Mark Croatti

This professor has taught: PLCY630, PLCY688E, PLCY688G, PLCY752

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Mark Croatti PLCY630 Expecting an A Anonymous 11/23/2024	A pretty straight forward class, one big multi-part paper and some smaller stuff in groups. He encouraged using the entire Internet to find all available types of information during the pre-writing process and then showed how to set up a more advanced topical inquiry that pulled in the higher quality sources that he allows for citing on the paper. He provides a ton of links to all kinds of examples of best practices both in the U.S. and around the world. Overall the course covered the basics of a layered approach to improvement, like how to do a diagnostic evaluation of government efficiency, measuring social service effectiveness using a cost benefit analysis, identifying domains and stakeholders, and implementing policy reform. Be ready because he puts a lot of emphasis on the enforcement and compliance section in addition to the actual reform proposal which is usually the main part. The paper took a lot of time because you have to follow these detailed instructions but he's a fair grader.
Mark Croatti PLCY630 Expecting an A- Anonymous 11/20/2024	I enjoyed the team sessions the most because it made it easier to not only do the group assignments but it also allowed us to ask other students questions about both what they were reforming and how they set up their reform process as well as other questions about formatting rules that I could ask right on the spot and not wait for a writing center tutor to answer. There were seemingly endless rules that Croatti insisted on enforcing and while I get that he wanted a professional level of formatting used, it just seemed like a lot of the rules were very strict and a little unnecessary. So it was nice to get into groups and get some clarification from other people that was useful and applicable before the paper was actually due.
Mark Croatti PLCY630 Expecting an A- Anonymous 11/09/2024	Professor Croatti separated what was an otherwise lengthy written assignment into multiple, easily managed stages that allowed me to focus on them one at a time and his lecture topics and readings reflected each stage as the course progressed. Although we had a large class, he made it a point to provide face to face, individual feedback during class time since he was on campus only once a week. That's the thing, he really didn't have any significant outside office hours. But I thought he was a very unique teacher, I was sad to see him leave to take a position at another school because I definitely would have taken more classes with him. I really appreciated the level of intensity that he brought to this course so I was surprised that they let him go without trying to keep him. Another thing, his insistence on using only scholarly sources that he defined as scholarly made the entire writing process seem more tedious at times. I had never seen a Canvas site with so many resources or guidance documents but I didn't specifically see that as overwhelming, in fact I thought most everything posted was useful. At least he offered early submission bonus points for the completed paper.
Mark Croatti PLCY630 Expecting an A Anonymous 11/05/2024	With Professor Croatti's guidance my reform paper was published in the graduate student journal and then because of that, it helped me earn a promotion at my part-time job. He is a professor who cares not only about what we write but how we write it, how we support our ideas and the quality of the sources that we use. He constantly offered advice on how to sharpen my paper's focus and making sure that all of the parameters for each stage were followed to the letter, even if it meant evening Zoom sessions instead of in-person meetings, which I appreciated his setting aside the time for. I had not learned how to cite to the level he insisted on until this course and although it wasn't easy, I am glad that I use this type of professional formatting because I want to write for a living and I believe that the skills I've acquired in this course will be invaluable.
Mark Croatti PLCY630 Anonymous 08/31/2024	This is graduate school. For graduate students, not freshmen. The course is advertised as a discussion-based public policy seminar, not a lecture-style symposium. The written assignments are called memos in the syllabus, not term papers. Yet, the memos are actually multiple, term paper-length assignments.
Mark Croatti PLCY688E Expecting an A- Anonymous 08/31/2024	An overwhelming emphasis on writing skills which for me weren't strong to begin with but they improved after this course since the structure was focused on developing the papers. It seemed like the class was intended to be one big office hours meeting, which didn't leave a lot of time for covering the material in the assigned chapters.
Mark Croatti PLCY630 Expecting an A- Anonymous 08/29/2024	Who assigns multiple papers with deadlines only weeks apart in graduate school? It takes time and energy and thought to put these things together. And what's the point of having to meet with your teams every single week of the semester if the team presentation isn't until the very end? The use of groups for so many different tasks seemed unusual. We had to meet every class for a few minutes to talk about the readings scheduled for that day as if we hadn't done them yet. I don't know any other course I've taken were group activities took up so much time. The presentations that groups give at the end can be planned within minutes, there is no need to spend so much time during the semester on a project that is worth such a small percentage of the grade.
Mark Croatti PLCY711 Expecting an A Anonymous 08/29/2024	This was an independent study that I recently took as a summer course because he was the only one who would teach it. Because of that structure, the time frame for paper completions could be extended. I recommend that for anyone who needs more time with assignments.
Mark Croatti PLCY630 Expecting an A Anonymous 08/29/2024	ok I've had worse overall instructors but the biggest gripe by far that I had with this guy was the absolute insistence on using Chicago-style formatting to the point of obsession. Why only them? Why not MLA or Little Brown Reader or any one of a number of equivalent styles? Doesn't he think we've learned professional formatting at this stage of our academic careers? Chicago-style in the syllabus, Chicago-style on Blackboard, endless links to Chicago-style, more announcements about Chicago-style, constant reminders about Chicago-style, I got it, we all got it, enough is enough! Chicago-style is not the only formatting style out there and I don't understand why any of the others can't be used, it was so endless so repetitive it got to the point where I wondered if I had to use Chicago-style just to send him an email. Written assignments should be graded on content, the argument, answering all of the parts that he demands and less insistence on narrow rules and overbearing requirements and all of the other annoying aspects that he harps on when this was supposed to be a straight forward class on policy formation. If the course had more flexibility I think a lot of the people that gave him such a hard time would have been more cooperative. Speaking for myself, I have always flourished when my professors gave me the ability to be creative and didn't interfere with my writing style, let alone encapsulate the assignments within rigid boundaries. It is such a relief to be done with this class.
Mark Croatti PLCY752 Expecting an A Anonymous 08/29/2024	I also took the negotiations class where he went on and on about how he negotiated this and wrote that and consulted for the government and met famous people like it all somehow related to the material.
Mark Croatti PLCY630 Expecting an A- Anonymous 08/28/2024	A very restricted definition of what is "scholarly". The allowable Internet sources are like 1% of what's available online. No office hours except late at night after class.
Mark Croatti PLCY752 Expecting an A Anonymous 08/28/2024	Took the Conflict Resolution and Negotiations class online. It met all day for just a few weeks. It was mostly exams and some group work. But it did oddly have a multiple-choice test.
Mark Croatti PLCY630 Expecting an A Anonymous 08/28/2024	He is an adjunct who is rarely assigned to an in-person class but he had been teaching 630 on campus for someone on leave who has now returned, thank God!
Mark Croatti PLCY630 Expecting a B Anonymous 08/27/2024	multiple assignments every week that take the whole semester to complete. one after another, extremely time consuming. had not taken a class like this before.
Mark Croatti PLCY630 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 08/27/2024	An exhausting class. I don't know if anyone got an A.
Mark Croatti PLCY630 Expecting an A Anonymous 08/03/2024	Mark Croatti was finally let go by UMD after what was the worst class I have ever endured in a University. Mark has absolutely zero knowledge or wisdom on anything related to public policy and taught this class with the intention of fueling his ego and hearing his own voice. It was pathethic listening to him berate students projects in front of the class and talk over them while they defended themselves. His grading criteria made no sense, not even to Judy, the UMD librarian who was meant to help us with the project who glumly said she has never seen such criteria. He graded arbitratily, with no consistency, rhyme, or reason between grades given to students. He also insulted students with accomodations and said “they do not apply to his class.” It is a shame UMD even allowed this man to finish the semester. He should not be allowed to teach.
Mark Croatti PLCY630 Expecting an A Anonymous 07/16/2024	Professor Croatti assigns a standard three-part major policy progression paper: 1) What's the problem and why, 2) Who the stakeholders are on both sides, and 3) What should be done based on based practices at home and abroad. His PowerPoint lectures are a mix of textbook chapters, online readings, and case studies, with Zoom guest speakers ranging from current and former legislators to foreign and domestic lobbyists (including a woman who is trying to get raw milk legalized at the state and national level). Classes often consists of him taking a small portion of time to walk us through a number of preparatory, smaller assignments leading up to the major paper including obstacles, common mistakes, and tips for improvement based on our individual progress (I found this very helpful). His PowerPoint slides are intended to provoke policy discussions for and against particular courses of action. Real issues in the news are invoked to demonstrate how a contemporary policy originated. He offers extra credit for voluntary briefings at embassies and international organizations like the European Union to hear how policies are created in other countries as well as their ideas for addressing American problems. While the large size of the class meant that not all of us got to ask a question at every class, he makes himself available on Zoom and before and after class. He's a published writer, having written on Forever Chemicals and the Maryland State Pension system, so his writing advice certainly has credibility but I think it would have been nice to have a full sample paper on Canvas for each stage of the assignment and I also would have liked actual guest speakers and not always just people on Zoom) but overall, I really enjoyed this course and learned a great deal!
Mark Croatti PLCY630 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/28/2024	Professor Croatti assigns a standard three-part major policy progression paper: 1) What's the problem and why it's a problem (including a "two-way progression" style of cause and effect, 2) Who the stakeholders are on both sides, for and against, and 3) What policy would make incremental or even major progress based on based practices at home and abroad. His PowerPoint lectures are a mix of textbook readings, online readings, and case studies from his own experience, with Zoom guest speakers ranging from current and former legislators and foreign and domestic lobbyists, including a woman who is trying to get raw milk legalized at the state and national level. Classes often consists of him taking a small portion of time to walk us through a number of preparatory, smaller assignments leading up to the major paper including real time discussions regarding similar obstacles, common mistakes, and tips for improvement, based on each student's individual progress (I found this very helpful). His PowerPoint slides are intended to provoke policy discussions for and against particular courses of action and many times real issues in the news are invoked to demonstrate how a contemporary policy originated. He even offers extra credit by taking students on voluntary trips to embassies and international organizations like the European Union, where diplomats provide briefings on how their country's policies were generated. I had never been to a foreign embassy before so I found it fascinating to hear how policies are created in other countries as well as their ideas for addressing American problems (he brings his undergraduates, too). While the size of the class (25 students, which is big for a graduate course) meant that not all of us got to ask a question at every class, he makes himself available on Zoom and before and after class to make sure we know how to approach the major policy paper. He's a published writer, having written on Forever Chemicals and the Maryland State Pension system, so his writing advice certainly has credibility but I think it would have been nice to have a full sample paper on Canvas for each stage of the assignment and I also would have liked actual guest speakers and not always just people on Zoom, although I understand traveling to College Park is not easy for everyone (although it would have been nice) but overall, I really enjoyed this course and learned a great deal!
Mark Croatti PLCY630 Expecting an A Anonymous 10/25/2023	Taking this course with this professor is one of my biggest regrets in life. The classes are 2.5 hours of him either doing rambling on about nothing for no reason such as the evolution of milk. Or he will spend the entire class grading our assignments in front of the entire class. We have spent multiple classes having him go to each one of us and ask us to show him our assignments and he grades them in front of everyone. So during this time everyone in the class not being graded must sit there and listen to him ramble about each of our assignments. He won't even allow us to use our computers to make something productive happen during class. We have spent maybe 20% of our classes going over anything slightly related to policy. Most of our time is spent watching him grade because his grading things at home would be asking too much. This is not even the worst part of his class, the worst part is his criteria on assignments and citations. I am in grade school I know what is a scholarly source and what isn't but he adds 18 more specifics on what can and can't be used. He has a vendetta against all online publications and refuses to accept the fact that if something isn't printed it can still be accurate. This is all made worse by his constant reminders that he is a great writer and that he is teaching us the only proper way to write. All the master's students must sit there and listen to him talk about our poor writing skills.