University of Rhode IslandAcademics Summary

Written by Anthony aRusso

Anthony aRusso

Hometown

Johnston, RI

Major

Journalism

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Teachers are an important aspect in everyone’s academic career. Since URI is a pretty big school with around 14,000 undergraduate students, classrooms range in size. Students will find themselves in lectures with more than 500 students, classrooms with less than 20 students, and everywhere in between. Some agree that it is harder to get to know and like a professor in a large lecture setting, but within a smaller classroom setting, there’s more of an opportunity to build a personal student-teacher relationship. Every student is different and needs to figure out what setting works best for them. However, no matter how big the class is, every teacher makes an effort to be available for all students. Teachers encourage students to go to their office hours and correspond through e-mail—some even give out their home phone numbers and/or cell phone numbers. In college, it is up to students to contact their teachers in order to figure out how to improve their studies. 

Most professors are strict about attendance, especially in smaller classes. Make-up exams are only allowed in serious situations, but everything is debatable. Overall, teachers at URI are here to teach. One of the most frustrating things that students deal with is not being able to get into the classes they need. Many students aren’t able to graduate in four years because they fall behind in classes or don’t take enough credits each semester—15 credits each semester will get you to graduation on time. Taking four to six years to graduate is not uncommon for most URI students.