By Hailey Heinz

The best class Danielle Chaplick ever took was Budgeting and Taxation. And budgets really aren’t her thing.

The senior political science major said she expected to hate the class when she signed up for it, but found that the professor, not the content, makes the class.

“He had all kinds of energy and sarcasm … he made you want to work hard and understand the material,” Chaplick said of Bruce Wallin, her Budgeting and Taxation professor.

She said part of the class’ appeal was the interactive format. Members of the class simulated Congress, and the object was to reduce the national deficit.

Although this format made the class memorable, Chaplick said it was Wallin himself who really made the difference.

“He himself is very engaging,” she said.

Wallin has twice been awarded Northeastern’s Excellence in Teaching award, which is given out annually through the Center for Effective University Teaching. He attributes the success of his teaching to enthusiasm, making material relevant to students and getting students involved.

“When students take ownership of something, and they’re excited about it and you’ve convinced them it’s important, that’s the equation,” Wallin said.

Kathy Blaszczyk, a 2002 graduate who was on campus last week helping with move-in, agreed it’s teachers that stand out in her memory. She cited Alan Schroeder of the journalism department and John Coley of the psychology department as examples.

“They seem to actually genuinely care about their students, and they remember you from class to class,” Blaszczyk said.

Coley said this attention to students is an important part of his teaching philosophy.

“I think it’s important to be genuinely interested in students,” Coley said. “I think you guys have a very good sense of when professors are really interested. You can’t pull the wool over your eyes.”

When students around campus looked back on their best professors, most said they were memorable because they had a sense of humor and made subjects relevant to real-life situations. Professors were also hailed for making classes interactive and moving beyond a basic lecture format.

Professor Michael Cottril, who teaches accounting, was one professor lauded by students as possessing these qualities. Cottril said because he teaches accounting, he has no choice but to be interesting.

“My discipline usually leaves a sour taste in people’s mouths,” Cottril said. “If you just use the curriculum, you’ll lose them very quickly. One thing I’ve been accused of, and I guess I’m proud of it, is my humor. I keep it very low-key, very laid-back.”

Although most students said their best experiences came from good teachers, for some it’s all about the content. Lionel Cruz, a middler management major, doesn’t even remember who his College Writing professor was, but he loved the class and how much he learned from it.

“It’s well worth it … you should always learn to read the right way, just the basic principles so when you’re reading the newspaper you get all the information,” Cruz said. “That’s what makes the class so great. Not exciting, but great.”

Senior finance and management information systems major Ron Corpuz had a similar experience with Introduction to Philosophy. Although he credits his professor with making the class interesting, he said the ideas behind philosophy are what made the class for him, and he would encourage any student to take it, regardless of their major.

“I think they should make it a requirement for everyone because it makes you see things differently,” Corpuz said. “They tell you so much stuff you’d never thought of before.”

Although interesting subject matter helps, Chaplick maintains that the teacher is what makes the difference. She cited another of her favorites, Andy Sum. Sum was her teacher for Poverty and Inequality, another class she wasn’t looking forward to when she signed up. She said Sum brought energy to the subject and made it about more than economics. Between Sum and Wallin, she said she believes a good teacher can make any subject interesting.

“I just named two subjects that I thought were going to be, quite candidly, absolute torture for me,” Chaplick said, “And that’s a real credit to them. Would I be saying this if I’d had a different teacher? I don’t know.”