Fresno State communication professor Jonathan Hernandez ranked fifth in the nation on RateMyProfessors.com.
The website is owned and operated by MTV’s College Network, mtvU. It is a website designed for students to rate professors, universities, junior and community colleges.
“RateMyProfessors.com is entirely student authored. The students are the ones that contribute and let us know what they need, and we help get them that information,” said Carlo DiMarco, vice president of college platform, mtvU and RateMyProfessors.com.
“The more ratings that go into it the better resource it is for students,” DiMarco said.
The rating topics consist of the location of the campus, food, clubs and opportunity to rate the professors by how helpful they were, the clarity of the teaching, easiness and even hotness.
Each year, Rate My Professors conducts a list of the highest 25-rated professors and top colleges in the U.S.
It is the first time that a Fresno State professor has made it to the top 25 list on a national level. He was notified of the news in early July, but this hasn’t been the first time Hernandez has been recognized. Back in 2013, he was rated the No. 1 professor within Fresno State and he still holds that position. Within the past two years, he’s worked his way up to the very top.
“The recognition from the students telling other people and sharing their classroom experience really means a lot to me,” said Hernandez.
“I’m very fortunate I’m in a career I love.”
Hernandez said what he does differently than other professors for students to enjoy his class is that he plays music and tries to keep them engaged and builds relationships with the students.
“When my students can actually feel that I’m respecting them and value their input, we build relationships that way,” he said. “I always tell my students that good communication you can see and hear but phenomenal communication you can feel.”
RateMyProfessors.com features more then 7,000 schools, 1.8 million professors and a total of 16 million overall ratings. The website reaches 5.5 million college students on average each month, said DiMarco.
Hernandez substitute taught for his father in his late college years where he was able to see first hand his father’s style of teaching and he looked up to that stated Hernandez.
“I feel really honored and blessed that I was raised in a home that values education and I got to learn from the very best, my mother Elizabeth and father Emilio,” said Hernandez.