UCSB ranked 20th on RateMyProfessors.com’s list of the top 25 highest ranking universities in the nation based on the site’s overall professor and campus ratings.

The nationwide rankings were based on 10,000,000 votes accumulated between 2008 and 2010 rating professors’ performance and campuses’ aesthetic appeal. Criteria included desirability of professors, location, accessibility, career opportunities, library, dining hall and social events offered at the university.

On the site, music professor Vincent Rone, who currently teaches Music 15, received a 4.9 out of 5 rating in ‘overall quality.’

“I find it to be very flattering and rewarding to see that what [I am] doing is benefiting and helping the students in a positive way,” Rone said. “It’s important to keep the reality of how I see myself and how my students see me.”

Additionally, Rone said while the opinions expressed on the site can be potentially biased by uncontrollable circumstances, it provides students with an open forum to discuss their opinions.

“Sometimes the perspective can be very skewed,” Rone said. “A student could have had a bad experience and that could stand for everyone’s opinion. I think it’s important, though, that the students do feel that they can candidly evaluate the teachers.”

Laura Luttrell, a second-year mathematics major, said she has used the site to research roughly 90 percent of her classes.

“I’ve used it pretty much on every class that someone hasn’t personally recommended to me,” Luttrell said. “I think it’s really effective. It hasn’t been wrong on any of the courses I’ve taken.”

Luttrell said the website allows student to evaluate professors in an effective peer-based manner.

“If there’s something very wrong that a teacher does or it’s harder than it looks, students should write on it to help other students,” Luttrell said. “If a bad professor is teaching one quarter you can choose the class for a different quarter. [The site] makes all the difference because if [you have] have a bad professor, it’s hard to be interested in the class.”