Thaddeus W. Usowicz

Mr. Usowicz is a unique individual. Sometimes, he can be very kind and understanding; other times, he can make a distasteful, sometimes racial, joke at your expense. Not to worry, however, he is typically the only one laughing.  His class is not one youd enjoy if you are here to learn. His lectures are a chaos and he rambles on about everything else except the required material. Expect to stay in class until the very end. Do take Mr. Usowicz class only if the following are true: -You know this stuff pretty well and need to pass the class -You like to study out of the book and do nothing in class -You would like to get an A and are able to attend 90% of his classes -You have a lot of patience I personally got a good grade and cannot complain. However, I wish I wouldve learned a little more. Hope this helps

I took this class last semester. I found this professor was very nice to students. I kept bothering him from time to time by asking questions and getting help. He always had patience with me even though he was busy. I think he was nicer comparing to some others. I like his class because it was relaxing. I will take his other class again next semester.

This teacher only tells jokes. Most students do not understand his jokes, so he is usually the only one laughing. Towards the last half of the semester, he starting lecturing the last 15 mintues of class. His lectures and notes help a little, but his big grade curve helps a lot. We had individual homework presentations that were held in his office (one by one). His time slots allowed the student to present the answers on the computer in 3 mintues average. He was in a bad mood because most students took over 3 minutes and a majority didn't know what they were doing. Standing outside his office, I heard him yelling and scolding the students that they didn't know what they were doing and such.

I think Prof. Usowicz is misunderstood by students. He's not that bad of a professor at all. I've seen worst. The topics are conceptual and I understand it could be difficult to understand. He tries his best to explain using words common to all of us. He shares his technical experience. If you have questions or you don't understand the topic, just ask and he will accommodate you (even sometimes at the expense of the rest of the class). My advise is if you register in this class, be open-minded and you have to have sense of humor. Otherwise, you'll just be bitter and blame it on the professor. Yes, his exams could be obscure but it's within the scope of the class. Homeworks are not that time-consuming nor difficult. He likes students who are actively participating (even just asking questions) and this could boost your grade up. I was fortunate to have a good group of students when I took his class in Fall 2001. Majority I've talked to acknowledged difficulty but they're not bitter nor hateful of the prof. We had our share of laughter and concerns with this class. I think everybody passed the class.

Well i have noticed he talks on about other subjects, but well i find the class interesting at least, rather than others at SFSU.

He knows his stuff, and if you are prepared for the challenge of this class, you will succeed. His quizzes reflect the relevant material, so you have to be able to abstract relevant info.

Assigment so far hasnt been so bad. Midterm was tricky.

For all you lazy ppl, its not a stroll, and yes it shouldnt be.

I like the getting involved aspect the most, its the one class where i get to be vocal, yes we get marks on participation, but its nice to have a class your involved in.

Yes the professor's jokes may not be to funny, but hey he tries. He has his own personality so thumbs up to THAD!

This is a very bad teacher. Although he tries to be a funny guy, his jokes are dumb. So far so bad. Can you think of a 60-minute class, but the instructor goes to class 30 minutes late? We study nothing in class, except hearing some foolish jokes. If you have a question, he will laugh at you. You like all kinds of these stuffs??? Take his class. If not, get away!!!

I do like Prof. Usowicz a lot. He cares about the students and does listen when you come talk to him. Unlike other BICS teachers, he likes to talk to the students and does seem to be very interested and paying attention to what the students said. I give him credits for that. Overall, he's a very nice teacher. Now, for the sad part, he is lazy and very unprofessional. Lazy being shown up for class late many times. and unprofessional for falling to sleep during his exam. Yes, he fell asleep and snored in front of the whole class while we were having the final exam. I want to give him an F, if i give him credits for being more caring than other BICS professors that i know. He is nice and very down to earth kinda guy.

This teacher does not seem to be as bad as some of the reviews that I have read. Yes, he is boring sometimes and yes, he does lack some communication skills, but he is a kind of funny guy. He tries to help the studens out and is very flexible with turning in assignments and things like that.

But beware on tests! He asks really obscure questions and he doesn't review before he gives out tests. The tests are open notes/book but that's because without the book there would be no way to know the kinds of questions that he asks. But even when you find the answer in the book it still might not be right because he thinks that the book wasn't complete enough in the answer! Go figure..

I'm on the middle road on this guy! Yes, he talks way too much about insignificant things and is way out of touch with the students. Yes, he's so unorganized he doesn't even know where his head is placed. Yes, he's late EVERY DAY, thinks the class starts at 11:10 when it starts at 11am. Yes, he's not clear at all on which direction he's going when he teaches the class. Yes, his jokes are ONLY funny to him!

I give him a passing grade because unlike most teachers in the B.A.C.S department he at least tries to help the students learn! He tries to be funny and make the class interesting, even though half the class is sleeping most of the time! He also needs to upgrade his teaching communication skills so that he's more in touch with students!

Well, I don't know what to start.... I don't really understand why all those reviewers are giving him Fs. His way of teaching may have problems sometimes (classes are like self-learning), but he's fair enough. He considers his studetns' requests (unlike someone), is helpful when we need him, understands jokes, and I personally think he is nice. I had problem understanding what I'm studying in his class, but as long as he's nice to students, that gives me strength to study. I guess I'm considering the professor's personality too much rather than the quality of class.....

I did not gained any knowledge that deal with computer application. He did not do his job well in term of providing adequate training in using powerpoint and creating our own webpage that we were suppose to learn. The overall outcome of taking his BICS class is that I did not learn any useful computer information that is suppose to be provided in the class.

Prof Usowicz is a good teacher. He cares about the students. When students do not seem to get important ideas, he repeats, maybe more than he should. He wants the students to understand the subject. He wants students to practice presenting computer type subjects in front of others, this was hard for me. He gives fair grades. In class he maybe gives students too much freedom. One problem is he gives more work to do in second part of semester, but his project forced me to understand more about business information systems.

He is one of the best professors I have had in a technical subject. He tries to get all of us students to think differently about what we are learning. The jokes and the sense of humor help relieve the stress. Those of us who catch the humor of the early weeks of a course like BICS 463 when most of it happens catch on that most of it is related to teaching points. I've heard the joke that "if you missed the point in the lecture and not read the assigned text, you will learn it now" on starting an open book exam. The student who missed this just has no sense of humor. Much of the material Prof. Usowitz covers tries to tie the student to real situations which he or she will meet on the job. If you don't want to be challenged to think about these things and to put in a lot of your own work, take easier courses.

Prof Usowicz is one of the better instructors on this campus. He knows the "stuff" that students should be expected to know. I know there are many complaints out there about his jokes and ramblings but I find those jokes rather enjoyable sometimes cause the topics can be very boring and complicated. When approached about a problem with assignments, or projects, he takes time to explain clearly and concisely if possible. The problem are the classes themselves and the topics involved. Topics included in BICS 561 are not something that can be learnt overnight and topics in BICS 463 are rather general. Therefore, his basic expectations for the class is a great deal of self-studying and discovery. Students who fail to take time to sufficiently prepare for class will find that they are mostly lost in the midst. But when you've read and still fail to understand, he will take time to answer questions. .

While it's true that Prof. Usowicz has a tendency to tell jokes and ramble a bit, he definitely knows the subject matter, is quite good at explaining it, and genuinely cares whether or not his students get it. If you think he's moving too quickly for you, try doing the reading first.

His tests are anything but difficult, and if it's not open book, you can bring in a cheat sheet of your own notes. He also provides plenty of time to complete homework assignments, and is very approachable in office hours.

One problem I've had with Prof. Usowicz both times I've had him is that he doesn't give you a clear understanding of the goals of the course and what you can expect to learn during the semester. How the current topic fits into the overall course often seems a bit fuzzy.

This guy is a very bad teacher. He does not teach you anything in the class but shows some video tapes. ( what the use of him???) He always tells students some jokes, but only himself knows what to laugh. You may think this class is easy to pass because he does not teach much. Wrong!!! His exams are very, very hard. I was being lucky to get a "B". If you want a boring class, stupid teacher and bad grade without learning anything, he is your choice!