Do we have to produce people like Yiwei Zheng, who apparently don’t have time to do much teaching because their business activities take up so much of their day?
Although Zheng’s philosophy writings feature deep thought about morality, he himself appears to be a liar, a smuggler, and a member of an organized crime group responsible for the killing of endangered wildlife.
Zheng, a naturalized U.S. citizen who grew up in Shanghai, China, has operated an online sales business out of his St. Cloud home called “Crouching Dragon Antiques” since 2010. On the site, Zheng has offered wildlife specimen parts for sale under the description that the items were made from “ox bone,” when they were actually suspected of being elephant ivory that was being smuggled to China, according to a federal search warrant.
There are no records of Zheng or the business ever obtaining an import-export license, or declaring any wildlife specimens upon import from any foreign country, according to the warrant.
Zheng’s business activities in buying and selling artifacts has drawn the interest of federal authorities dating back to at least 2011, when a libation cup made from Javan rhino horn was confiscated from him. Agents were alerted because the package did not have the proper documentation for import-export purposes, records show. An agent found that Zheng had illegally shipped the cup…
It’s only when you read all 83 Rate My Professors comments on Zheng that you realize how a professor could pull off running various legitimate and illegitimate businesses, traveling the world constantly, and teaching full-time. Let’s listen to his students.
Very easy course… attendance not required… easy A for sure… very easy… you can cheat on test… such an easy A… beyond easy with this prof. Take this class if you don’t want to take philosophy, no studying involved… Class said it was from 5-745 and we usually got out 615. Gave test study guide that was extremely similar to actual test. Tests were easy if you attend class. Take him if you don’t care about philosophy… Easiest class. Had him for a night class, we always finished in an hour and half AT MOST. Can use books, notes, and practice test on the actual test. No homework ever. No outside work required…. NO FINAL!… He let us out an hour and a half early EVERY TIME WE HAD CLASS… It is impossible not to pass because you get to use all your notes on the tests. I didn’t buy the book and am glad because all you need to know are in the notes you take in lecture. The course sucks, but he is the best Prof to take for it… you never have to go to class. dont buy the book- you never use it. I only went every few weeks and still got an A. He gives review before the ridiculously easy tests. kinda a waste though, i didnt learn much… Class was supposed to be 5-8 and we were always out no later than 6:30… If you’re taking this class just to get it out of the way, take him. The night class was cool because you got out an hour or two early each time… More than likely the easiest philosophy teacher possible… This class is so easy and the professor is cool as anything! =) The tests are easy, hes easy, its great. And you dont have to go to class! Ever….. . he doesn’t even notice if you’re talking on your cell phone during a test… pretty easy class get to cheat on the tests really easy to do. doesnt say anything at all when the whole class is talking. Not too much homework. doesnt want to be there anymore than you do so he makes it fast… He grades on a curve, and he adds bonus points to the tests for no reason. He is sort of a waste of time but you get an easy A. If you want that take this class!!!!…
UD doesn’t want to be unfair. Everyone has ratings they don’t like. But if you go to the trouble to read all of Zheng’s ratings over a number of years, you really have to ask why St. Cloud State University cares so little about the quality of the teaching there. Maybe if they’d put a little pressure on Zheng (doesn’t anyone there read RMP?) he wouldn’t have had time to get in all the trouble he’s now in with the federal government. Plus maybe some of their students would have learned some philosophy.
March 31st, 2015 at 10:23PM
doesn’t anyone there read RMP?
Tricky question. On the one hand, no administrator should be making decisions on the basis of reviews on RMP.
On the other hand, it does indeed seem that an institution should be aware of this sort of behavior, and RMP is one way to get wind of the behavior (though the information should be verified in some other way before it is acted upon. In this case, it doesn’t sound like that would have been hard to do — for one thing, there were all those As, and for another, there was apparently a regularly-unoccupied classroom that should have been occupied).
I’m similarly torn when it comes to hiring: it seems like checking RMP for any major red flags comes under the category of due diligence, but I also hate to think that hiring decisions might be made on the basis of RMP reviews.
April 1st, 2015 at 2:03AM
Contingent Cassandra: Absolutely. I should have said in the post that relying on RMP is a mistake; RMP should, though, be read. It should be read as part of a department’s general awareness of a faculty member’s teaching. In many cases, RMP will prove pretty superficial/useless — there are university/departmental teaching reviews, class visits, etc. But in a few cases – this guy is one of them – RMP will yield many comments, most of which go in the same troubling direction.
Of course SCSU must have been somewhat aware of the situation so many of these student commenters are describing. Why did it – apparently – shrug its shoulders?
RMP represents not only a pretty good source of information about the problem, but a public source — anyone willing to read through all of the comments can view the department’s dirty laundry. Does the department really want that?
April 1st, 2015 at 5:36AM
One bad RMP review? Very likely the work of some isolated malcontent.
Ten bad RMP reviews? Still pretty dubious as evidence.
Fifty? One hundred? Maybe this is actually a thing.
April 1st, 2015 at 5:39AM
(“Bad” of course meaning pedagogically bad. I’m sure many of the reviewers of this fellow actually felt they were giving him a good review).