Reviews for Russell E. Hamill
Average Rating:| Anonymous Course: CCJS230 Grade Expected: A- January 27, 2012, 12:57 pm | Coolest professor ever. Yes, the lecture is long. No, it doesn't feel that way. Professor Hamill does an excellent job of keeping you engaged for the whole lecture period, and lets you get dinner about halfway through. He doesn't use powerpoints which I think is great, since it forces him to "illustrate" any topics in the course by telling us stories. He's a 28-year veteran of the Montgomery County Police, so he's definitely seen it all and then some. He's accommodating and genuinely seems to care about us. The course isn't too hard. There are a few case briefs which are 5 points each and two independent studies. You can either do a police ride along, a court visit or a prison visit. You then write a paper talking about your experiences, 15 points each. Very easy 15 points. The exams were the only tough part of this class, largely because of the tricky wording the questions use sometimes. I loved taking this class and highly recommend it to anyone who's also taken CCJS100 and 105. |
| Anonymous Course: CCJS230 Grade Expected: A November 6, 2011, 5:13 pm | Hamill is GREAT! I actually really look forward to this class every week. He always has great stories and the class is very interesting. Even though it's long, the time flies by and he gives you a 15 min break in the middle of every class. He's also very accommodating and does everything he can to help you. The multiple choice tests are pretty easy and as long as you do the case briefs in the way they tell you, you'll get full credit. Seriously, this is my FAVORITE class I have taken so far at UMD and Professor Hamill is my favorite professor I've ever had. |
| terp13 Course: CCJS230 Grade Expected: B June 21, 2011, 3:07 pm | This class is really long but it's interesting. There are case briefs that you have to do each week, which are kind of confusing, but the TA's say that as long as you format it correctly, do it on the right case, don't plagarize, and don't BS it, you'll get A's on them. You need the textbook to do them. That being said, this class really depends on your TA. I had the good TA, who had everything graded the next week and kept our grades updated on a spreadsheet which she brought to class for us to look at, (although, there was never a page on blackboard where we could check our grade). The other TA graded harshly and was never there so people never knew their grades. Exams are kind of hard; tricky. But Hamill is fair and gives a curve to each exam when he finds that he gave a question that not a lot of people got. While the class is long and at a late hour(nearly 3 hours!) Hamill tells us that we knew it would be long when we signed up for it. However, class rarely goes to the end, and he gives us a break in the middle to get dinner and we can eat in the classroom. Hamill tells some interesting stories since he is a cop during the day, and exam questions are based off of his lectures and the reading that parallels his lectures. He also gives you two independent study papers to write, and he gives you the time to do it, which is nice. I went to the courts and did a police ride along. Take CCJS with Hamill! |
| Anonymous Course: CCJS230 Grade Expected: May 20, 2011, 11:44 am | Easy class. However, my TA never gave us any grades or went to class. I emailed her a lot this semester and she never even responded, so I still don't know how I even did on all the papers. Would be much better if it was on ELMS. Hamill is nice, but would be a lot better if he used a powerpoint or something. Everyone says it's an interesting class, but I thought it was really boring and too long without a powerpoint. |
| Anonymous Course: CCJS230 Grade Expected: May 16, 2011, 6:38 am | Your grade depends on three 50 question multiple choice exams and weekly homework on either 1-2 case briefs, independent study of the criminal justice system (police ride-a-long, court visit, etc) or a paper on the significance of a case (as stated from other reviewers, you can miss two of the case briefs). Get homework format/requirements squared away immediately because the syllabus isn't as straightforward as it appears to be. Also, get your book early because homework is due the second week of class and it comes from cases in the book. Some exam material will be from the book as well, so read it. The majority of material comes from voice-based lectures - Hamill explicitly states what will appear on exams as he is lecturing. There may only be a few lectures worth of material on each exam (our final exam is based on three lectures) because class will invariably be disrupted from snow or some other incident. Also, there are two "study days" where class is cancelled, so there aren't many lectures to attend. It never runs the full three hours, plus you get a decent break in the middle. You have no excuse - go to lecture. That being said, I genuinely wanted to attend class every week anyway. Hamill is the most entertaining professor I've had here at UMD - expect to laugh. However, he does get quite a lot of information across effectively in few lectures. I highly recommend Hamill's section of CCJS230. Important: keep track of your own grade because elms was not set up for this class (our semester anyway), and if you have any issues with your grade talk/email to the TA's or Hamill - they will do everything they can to get you the points. |
| terps9 Course: CCJS230 Grade Expected: A April 30, 2011, 11:16 am | This is my favorite class. I love it. I actually look forward to going to it -- and I'm the kind of person that always skips class. Take it. |
| Anonymous Course: CCJS230 Grade Expected: A December 16, 2010, 10:39 pm | Easy A. informative. you learn all modern criminal law and the history behind it, but his exams aren't too hard. he gives examples to help you remember the laws. the briefs are easy points as long as you format them correctly and don't forget your UID, plus you get to miss 2. |
| Anonymous Course: CCJS230 Grade Expected: B April 12, 2010, 9:03 am | One of my favorite teachers by far! He has so many great stories to tell that all relate with what we're talking about. He doesn't preach from the textbook which is what I like, if I wanted someone to teach me my textbook that I'm fully capable of reading I'd take a different class. Also, as an actual police officer he has real experience in the field, which is cool if that's something you are considering, or even simply considering law school. If you have the choice between Hamill and anyone else, it's definitely worth your time to take Hamill's if you can. He's that much better. There are case briefs due each week which he gives you an outline of how to do, and they aren't graded too hard, two independent study papers (write about a police ride-along, visit a correctional facility or sit-in on a court case) and then a couple exams and a final. The class is almost 3 hours long but he gives a break in the middle, and it only meets once a week, which is definitely worth it. The time will fly listening to him. |
| Anonymous Course: CCJS230 Grade Expected: B December 27, 2009, 12:25 pm | Hamill is overrated. The class is 3 hours long and he spends way too much time telling stories. They can be interesting stories sometimes, but it's not interesting when you have to read the textbook since he couldn't fit all the material into lecture. Also, the TA's are undergrad students who are incompetent when it comes to reading and grading papers, so they give you any grade they feel like making up. Even Hamill said the case briefs are an easy 50 points, but the TA's give out low grades. It would have been helpful if we were actually taught how to properly write a case brief. It was just assumed that we knew how to write one. Some of the topics in the class were interesting, but sometimes the material was repetitive and so common sense that it seemed made up. Overall, the class wasn't that great. |
| FatJesus Course: CCJS230 Grade Expected: A+ August 19, 2009, 10:23 am | The professor is a currently-serving Law Enforcement Officer with amazing inter-personal and teaching skills. The class is long and at a late hour, but for good reason. He is an actual cop with an actual job. He tells incredibly hilarious stories and relates much of his course work to his personal experience. Taking this class will allow you to appreciate Law Enforcement as people on an almost personal basis. If you take notes on everything in class and attend his classes (why wouldn't you?!), then you WILL pass his class. You learn A LOT and he makes it FUN. Not much else needed to say other than TAKE THIS CLASS RIGHT NOW! |
| levie Course: CCJS230 Grade Expected: A January 29, 2008, 2:13 pm | Great professor, very interesting class. Tells stories pretty much the entire time, and they really help you to remember the concepts when it comes time for the test. You don't need to read the book, but it definitely helps. Weekly case briefs are pretty easy and don't take too much time as long as you don't wait until an hour before class to start them. Great class, I really recommend it. |