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William McClenahan BMGT381 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/16/2014	Great professor - a little cranky but a genuinely nice person! He seems to love teaching this class and does a great job making the content interesting and relevant. He really wants his students to learn. Very strict on participation, and yes his exams are very difficult, but he knows that and curves accordingly. If you read the material and prepare cases, there's no reason you shouldn't get a good grade and learn a ton.
William McClenahan BMGT381 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/29/2014	I really really like professor McClenahan! I was a little intimidated at first, especially since i didn't have him for 380, but once I went to his office hours you can immediately see how nice he is and he does genuinely care about his students. I worked pretty hard in 381 and I got an A. I think its important to show effort in his class and he does cold call if no one volunteers cases. Overall, I got a lot out of the class.
William McClenahan BMGT381 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/15/2014	McClenahan is definitely one of the better professors at Smith. Don't listen to any of the bad reviews for him (those students are most likely the ones who put little effort into his course and suffered as a result.) McClenahan reads right from the textbook for class and never uses slides or handouts. While this may seem boring, attend class. He drops hints on specific topics being covered on exams and topics to ignore (this helps you a ton for studying because there is a decent amount of material for each exam.) Furthermore, you are graded on class participation (by briefing cases or adding to class discussions.) Bottom line, if you put the effort into reading and attending class, you will put yourself in a great spot to earn a high grade.
William McClenahan BMGT381 Expecting an A- clue 01/30/2014	I took McClenahan for BMGT381 fall semester 2012. He was pretty scary at first, but he was a good teacher who knows a lot about law, and he turned out to be a pretty lenient grader. The exams were tough, but there were generous curves. He taught straight out of the book, without any PowerPoints, so make sure to do all the chapter readings. He also doesn't like to use technology a lot. Overall, I thought I learned a lot from the course. McClenahan is a pretty old-school, interesting professor, which I think was a good experience for me at the Smith School.
William McClenahan BMGT381 Expecting a B Anonymous 05/13/2013	Don't take this class unless you just finished 380 last semester with him as your teacher. I didn't and I felt like a stranger and somewhat at a disadvantage. Although he has been called "gruff but more approachable toward the end" or something, I would say his habit of cutting you off or ignoring you once you make a small wording mistake or other error is unnecessary. Especially when participation counts. The material all seems the same by the end of course, I don't know how anyone actually follows it. Also doesn't post grades online. Why not?
William McClenahan BMGT381 Anonymous 12/20/2012	I heard a lot about McClenahan and how he's kind of a grumpy guy and the class is hard. This could not be further from the truth for 381. He even says he likes 381 better because it's an elective and the students want to be there. He's very responsive to questions and is willing to explain things more, which I heard he doesn't do in 380. I didn't have him for 380 but took him for 381 since he's the only professor who teaches it. The class is graded on 3 exams (2 midterms and a final) and participation. The class is set up so that you have to read ahead of time and read through the cases. The material alone isn't that exciting to me since I don't really like law but the cases are actually pretty interesting. You get participation points by volunteering to summarize the cases during class, which is pretty easy since the book lays it out for you. The exams aren't that bad either. Each exam has a short multiple choice section and 2 essays. You get a cheat sheet for each exam so if you actually go through and make a good cheat sheet, you should be prepared for the exams.
William McClenahan BMGT381 Anonymous 06/17/2011	McClenahan is a gruff bearded man with a slight limp that looks like he's had a tough life, then you realize he's a successful lawyer that's not that old and actually a pretty nice guy. At first he seems coarse and arrogant but once he gets comfortable with a new class he will loosen up a lot and be enjoyable. As far as the course goes, it's pretty important that you read the chapter before class if you want to have any chance of following what he is saying. That being said, just reading the book carefully should cover you for most of the multiple choice questions, but the essays are graded very strictly. I took 380 with him and got an easy A just by reading the book and sitting in class, 381 I barely got a B trying the same lax strategy. 90% of the class is tests, with the second one being the hardest. He curves very significantly and you should have a good idea where you stand in the class after every test. Overall, a tough professor not for the faint of heart, but a good class and you'll learn a lot.