<p>I'm planning on taking my first upper division math class here at Cal next semester and I want that class to be Math 110. The problem is the only professor that is listed is supposedly horrible. There are a few other sections but none of them have the professor announced, rather under instructor they say "The Staff". Somebody told me that that meant that a post-doc is probably going to teach the class. Is it a bad idea to go for these classes with so much ambiguity regarding who is going to be teaching me? Will they actually change the listing and announce who is actually teaching before telebears starts?</p>
<p>one of my classes last semester remained "the staff" until after classes started. turns out that a grad student was teaching the class, not a real professor. and of course it was horrible.
anyway, i don't think a grad student will teach an upper division class on his/her own. they probably just don't know who's gonna teach it yet. if the instructor remains "the staff" until your telebears starts, then it could possibly mean that a post-doc is gonna come in. if that's the case, you should be aware that they're basically random in terms of teaching skills.</p>
<p>The Staff generally means they haven't hammered down who is doing it yet. Last semester, I had German 160A and it was The Staff until the day before classes started. The guy who tought it was a very nice, avuncular German guy. Good teacher. For most upper-divs, it means they don't know exactly whose teaching it, but 90% of the time ti will be a professor or associate professor. Sections or lower Divs with THE STAFF are usually taught by GSIs or very new associate professors unless it is a large lecture.</p>
<p>If it says THE STAFF it's not going to be taught by someone by a professor-at least for all the courses I've taken with this. It can go both ways though: easy class or very hard. very good at teaching or plain bad. it never seems to be in the middle for me.</p>