Information | Review |
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Jim Golden
COMM107 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/21/2024 |
If you participate and ask questions, he'll like you. He shows up late to class often and is very sassy. Is very slow to respond to emails which is frustrating. I wouldn't skip class as he has assignments that have you turn in a simple answer that is due by the end of class time. There are 4 main presentations in this class and a bunch of little random buffer assignments/quizzes. The group presentation is the worst because you don't get to choose your partners, he uses a random generator. MAKE SURE YOU PRACTICE MULTIPLE TIMES WITH YOUR GROUP! It will legit show if you don't. He follows the schedule so look at that to avoid any surprises. He is one of those professors who is easily sidetracked if you bring up a side topic. Do with that info what you will. The textbook was $40. |
Jim Golden
COMM107 Anonymous 05/16/2024 |
He is a nice guy and will chat you up however he takes his class so seriously and will think its your most important class. He boosts his own ego almost every class by giving you a speech on why public speaking is so important. Doesn't allow notecards, and you cant have anything to time yourself and there's no clock in the classroom so no way to know if you're going over or undertime. There's an activity to submit every class and he doesn't accept it if you submitted it but weren't in class. I didn't learn anything useful or new. He grades kind of harshly sometimes too. Lovesssss student athletes because he was one. |
Jim Golden
COMM107 Anonymous 05/10/2024 |
He pushes you, and it's good. Oral Communication is an important skill, whether you like it or not. But if you are a lazy student and want an easy A, this isn't it... stay away. |
Jim Golden
COMM107 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/10/2024 |
Great guy, bad professor. If he is your only option, you will be just fine. You just have to put in more effort than most other COMM107 classes. You don't get to time your speeches in class and only get one notecard. He is very particular about weird things, so be accountable. He is very kind and personable, but for example, for our group speech (which we didn't get to pick our groups,) we did a jeopardy to choose our topic and date, and it was the most frustrating thing in the world. Not fair in the slightest bit, and the questions were like based on 90s TV shows that we never watched. If you can take someone else, take someone else. |
Jim Golden
COMM107 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 04/29/2024 |
A level 100 gen ed treated like the most important class you're taking. I understand that public speaking is a good skill to have, but Golden expects every presentation given to be treated as sacred. It's wildly impractical and he will attempt to set you up to look dumb, especially when he has the chance to do a Q&A. A handful of these reviews say he really cares about his students, but that's only true for the approximately three people whose names he remembers. I was given the wrong feedback for major assignments, and he didn't figure out who I was until the last two months of the semester. This is the only level 100 course I've taken at UMD since transferring, and it was easily my least favorite class of all time. |
Jim Golden
COMM107 Expecting a B Anonymous 04/18/2024 |
The only class I truly dreaded attending this semester. Golden has an intensity that probably comes from his experience with general public speaking, which is all well and good, but it makes for a painful class experience. He is horrible with communication, and while he is nice in person he has a fun habit of pretending he knows who you are and will then respond to emails as though he's never spoken to you in your life, four business days after you sent them. I received the wrong feedback for major assignments, and was generally frustrated with the way he runs his class. Even with his notoriously harsh grading, I will say it's not difficult to get a decent grade, but there are tons of tiny assignments that can get hard to keep track of and will stack up against you after awhile. Additionally, he treats a beginner, Gen Ed class like it should be your absolute top priority. After one presentation we were all lectured at length about how the highest score was a 93, and thus we clearly weren't pushing ourselves hard enough and should be dedicating more time to it, regardless of whatever other classes we were struggling with. His energy just never really fit the course. |
Jim Golden
COMM107 Expecting an A Anonymous 04/15/2024 |
Golden is a harsh grader but if you actually try and do the work you will be fine. That is not why I felt the need to review him though. This man will purposefully make fun of certain students both in the class he is teaching as well as students in other classes. Extremely unprofessional especially given the fact he always reminds us about how "the real work works". Personally, I think the reason that Professor Golden teaches is because he likes to play god. He wastes so much time in every class talking about random stories that have nothing to do with comms and then we get yelled at for not turning in good work. Maybe if we had some time to work in class then we would turn in better work and turn it in on time. He also thinks that he is relatable and cool but he is not. He also played extreme favorites. He LOVES athletes so if you are one then maybe take his class. Some athletes in my class show up late every single day and their presentations were clearly not practiced or planned and they still do fine. Ridiculous. Save yourself the time and energy and switch out of his class. Nothing is worth dealing with him. |
Jim Golden
COMM107 Anonymous 03/05/2024 |
Lectured people about you choose an 8am time to lock in then proceeded to show up late every class. |
Jim Golden
COMM107 Expecting a B- Anonymous 12/17/2023 |
Professor Golden is very nice and if you want to truly learn about communicating and interview skills he's your guy. However if you're just looking for an easy gen ed and thinking this will be a gpa booster you better think again. He's very strict about how the presentations are done and because of his experience notices even the small mistakes and believe me he WILL take points off for them. Just try to stay within the time limit (something I struggled with but that's my fault) because 3 points are taken off for every 10 seconds over time which can add up and talk to him after or before class and get to know him because he is a cool guy. |
Jim Golden
COMM107 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/14/2023 |
Not worth |
Jim Golden
COMM107 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/13/2023 |
To me, a five-star review is when a professor genuinely cares about their students' success and tries to make them better at whatever is being taught, and this is exactly how Professor Golden is. Its true that his Comm class is more difficult than the others, but there is a reason for this. Its not because he is unfair, but rather because he wants you to put in the work and become better at public speaking. If you put in the effort, you will get a good grade and also gain very useful public speaking skills. Professor Golden is funny and keeps class interesting, and although he can be a little sassy sometimes, I really enjoyed having him as a professor. |
Jim Golden
COMM107 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/12/2023 |
Great guy, terrible teacher. He's generally a nice guy and there was a really positive environment in the classroom, but I didn't learn anything really. He jokes around a lot, and he makes an effort to get to know all the students. I actually enjoyed showing up to class. But in terms of the coursework, it was basically the opposite. He grades pretty harshly, and the 'lectures' he gives in class aren't super helpful. Communication was (ironically) pretty poor, to the point where I was told that I would be presenting in the middle of class on a particular day, but I was actually presenting first on that day, and wasn't mentally prepared for it. You'll need to practice quite a bit for an A, but if you're fine with a B you can get away without much practice. |
Jim Golden
COMM107 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/07/2023 |
While Golden's grading can be a bit stricter than other professors, he is kind and really teaches you how to be a better presenter. If you're looking for an easy gen-ed class, he may not be for you, but if you don't mind putting in a little work, I'd say its worth it. He is also a bit of a character, which I enjoyed, but may not be everyone's cup of tea. |
Jim Golden
COMM107 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/01/2023 |
Professor Golden is genuinely one of my favorite professors I've ever had. Sure, I'll admit that he is a harder teacher than most of the other COMM107 instructors and that he grades more rigorously. BUT, every class period is a blast with him and it's always a good time to joke around with him. He loves the students that play off of his humor and interacting with him genuinely puts me in a good mood and sets my day off positively. |
Jim Golden
COMM107 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 11/27/2023 |
Professor Golden is an amazing guy and really knows how to connect a classroom of strangers. He's funny, engaging, and conversational, to the point where you forget he's a professor. However, he's a pretty harsh grader and treats this class like his baby, but that's also what makes him a good professor. The class requires practically no work outside of class(besides a weekly 2-question quiz), and there aren't any exams, just presentations that weigh a good portion of your grade. As long as you treat this class like any other class you care about, you will be fine. |
Jim Golden
COMM107 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/14/2023 |
Its incredible how many of the other reviews are so salty about actually being pushed to grow and develop in a subject instead of being just an easy A while learning nothing. The fact is that a lot of people just cant do public speaking, myself included, and will go up in front of a room full of people and start mumbling or deliver a presentation dryer than a popeyes biscuit. Professor Golden actually pushes you to improve, and really holds you to a high standard, but he really knows his stuff and is probably the best teacher you can get if you want to actually get better. He's a public speaking coach for high society big shot type professionals and has tons of connections around campus, and more generally has a lot of life advice too beyond just public speaking. He really wants to see all his students succeed, and also will build personal bonds with students. Best advice for Golden is to show up to class early, apply yourself and really intend to improve, and you will see dramatic changes in your speaking ability. The only bad things about the class were the excessive grade hits for going over or under time (3 points for every 10 seconds), and the quizzes were just true or false questions on verbatim sentences from the textbook that made it necessary to have the textbook (but not to read it). Please just find the textbook on libgen, its the wrong edition but it has all the same content and still works fine for the quizzes. Overall, stop being so stuck up about your GPA and just take his class to actually get good at presenting and talking to people, it WILL help you get connections and network far more than a 0.1 point higher GPA would. |
Jim Golden
COMM107 Expecting a B- Anonymous 05/11/2023 |
I don't know why so many people rated him so low. They are just dramatic. This man is easily the best teacher I have ever had in my life. You can tell he cares about his students a lot. He remembers personal stories and things like that so you know he cares. He is an easy grader if you do the work. He doesn't take off points for stuttering, and stuff like that. I expected a B- and I got a 97%. |
Jim Golden
COMM107 Expecting a B Anonymous 05/07/2023 |
He is a nice person and fun to talk to, but he is not treating this class as a beginning communications class. Everything was graded very harshly and you will need to put in a good deal of work to meet his requirements for a good grade. If you are in a hard major and do not have time to prioritize a gen-ed I would recommended taking any other teacher. Literally anyone else but him. He likes to talk about himself most of the class and randomly tells us personal details about himself that I rather not hear about. Then tells us we are like his group therapy when he rants about random topics every morning. |
Jim Golden
COMM107 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 04/27/2023 |
If you want an easy grade don’t take this professor |
Jim Golden
COMM107 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 04/18/2023 |
Most of his class is taken up by his personal stories and teachings. Most of the quizzes are pretty easy and are based off the textbook which is expected to be read outside of class. Other than that he's a horrible professor, he expects every talk to be some TEDx talk and grades very harshly, he has a huge ego and is never wrong, if you ever have problems with an assignment he will not help you fix it. He loves to hear himself talk, and is extremely sassy. Literally the first assignment was writing about his autobiography, if that's not a red flag for a professor than idk. just dont't take this professor. |
Jim Golden
COMM107 Expecting a B- Anonymous 04/12/2023 |
please do not take this teacher, very harsh, very strict, expects you to make a speech like MLK. Very sassy, please do not take this teacher |
Jim Golden
COMM107 Expecting an A+ terpyMuncher 01/06/2023 |
The reviews for the year 2022 for Golden was quite bad as you can see at the bottom. Not going to make excuses for the man. He can actually be a bit sassy at times and does love to hear himself talk unfortunately. If you are the shy type, you might not even like his class because he could randomly pick on you and put you on the spot, asking questions like "where you got your shirts from or what it means". But all in all, he actually cares about his students and his job and holds you to a higher standard. He is also really nice and willing to help if you are struggling. If you want an easy A, do not even take this class for real, but if you want to step outside your comfort zone for public speaking, then take his class |
Jim Golden
COMM107 Expecting an A kouchu 12/23/2022 |
I'm literally on my hands and knees begging do not take this professor. He does not care about his students (like he claims to) and is a very harsh grader. He has no sympathy for his students and we literally get one singular note card and only one side of it. His class is boring and didn't learn a single thing. Do me a favor and stay far far away pls and thank you. |
Jim Golden
COMM107 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/20/2022 |
Bruh pls dont take. He makes it hard for no reason. Take literally ANYONE ANYONE ANYONE else. This is comm, not the grammys plsss |
Jim Golden
COMM107 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/14/2022 |
Golden expects your speeches to be at least as good as Martin Luther King's "I have a Dream" speech. You have to memorize your entire speech or else you lose points for "not maintaining eye contact." He is completely unreasonable and has double standards. He wastes half the class giving a lecture about some irrelevant life lesson. He loves to talk about himself. Avoid him at all costs. |
Jim Golden
Anonymous 08/26/2022 |
Prof Golden is very demanding and will expect you treat this course as your sole purpose of life. If you want easy A's, avoid him. |
Jim Golden
COMM107 Anonymous 08/24/2022 |
Avoid this SOB at all costs! I don’t get all the views at the bottom saying he is a “nice guy”. Mr. Golden is a very rude, arrogant, and narcissistic individual who will eat you alive. He is a harsh grader, grifter, and adopts all sort of weird policies that make this gen ed unnecessarily harder so you can be “professional”. Also he acts like a department dean of Harvard while he is just a salaried lecturer. |
Jim Golden
COMM107 Anonymous 08/03/2022 |
Class is easy enough to pass but his attitude is what made the class unbearable. It is very clear he loves to hear himself talk and was very rude to students if they did not say something agreeable to him. He's not considerate at all and won't admit to when he makes mistakes and spends entire class periods talking about himself. There were a couple online quizzes that were straight out of the textbook but other than that the only assignments were the 3 speeches we had to make about whatever we wanted, and one of them was a group speech. If you are okay with a rude professor if you want to get in easy A, then this class is it. But I would recommend looking anywhere else. |
Jim Golden
COMM107 Expecting a C+ Anonymous 05/31/2022 |
He isn't a bad teacher just not the most considerate. He spends a lot of class time talking about his personal experiences and life advice, it's relevant but not worth talking about almost every day. His grading is pretty harsh and he has an "I accept no excuse except the one I have no say in" attitude. He has clear favorites in his classes and you won't really improve unless you meet up with him or other professors outside of class time. The class is passible but I recommend other professors. |
Jim Golden
COMM107 Expecting a B- Anonymous 05/21/2022 |
He’s a nice professor and knows what he’s teaching, but he is not considerate at all toward his students. He is also very strict when it comes to grading the speeches, points will be taken off if your hands are in ur pockets for a couple minutes, and even if u submit an assignment 5 minutes late he will not accept. |
Jim Golden
COMM107 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/27/2021 |
He has clear expectations and can be a bit sassy at times but as long as you follow the rubric and stay within the time frame for your speeches, you will do well in his class. If you are having trouble, just talk to him because he will try to help you out. |
Jim Golden
COMM107 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/21/2021 |
Professor Golden was not my favorite. He can be sassy and tough on students, but honestly as long as you do what the rubric says and show effort he will give you an A. As someone who is not enthused about presentational speaking, I dreaded his class at times. I managed to get an A but it definitely required a lot of work. If you go up to him in class and ask him questions about your speech he is very willing to help, which is nice. |
Jim Golden
COMM107 Anonymous 12/18/2021 |
Golden is very energetic and you'll never find yourself bored in his class. He is truly passionate about what he does and cares about each students' future. You should get an A as long as you follow the rubric and stay within the time limit. |
Jim Golden
COMM107 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/11/2021 |
The best professor ever, fairly easy class if you follow within the rubric. |
Jim Golden
COMM107 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/14/2020 |
Such an amazing personable guy, only complaint is he gave out different grades for a group assignment that we worked on evenly but aside from that he ensures that your grade is good and makes the class super fun. I recommend taking him |
Jim Golden
COMM107 Expecting an A- Anonymous 04/06/2019 |
Good professor, but not very easy. You will improve as a speaker if you take him, but your GPA might take a small knock. |