the book and knows it by heart. The book is not necessary as Schaffner lectures on everything that is on the test with the class following along in the book. The book is good for reference or when studying to look up definitions in the glossary. My class had difficulty with the accounting portion of the class and had trouble knowing which items went on the balance sheet, general ledger, etc. Schaffner does not do well answering questions he has not prepared for and putting him on the spot can result in an out of control class where he looks like he doesn't know what he is talking about. Give him a chance as he is very knowledgable and will answer questions clearly once he gives them some thought. He is friendly and personable, very understanding about personal problems or situations and flexible with schedule conflicts if you speak with him first. He will arrang alternate assignments if you cannot make the field trip or other extra credit activites. He gives bonus points for random things and offers extra credit on tests. Tests are MC/matching/true&false and possibly some problems about accounting stuff. Know the top CA crops, top producing counties, and other stats he gives you. The is a fair amount of homework, all has its purpose and helps increase understanding, may seem like busy work but is helpful. Put some effort into these small assignments (they take less than 20min. to do each) and he will notice. It is good if you like John Deere. If you have a question approach him after class or office hours for your answer or ask for an email response once he has thought things over. He is a very easy grader and gives partial credit. With some effort you can get an A. It is easy to not do well too because many did not come to all classes and missed homework assignments. Great teacher-he wants you to learn and to succeed.

Schaffner is perhaps the smartest teacher in the Agb department. However, he has a hard time conveying his points and does not like to discuss anything.

I thought his lectures were informative and interesting. Overall I enjoyed the class.

THIS GUY IS GREAT! EXCELLENT CLASS, INTERESTING MATERIAL, I RECOMMEND IT!

Dr. Schaffner is one of the most intelligent professors I have had at Cal Poly. He is good at getting the information across to the students and is a fair grader. He is an excellent teacher. I loved everything about this class. Many say that the content is dull but I disagree. I think that it is funny that people don't like this class because most of them are planning on going into marketing and this class is Food and Fiber Marketing, hmmm, maybe they should change their concentration.

He acts as though he is too smart to be there. He pretty much takes for granted you know exactly what he means. If you ask a ? he will never look you in the eye, seems to be teaching the ceiling. He is very tough on the homework and looks at teaching as a chore. Don't ask him a question you havent researched. As for the people that liked him, i have no clue why.

Yes, this guy knows his stuff, and he knows it. He is the most pompus teacher I have ever delt with. If he was working for me, I would send him to some training. In all the classes he had to take to get his degrees, wasn't HRM required?

Schaffner is one of the WORST teachers i have ever had. he makes people feel dumb for asking a question. he expects you to know all the material in your notes and all the material in the book. he will pull questions right out of the book and use examples for it also. i wouldn't ever take this teacher again. I DO NOT ADVISE ANYONE TO TAKE HIM

Schaffner is the worst teacher I have ever taken at Cal Poly. He is boring, condescending, and rude. He makes marketing the dryest subject ever. Beating your head against the wall during class is ten times more exciting then listening to one of his lectures He completely turned me off of a marketing concentration. His workload is absolutely ridiculous. On Monday of dead week he assigned two 30 pt papers and a problem set all due that friday. His test are absolutly ridiculous. The average grade was a C or D. When taking this class do what ever you can not to take him.

This teacher is an ok teacher. I felt that his tests were fair (as long as you read the book), but he is very mean if you ask him a question. He makes you feel stupid and I was so afraid to ask him anything (so were my classmates). Every time somebody presented a point of view other than his own, he would start to get mad. Basically, his opinion and facts were the only ones that matter to him. He also makes you buy his book that he wrote, which by now contains outdated statistics. he probably will continue to use this book for a long time so he doesn't have to get used to another book. All of the facts and statistics from his book are from 1994 or earlier. Come on now, it's 2002 already. Marketing statitics change dramtically even after 2 or 3 years.

i almost didnt take this class because of all the bad reviews on polyratings BUT im GLAD i did... hey, sooner of later in the "real world" we are going to know this information and he teaches it really well. he has loads of EXPERIENCE in the field and cool examples from all over the world. DONT LET THE BAD REVIEWS KEEP YOU FROM TAKING HIS CLASS....honeslty, he is a great T-E-A-C-H-E-R and isnt that what we are here for?!?!?

Lots of people complain about Dr. Schaffner. That is because they are lazy. His class is not that difficult to do well in. All his assignments are very structured- he provides you with a sheet of guidelines so you can check to make sure you include everything. Basically if you follow directions and put a little bit of effort into your work, a good grade is no problem. And yes, his lectures are kind of boring, but sometimes he tries to be funny which is funny in itself. Overall, if you just keep an open mind, the class isn't half as bad as the rumours.

This class is cake if you do the right things. First, don't bother with the book, it's too boring and won't help you. Second, just take good notes and read the handouts he assigns. Next, and this is most important, on the two projects he assigns (which are easy) try and do well because it makes up a significant part of your grade. For the tests, which are hard, just memorize your notes and you can probably pull a "B". Other people on PolyRatings have called him arrogant, but he is actually a really nice guy who can be funny from time to time.

The class is filled with lots of busy work and is boring most of the time. I never read the book once and I got a B. Just know what he says in class and do well on the two projects

DON'T TAKE HIM!! This is the best advice I can give anyone. Schaffner is an ass, who rambles about odd topics that come out of no where. This should be an easy class, but he makes everyone uncomfortable and nervous. He calls on people that he knows aren't paying attention and then asks us not to leave the room if we have to go to the bathroom. He's rude and has very high expectations for everyone. He favors the cowboy-looking guys in the class. So if you wear really tight Wranglers and a John Deer hat, you'll do fine.

A very dry professor and tests are a little tough but it's not the worst class ever. He's understanding if you just take the time to talk to him and get to know him. Just make sure you fill up on soda or coffee before going to his class cuz it's a struggle to stay awake.

He is so boring. Getin any other class. He reminded me of Ben Stein from the clear eyes commercial. His tests are hard and his projects are pointless.

Dr. Schaffnar is the man he has really dry jokes but if you get to know him he is funny just dont let him know about any thing at home if you own a dairy or anything because he will use you as an example everytime but other than that he was a great teacher who likes his students!!!

To the previous submitter: Oh no!!! 2 papers and 1 problem set all due in 1 week. Give me a break. If you think that is difficult you should drop out of college and sign on with bartending school. Dr. Schaffner teaches a boring subject. However, if commodity broking is something your interested in, (high stress, high pay job)this is the guy to take.

Wow was this class boring! Schaffner tries to make things interesting at times but mainly the class is just him going on and on and on. No one asked questions, probably because everyone was dozing off! I read a previous evaluation of him saying that if they thought the class was so boring why don't they change their concentration... which is funny because this class most definitely has me steering clear away from marketing and into finance. Schaffner is a teacher of the old school, not so into interaction but extremely big on lecturing. His tests are HARD! I walked away from them thinking I did ok. WRONG! The class had a sufficient amount of work, but I wouldn't say it was too much. I don't knwo too much about the other teachers of this class, but if I had to give Schaffner a grade as a teacher I would give him a C.

The subject matter was slightly dull but how often do you get a teacher that's saying stuff you give a damn about? He did a good job of teaching the material regardless of the shortcomings of the material.

Awesome that he gave the whole class an A. However if I wanted to be taught course material by my peers I'd pay them tuition or at least form a study group.