student tools
letter of recommendation request form
Any current or former student of mine is welcome to request a letter of recommendation from me for purposes of graduate school or job application. All students who request letters of recommendation will have to fill out the following form for me to consider the request. Requesting students must fill out one form per letter requested (so if you are applying to two or more schools or prospective employers you will fill this form out multiple times). This form must be submitted at least 20 days before the application due date.
I rarely write letters for students who have taken fewer than two courses with me and have never worked in my museum or lab. Please give that thought before you take the time to fill out the linked form. Also, you should probably reconsider requesting a letter of recommendation from me for academic programs if the average grade across all of the courses you have taken with me is lower than a B minus. Finally, you should not request a letter of recommendation from me if I have formally cited you for disciplinary or plagiarism issues in any of my courses.
student feedback links
Did my course change your worldview or your life in some way? Could my course or my lectures use a little improvement? Do you want to sing my praises to the world? Do you want to let me know how you think my courses can be less boring? There are lots of ways to let me (and the world) know how you feel. I list some methods below, provide links, and explain the impact of each mode of review and its usefulness.
RateMyProfessors.com (RMP)
The RMP site is entirely public, allowing anyone anywhere to view your thoughts on my courses. Students mostly read these to get a sense for the professor and course. Some are hoping to see that the course will be exciting or challenging, others are hoping to read that the course they’re interested in is “easy.” I don’t read these for suggestions as to how to change the course since they aren’t laid out in a way that easily allows me to do so. If you have suggestions for how I might change any course of mine that you have taken and you want me to do something about it asap, please use the “Anonymous Feedback Form” (linked below) to let me know.
CSUEB Internal Evaluations
The text of these evaluations are not made public, but they are considered by my superiors in evaluation of my job performance for purposes of job retention and promotion. That is the case for every CSUEB faculty member you evaluate using this form, so please evaluate us carefully. If you are really excited about a course, don’t be afraid to let your scores reflect that. If you are really disappointed in a course, you should feel free to express that disappointment, but try to be as specific as possible about what didn’t work. I don’t get these until the start of the next term, so if there’s something you’re unhappy with, you should let me know by through the “Anonymous Feedback Form” (linked below) so I can address it immediately.
Prof. Gonzalez Anonymous Feedback Form
Is there something about my course that you want me to address as soon as possible? Is there something you love about the course, but prefer to say so anonymously? Please use the linked form to do so. It is 100% anonymous and goes directly to my email inbox. I make these notifications my highest priority when considering course modifications, even during the term.