Holly Roberts | PlanetTerp

Information	Review
Holly Roberts BSST340 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/05/2024	This professor is INCREDIBLE!! She is incredibly engaging in class. Holly has a great sense of humor that helped to mitigate the stress of serious national security topics, is very very qualified (a great resource for any questions), and is an amazing public speaker. I was able to learn a lot about how to give a good speech just by watching and listening to her speaking in class. The assigned readings and quizzes are HELPFUL so DO THEM!!! Some of my classmates complained about not understanding how to write a speech, but when I asked them if they had done the readings or looked at the assignment form in Canvas (which literally lays out STEP-BY-STEP how to do it), none of them had. Not only do the readings apply to the assignments, but they also provided helpful insight on how to be a better speaker in general. Reading about how to stay calm while giving a presentation may seem silly at first, but I genuinely learned so much in the readings alone that I now incorporate in all of my classes and interviews. My only caution though is DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS IF YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT NATIONAL SECURITY TOPICS. It seems silly to say, but 5+ people dropped the class on the first day because they just thought it sounded cool and didn't actually want to learn about how to give a policy briefing or current intelligence briefing because it would never actually apply to their aspired lines of work. Overall, 5/5, totally recommend! It was one of my favorite classes and Holly is, by far, one of my favorite professors.
Holly Roberts BSST340 Expecting an A Anonymous 03/12/2024	Pretty solid class. If you're interested in politics or policymaking definitely take this class, as the whole class is basically simulating different roles in government. Roberts was a great lecturer, as she kept the class somewhat engaged for the full 3 hours. However, she was weird about some things, such as the time she gave everyone in the class a 0 on part of an assignment because nobody knew how to cite. It's also weird that it's a 300 level course for Freshman Connection, as there was quite a bit of work. Nonetheless the class was a lot of fun and gives you a small high school class-type feel. Definitely recommend.
Holly Roberts BSST340 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/18/2023	I would recommend not to take this unless you are specifically interested in the area of study she is teaching.
Holly Roberts BSST340 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/09/2023	Genuinely top tier professor. Loved the class and the way it was taught. Yes there are a healthy amount of long research papers but that's expected in a 300 level course. If you have a genuine passion for national security/think you may pursue it as a career, this is definitely a course for you. Yes it may be difficult at times, but if you work hard an A is very doable.
Holly Roberts BSST340 Expecting a B Anonymous 11/30/2023	Lectures are informative with slides to accompany them. Professor Roberts is a great speaker and always makes her lectures as engaging as possible. However, I was disappointed with the lack of instruction for major assignments. Professor Roberts did not give us clear instruction; instead, she posted poor past student examples under the "Files" section of ELMS. She avoids answering questions if asked and is a very harsh grader, which doesn't pair well with the few guidelines she set out. I spent hours on every paper and still received Cs despite making the changes she suggested. She gives out very little partial credit, also; if you fail to do something once, then large amounts of points are deducted. The workload is very, very heavy (understandable since it's a 300-level course) with a large speech/paper every few weeks and numerous quizzes and other assignments given out weekly. Overall, not a great course to take your first semester, especially as a Freshman Connection student. Although I learned some, I felt lost and unintelligent for the entire semester because of BSST340.
Holly Roberts BSST340 Expecting a B Anonymous 01/16/2023	it's definitely worth noting that this class is a 300-level course and feels like it the entire time. I wouldn't take this as an alternative to other professional speaking classes if you aren't interested in national security and press briefings and things like that. The first assignment is the heaviest one- a ten-page paper and presentation on the paper- but once you get through that, the class isn't so bad. She's a nice woman who knows what she's talking about, but she grades harshly on papers. Heads up, buy professional clothing before you take the class.

Holly Roberts
BSST340

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/05/2024

This professor is INCREDIBLE!! She is incredibly engaging in class. Holly has a great sense of humor that helped to mitigate the stress of serious national security topics, is very very qualified (a great resource for any questions), and is an amazing public speaker. I was able to learn a lot about how to give a good speech just by watching and listening to her speaking in class. The assigned readings and quizzes are HELPFUL so DO THEM!!! Some of my classmates complained about not understanding how to write a speech, but when I asked them if they had done the readings or looked at the assignment form in Canvas (which literally lays out STEP-BY-STEP how to do it), none of them had. Not only do the readings apply to the assignments, but they also provided helpful insight on how to be a better speaker in general. Reading about how to stay calm while giving a presentation may seem silly at first, but I genuinely learned so much in the readings alone that I now incorporate in all of my classes and interviews. My only caution though is DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS IF YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT NATIONAL SECURITY TOPICS. It seems silly to say, but 5+ people dropped the class on the first day because they just thought it sounded cool and didn't actually want to learn about how to give a policy briefing or current intelligence briefing because it would never actually apply to their aspired lines of work. Overall, 5/5, totally recommend! It was one of my favorite classes and Holly is, by far, one of my favorite professors.

Holly Roberts
BSST340

Expecting an A
Anonymous
03/12/2024

Pretty solid class. If you're interested in politics or policymaking definitely take this class, as the whole class is basically simulating different roles in government. Roberts was a great lecturer, as she kept the class somewhat engaged for the full 3 hours. However, she was weird about some things, such as the time she gave everyone in the class a 0 on part of an assignment because nobody knew how to cite. It's also weird that it's a 300 level course for Freshman Connection, as there was quite a bit of work. Nonetheless the class was a lot of fun and gives you a small high school class-type feel. Definitely recommend.

Holly Roberts
BSST340

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/18/2023

I would recommend not to take this unless you are specifically interested in the area of study she is teaching.

Holly Roberts
BSST340

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/09/2023

Genuinely top tier professor. Loved the class and the way it was taught. Yes there are a healthy amount of long research papers but that's expected in a 300 level course. If you have a genuine passion for national security/think you may pursue it as a career, this is definitely a course for you. Yes it may be difficult at times, but if you work hard an A is very doable.

Holly Roberts
BSST340

Expecting a B
Anonymous
11/30/2023

Lectures are informative with slides to accompany them. Professor Roberts is a great speaker and always makes her lectures as engaging as possible. However, I was disappointed with the lack of instruction for major assignments. Professor Roberts did not give us clear instruction; instead, she posted poor past student examples under the "Files" section of ELMS. She avoids answering questions if asked and is a very harsh grader, which doesn't pair well with the few guidelines she set out. I spent hours on every paper and still received Cs despite making the changes she suggested. She gives out very little partial credit, also; if you fail to do something once, then large amounts of points are deducted. The workload is very, very heavy (understandable since it's a 300-level course) with a large speech/paper every few weeks and numerous quizzes and other assignments given out weekly. Overall, not a great course to take your first semester, especially as a Freshman Connection student. Although I learned some, I felt lost and unintelligent for the entire semester because of BSST340.

Holly Roberts
BSST340

Expecting a B
Anonymous
01/16/2023

it's definitely worth noting that this class is a 300-level course and feels like it the entire time. I wouldn't take this as an alternative to other professional speaking classes if you aren't interested in national security and press briefings and things like that. The first assignment is the heaviest one- a ten-page paper and presentation on the paper- but once you get through that, the class isn't so bad. She's a nice woman who knows what she's talking about, but she grades harshly on papers. Heads up, buy professional clothing before you take the class.