You really need to do well on the homework, since on the project he'll take off 30-40% just because he feels like it, even if you follow the directions carefully. A bunch of people were asking him to please give any amount of justification for the final project grades, and he tells us to ask him in office hours NEXT SEMESTER, what a joke.Rate My Professors ↗
Current instructor
Michael Ferris
What students say
Original student reviews · all captured dates
Very bad academic experience in uw-madison. No clear rubric(almost 0) , harshly grading with very poor feedback. You don't even know if you have a final exam.Rate My Professors ↗
Incapable of giving proper instructions, rubrics, or fair grading. Many HW problems need to be clarified on Piazza. The project spec had a few vague bullet points, a few scribbled notes in the margins as "feedback", and yet he cut tons of points harshly. The full project reqs are also just some bullet points with no clear rubric. Abysmal professor.Rate My Professors ↗
Very bad course. Among the worst I have taken at UW-Madison. Course policies are absolute nonsense.Rate My Professors ↗
This guy's course policies are nonsense...automatic -8% on the project for working in pairs and the final exam gets held because he got mad at some people apparently copying homework code. Overall he is also bad at giving clear assignment directions.Rate My Professors ↗
Prof. Ferris is such a great person and is beyond helpful during office hours. If you use his office hours, you will succeed in this class. It is a ton of work and the homeworks are super time-consuming, but they do force you to learn. We did not have a final this semester because he cancelled it when he didn't find anyone cheating.Rate My Professors ↗
Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.
Classes with Michael Ferris
Advanced Independent Study
1–5 creditsAdvanced independent study in industrial engineering conducted under faculty supervision to support graduate-level research.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2023–Spring 2026 · limited sampleMaster's Research and Thesis
1–9 creditsMaster's Research and Thesis involves directed Master's-level research projects arranged with the instructor.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
No recorded grade history
Pre-dissertator's Research
1–9 creditsPre-Dissertator's Research involves directed PhD-level research projects arranged with a faculty advisor.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
No recorded grade history
Research and Thesis
1–6 creditsDirected PhD-level research projects in industrial engineering, arranged with a faculty advisor for thesis work.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
No recorded grade history
Recorded teaching history
Distinct courses recorded per term
Explore courses taught by this instructor →Browse recorded courses
| Term | Course | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Spring 2027 | ISYE 699 | Advanced Independent Study |
| Spring 2027 | ISYE 790 | Master's Research and Thesis |
| Spring 2027 | ISYE 890 | Pre-dissertator's Research |
| Spring 2027 | ISYE 990 | Research and Thesis |
| Fall 2026 | COMPSCI 682 | Senior Honors Thesis |
| Fall 2026 | COMPSCI 699 | Directed Study |
| Fall 2026 | COMPSCI 790 | Master's Thesis |
| Fall 2026 | COMPSCI 799 | Master's Research |
| Fall 2026 | COMPSCI 899 | Pre-dissertator Research |
| Fall 2026 | COMPSCI 990 | Dissertation |
| Fall 2026 | ISYE 699 | Advanced Independent Study |
| Fall 2026 | ISYE 790 | Master's Research and Thesis |
| Fall 2026 | ISYE 890 | Pre-dissertator's Research |
| Fall 2026 | ISYE 990 | Research and Thesis |
Teaching history may be incomplete. Course pages contain course-specific feedback and citations.
Instructor identity & provenance
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