Nari Ramarapu

Dr. Ramarapu is a no-nonsense teacher with pretty high standards. While he's approachable and friendly when you have questions about the course material, his syllabus clearly states that he won't hold your hand when it comes to using Windows. This is a course on computer networking and telecommunications; it's assumed you know Windows and at least one programming language.

There are two midterms and a final, worth 20%, 25%, and 25%, respectively. The tests are multiple choice, not tricky but thorough. There's lots to memorize.

There are some last-minute lab assignments that take two or three hours to do. They're worth 5%. Your class participation gets you another 5%.

There are two projects: a LAN design worth 12% and a two-person paper and Power Point presentation worth 8%. The LAN project is tough! You're given the layout of a hypothetical building and you must design the cable runs and decide where all the equipment is going to go. You must get prices for all the software and hardware, down to the faceplates, and prepare a bid proposal. The two-person project is a little easier. Basically, he wants you to stand up and present a technical topic because he believes doing so is a useful skill that too many students graduate without acquiring. Good for him.

This class would appeal to networking enthusiasts. If you're not one, then prepare for a good slumber. He lectures straight from the text in a monotonous tone, and depending on your taste, the subject can be really dry and boring. There are three exams, a LAN project, a group project and W2k server labs, which he thoughtlessly gave the whole class less than a week to finish. His exams are entirely based on the text. I also think that the tedious LAN project is simply beyond the scope of the class. He never covered how to design, cable and engineer a network and he expects everyone to be able to do it. On the good side, he's always willing to answer questions and tries his best to make sure the class understands the subject.

Let me start off by saying 2 midterms, 1 final, 1 15page group project, 1 15-30 page lan project. An additional group project. The assignments given will definitely help non-techy students dive-in head first into networking, and network operating systems. But, poor planning by the instructor gave little room to finish the projects. Actually, i was fine with the other projects, what did it for me was the surprise project he added at the last minute, which is a computer lab project using windows 2000 server/pro. HUGE NEGATIVE: I had no idea how i was doing in the course until i checked my grade online after the course ended. He's new, I would wait a few semesters until he gets the hang of teaching. Claims to have previous experience.

Dr. Ramarapu has good teaching skills. He has real-world experience and certainly knows what he's talking about. He tries his best to explain things without using mambo-jambo words. He encourages questions from students and is concern if you understand the subject or not. Be warned that this class is both highly conceptual and very technical. Students who have no experience on computer/networking technology will have to spend awfully a lot of time reading and understanding the topics. This class has a lot of requirements to pass. Be prepared to put in a lot of hours on LAN project, which is an individual project. Also, you will pair with someone to write a term paper (topics are provided by him) and you have to present it to the class. He also requires group homework (10 exercises to be done in computer lab, group of 6 students) near the end of semester. There are 3 exams. He is not an easy-grader either. But if you are serious in learning, you'll do fine and come out armed with technical knowledge. The class uses two books. The book you will be using the first 3/4 of the semester is easy to read and understand, not intimidating. The other book (Windows 2000 Server) I think is a rip-off. He said that it only cost him $40 but that's only if you spend a lot of time surfing the Internet for good deals. If you purchase it from amazon.com or Barnes and Noble, it costs close to $80. Beside that it's expensive, it's too bulky and heavy to carry. The book is really good if you are planning to be at least a Certified Microsoft Professional. You will find that in the class there are a lot of students who are experienced or are knowledgeable in the networking field, they will have no problem passing the class. By the way, he calls on students at random and it actually puts you on the spot.