Citation Nation

As an undergrad, I didn’t fully understand what professors did.  I would like to say that now that I am a professor I comprehend this better, but I still can’t be sure.

At Hopkins, where I did my undergrad, to a certain extent the professors had a poor reputation amongst the undergrads.  That’s not entirely true.  We loved them.  But at times we also loved to hate them.  I remember having a conversation with some peers which equated to, “What does that guy do anyway?  He teaches one class a semester.  He lectures two hours a week, his TAs do all his grading, and he’s never on campus.  How do they justify paying him six figures?”

You know what obnoxious undergrads who say those nasty things become when they grow up?  That’s right.  They become THAT GUY!  And so, almost twenty years later I am THAT GUY.

If you aren’t an academic, or closely related to one, chances are you don’t fully understand what professors do. Let me give you a quick overview.  In theory we teach, but not really.  If a professor works at a community college, liberal arts college or “teaching” university, chances are they teach four classes a semester and don’t get paid particularly well for the massive amount of work they do.  When a professor is employed by a research-focused university, they teach less (perhaps only one or two classes a semester) and are expected to publish.  The more research intensive a university is, such as Johns Hopkins, the less they teach and the more they research.

The University of Queensland, where I recently began working, is one of Australia’s “Group of 8” universities.  Basically, it’s an Australian Ivy League school.  It is also ranked among the top 50 universities in the world. Suffice to say, they expect us to do a lot of research here.  I’m excited for the challenge of being a faculty member in a very research intensive university.  However, with that challenge comes a new set of expectations.

Those higher expectations affect our long-term careers in terms of promotions and tenure. Tenure is when an institution grants a faculty member job security for life for attaining a certain level of achievement.  Tenure at each university is a little different.  For instance, at a teaching institution, tenure is based primarily upon teaching scores.  At research institutions, your publication record is more heavily weighted.

I received tenure at my previous (U.S.) institution a few years ago.  When I chose to leave and come to Australia my tenure was not honoured (which is pretty typical), particularly because I was moving up to a more highly ranked and competitive university.  I don’t start from scratch, but I have a few more boxes to tick before I get tenure here.

At my previous institution (1^st U), tenure was straightforward.  We had to have about 10 journal articles published within five years of our start date.  We could publish in any good journal we wanted related to hospitality and tourism.  There are roughly 100 decent hospitality and tourism journals.

Last year when I was doing interviews, I was at university X (a research university) where I was told to publish in their list of required journals.  If I published outside university X’s list (which consisted of about 18 journals) then my articles wouldn’t count toward tenure.  I was also told half of my publications needed to be in SSCI rated journals.  There are 11 SSCI journals in my field.  In case you are curious, I was offered the job at university X but elected to come to UQ instead.

Now that I’m in Australia, I’m expected to publish in journals ranked by the Australian Business Dean’s College (ABDC).  Ideally, I should be publishing in A and A* ranked ABDC journals.  Incidentally, there are about eight ABDC A and A* journals (which are also SSCI journals).  Do you see how this field has shrunk from 100 journals to fewer than a dozen?

However, now there is an additional hoop to jump through: citations.

A few years ago a grad student asked me how important I thought citations were.  I told him I had never heard anyone mention them as being important.  1^st U didn’t care about citations.  University X never said anything about citations; they were focused on their own list and SSCI journals.  It now appears that citations are what separates the men from the boys.

Citations are when someone writes a journal article and they refer (cite, reference) to an article which I wrote earlier.  The point is, you can’t just do research and publish it anywhere.  You have to publish in good journals.  And now, you can’t just publish in good journals.  Now you have to publish in good journals AND get people to talk about your work in their articles.

And now for the burning question:

How many citations do you need for tenure Kelly?

Excellent question.  Drum roll please…. ONE THOUSAND!

Oh wow.  Kelly, that’s a lot.  How many do you have?

Not that many!

I basically have to increase my current number of citations five-fold.

So, to all those aspiring future professors out there, may I offer you a piece of advice?  Pay attention to your citations.  Every year the job market becomes more competitive and the requirements for tenure become more rigorous.  I can’t possibly imagine what the next benchmark will be for tenure and promotion, but chances are they will be even greater.  Since Ron Burgandy (Anchorman) makes everything better:

Four Weeks Down… Eleven to Go

I’m NOT counting down the days until the end of the semester.  Really! I promise!  It’s just that this is right about the time when I realize I am starting to get behind in teaching and if I don’t speed things up a bit (read: discourage my students from asking questions about topics they are interested in which are related to the class) then I won’t get to cover everything I want.  And the truth is, there is no chance I will tell my students to stop asking questions, because hey, at least they are interested and taking an active role in their learning.  So I’m not going to fault them for that.  The truth is, there really needs to be two tourism classes in order to cover everything to the level I would prefer.

Yesterday I gave my students index cards and asked them for feedback about my class.  These were anonymous comments, so they could say anything they liked, good or bad.  But I specifically asked them to tell me if there was a destination or topic they wanted me to cover.  I figured if I asked them for feedback now there was enough time in the semester for me to work these areas into my class.  Apparently I need to talk more about Australia.  Mention of tourism in Area 51 would also be appreciated (by someONE).  That’s the first time I ever got that request. I just hope that area 51 person is present the day we talk about it.

There is a little bit of concern over the impending map quiz they will receive.  At the beginning of the semester I asked my students to draw a map of the world and name whatever they could.  Some were quite impressive.  Others were…. Creative.  According to a recent poll by the Washington Post one in six Americans can locate Ukraine on a map.  Granted, that’s a weird one.  After all, until the recent argument with Russia over Crimea, and then the Malaysian airlines crash in Ukraine, what would make Ukraine stand out?  Ok, bad example.  Let’s talk Iraq.  We should know Iraq, right?  We’ve only been AT WAR with/in that country for over a decade.  Apparently our geographic literacy is even worse than we think.  Six in ten Americans canNOT find Iraq on a map.  That makes me sad.  One more shot…. CHINA!  The Olympics, they are taking over the world with their ever-growing population, they are responsible for more pollution that anywhere else and most importantly ALL THINGS ARE MADE IN CHINA!  Survey says, 70% of Americans can point out China.  Ok, that’s better.

I’m not worried though.  I am confident my students will ace their map quiz in a few weeks.  In the meantime, here are a few maps we discussed in class:

There is one thing we know.  That is where Ebola comes from.  Of course, Ebola is only in five countries in Africa.  The other 49 are chugging along just fine.  So, the spread of Ebola seems to be overstated here.  Then again, the Panama Canal is also overstated here as it is HUGE!:

Now, we do have some Americans at the opposite end of the spectrum.  This is probably similar to how my map would look if I was asked to draw it, smart-ass comments and all:

In case you were curious how Europeans view the U.S. here you go:

I’m pretty sure this is exactly how Texans view America as well.  I will give them one thing.  More than half my class identified the U.S. on their maps, and then specifically added Texas to demonstrate they knew exactly where it was.  Apparently, no other states are all that important.

How to Write a Successful Fulbright Proposal

So you want to be a Fulbrighter? If you have the aptitude, skill set and academic background that’s one thing.  But the art of the application is an entirely different beast.  Over the past year, and especially within the last month, I’ve had tons of people contact me asking me for advice regarding how to write a successful Fulbright Grant Proposal.  Since I’ve received two Fulbrights and as a Fulbright Alumna I’m now a proposal evaluator I figured I might as well share my knowledge with the world, and put that information online in hopes of helping aspiring applicants.  Let’s get started.

You may have heard of Fulbright before, or have been totally unfamiliar with it until you ran across my blog.  In a nutshell, the Fulbright Commission is part of the U.S. State Department which provides funding to students and faculty members to conduct research and teach (for professors).  If you would like to learn more about Fulbright please visit this website: www.iie.org/fulbright.

If you would like to consider applying to Fulbright here are a few easy steps to help you along with the process:

1. Identify the country and a specific university to be your host institution.  If the country/university doesn’t have a need for someone in your field then find another option.  For instance, since I am a Tourism professor I searched for universities interested in having a Tourism person.  There were three options: Thailand, Ethiopia and Botswana.  I decided I wanted to go to Botswana, but I did list other alternatives in case Botswana didn’t work out.  Many other Fulbrighters I have known did NOT get their first choice location, so it was a good thing they listed other alternatives. (P.S.- Every time I pass through Ethiopia I am SO THANKFUL I chose Botswana!) 
2. Write your project proposal and tailor it to the needs of the country/university.  This is where you have to revert back to thinking like a high schooler who wants to get into their first choice college.  You have to set yourself apart from the competition and demonstrate why you are the best person to be a Fulbrighter for that institution/location.  For me this was easy.  Botswana has the most wildlife in all of Africa.  The country is trying to take advantage of this resource by promoting tourism, but thus far tourism numbers in Botswana pale in comparison to most other more established African tourism destinations (Kenya, South Africa, etc).  I created a project centered around how to increase tourism revenue while protecting the natural resources of the area. 
3. Once you have formulated your proposal get your hopeful host institution to support it.  I will explain the Fulbright evaluation process and timeline a little later, but for now it is important to note that it is a MAJOR advantage to have the institution behind you.  Fulbright generally requests a letter of support/letter of invitation from someone at the university which says something along the lines of, “We’ve read Dr. Phelan’s proposal and believe her expertise is in line with what our department is trying to accomplish.  We believe she will make a significant contribution if granted a Fulbright and SHE IS AWESOME! WE WANT HER!”  (This is my interpretation, not what was actually written; but you get the drift.)  For students it is IMPERATIVE to have a letter from a faculty member at the host institution write a letter committing to mentor you in your studies.  Fulbright does not like lost children wandering around without someone to mother them (academically). 
4. Start your application early.  Keep in mind the majority of Fulbright host institutions are in Third World countries.  It may take weeks to get a response from someone at the host institution to respond to your email and say they want to host you.  Then you have to get a letter of support.  This is not the U.S. and hey, if you want somewhere as efficient as the U.S. then don’t bother going abroad.  Many of these countries have electricity problems, or the campus has ZERO technology, so a professor may only check his email once a month (true story).  You need to give yourself 2-3 months to communicate with the host institution to get their commitment and the necessary documentation. 
5. Get recommendation letters.  I wouldn’t say that recommendation letters make or break you, but they do count.  Fulbright wants to know you can hack it, so this is where your referees can really help.  You need three letters and I suggest asking each person to focus on something a little different.  My department chair talked about me working with lots of international students and the research I had conducted in Africa previously.  My dissertation chair (who is also a mentor and friend) talked about me from a more personal standpoint and the fact that I am flexible, can adjust to uncertain and uncomfortable situations well, and am good at understanding people regardless of their background.  I don’t know what my Associate Dean said, but I knew she would say something positive because she’s always been a huge supporter of me.  She is also one of my most dedicated blog readers- Hi Dr. H! Can’t wait to see you again in a few weeks! :) 
6. Submit your application on time- or better yet- early.  In fact, make sure you start the online application itself at least a week or two early because there is so much information you need to provide and you may have to hunt for it.  If you have dependents you have to provide all their info as well (birthdates, passport numbers, SS#s) and you may not have that memorized.  In order to make sure you aren’t waking up your spouse in the middle of the night because the application is DUE IN TWO HOURS!!!, start early. 
7. Once you hit submit try to forget about it.  If you succeed in doing this tell me how.  My thoughts were consumed with “I wonder if I got the Fulbright?” every day for 9 months.

I realize this blog post is already incredibly long, but I also remember how desperate I was to find any candid information when I was preparing my Fulbright app, so I am going to go on a little longer and explain how the evaluation of a Fulbright proposal occurs.  You will submit your Fulbright application in July.  (This date may be different for students.) The Fulbright staffers ensure your application has everything necessary before they send it to the first round of reviews.

1. September: First your application is reviewed by former Fulbrighters.  These Fulbrighters aren’t necessarily 100% in your field.  For instance, I’ve reviewed applications for History, Political Science and a couple other areas.  This review is basically to make sure your application is realistic and feasible.  For instance, I received a student proposal and the student listed several different schools (which were all over the board- the equivalent of Yale and Prince George’s Community College) he wanted to consider going to, he never mentioned who he would work with, and there was no letter of invitation from any host institution.  This told me he hadn’t put in enough effort and was very unfocused.  I did not recommend advancing him to the next round. 
2. November: Your application is reviewed by people in your field.  Now, if your field is new to Fulbright these people may not even necessarily be from Fulbright.  For instance, my field of Tourism has only been hosted by Fulbright a short while, so some of my second round reviewers may not have completed a Fulbright before.  Your subject area experts are evaluating your project to determine whether your data collection methods make sense, if you can complete what you want to accomplish in the timeframe proposed and whether you actually contribute anything meaningful to academic literature.  My graduate students constantly hear me ask them, “So what?” when they want to conduct a new research project.  If you haven’t explained in your application why anyone would care about what you are studying it is unlikely you will get selected. 
3. January: Your host institution evaluates the applications and ranks their selections.  UB had 8 subject areas (Tourism, Medicine, Education, Natural Resources, etc) for Fulbrighters.  This means if you are Theater Arts and the host institution doesn’t list Theater Arts as a desired subject area you might as well look elsewhere.  Even though UB had 8 subject areas listed, they knew they would only get 2, maybe 3 Fulbrighters at most.  The host institution reads the applications sent to them, decides which they do not want, and then ranks the individuals they do want.  UB ranked 10 people this year.  They only got 2.  When I turned down my second Fulbright that meant person number 3 was given an award. 
4. March-May: Fulbright sends out notifications.  I found out on March 18^th of last year that I got the Fulbright.  This year I did not receive notification until May.  (For the record, I was ranked number 1 this year, so it wasn’t like they didn’t want me. There was some turnover in the Africa Regional Office and they were simply operating on a slower timeline this year.)

For anyone applying for the Fulbright I understand how difficult it is to be patient- been there, done that! But once you get awarded a Fulbright time starts to move at the speed of light.  I had roughly 100 days last year to pack up my office, my house, put things in storage, arrange for people to cover my classes, decide what to do with my graduate students, pack for Africa, get all my vaccinations, shots and other medications, make the rounds visiting family and friends, update my will, and mostly importantly promise my mother I would take her to Walt Disney World when I returned.  Thank goodness I didn’t stay a second year, I can’t even imagine what I would have promised her for another year away from home.

If you have stayed with me this long today, thank you!  If you are an aspiring Fulbrighter, good luck!  And if you make the cut and get to spend some time overseas, congratulations!  I hope you take full advantage of your good fortune and have the time of your life.  I certainly did.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

This is my favorite time of year.  I know the song refers to Christmas time, which it is not right now.  Though it does feel a little bit like Christmas.  It is very cold at night and as such there are marshmallows for toasting and parties for hosting… though no mistletoeing… but hearts are definitely glowing… and very soon I will have loved ones near!

But, in all reality, final exam period really is the most wonderful time of year for me.  I love the down time after classes end because I tend to get a lot of projects wrapped up in between proctoring and grading exams.  However, being in Botswana has made me realize something… I am spoiled.  I don’t have my posse of graduate students right down the hall to help with things like grading or coordinating class schedules for the upcoming semester.  Plus, the system is a lot different here, and apparently I don’t like change.  That’s actually not true.  I don’t mind change.  I just don’t like change that requires me to do a lot of extra, unnecessary work to which I am unaccustomed.

Here is how exams (and the extra, unnecessary work) occur:  I’ve already mentioned before that for everything we do here we have a policy in place to assure quality.  First you write your syllabus (or exam or project or whatever) then the entire faculty in your department reviews said assignment, then there is an extremely painful meeting to discuss whether it is appropriate, how it needs to change, etc.  Well, this process becomes even worse when we are talking about giving and grading finals.  For every class I teach I am paired up with a colleague with whom I “share the work.”  But it’s not sharing, it’s doubling the workload.  What this means is that for every exam each of us is responsible for we must both proctor (called invigilation here) the exams, grade the exams and then agree on the final grades.

On Monday my finals-buddy, Biki, gave an exam for his class.  Not only did he report to invigilate the exam, but I also invigilated.  I can understand having a second person in the room.  I mean, what if Biki choked on the coffee he was drinking and needed the Heimlich maneuver?  Thankfully I was there, ready to go.  No choking incident occurred.  But here’s the thing:  Every examination room has a minimum of two classes in there taking a test simultaneously.  They do this in order to make sure no one can sit next to a fellow classmate.  So all the classrooms are set up ahead of time and there is an exam placed at each desk, but they alternate (Tourism test- Math test- Tourism test- Math test…).  This means that the Tourism professor, Biki, and the Math professor are both in the room.  In theory the Math prof could have given him the Heimlich maneuver if necessary.  But instead, Biki and I were both there to invigilate the Tourism exam while the Math professor and his finals-buddy were invigilating the Math exam.  Do you see the redundancy here?  Well, the bummer about this is that I teach two classes and Biki teaches two classes.  So every day this week we have to watch students take a test and wait to save one another’s life.

Let’s fast forward to after the exams are over.  Then I take my exams and grade them while Biki grades his exams.  BUT!  Then Biki and I switch exams.  Then I grade his exams and he grades my exams.  Once that is over he and I meet to ensure we agree on the grades.  After he and I have our pow-wow we must go before the entire departmental faculty, present a report on the exams (i.e. how did they go?, where there any problems?, where there enough seats?, etc) and then explain and justify our grades.  Did I mention everyone else in the department also presents their results to us at the same meeting?  Last semester this meeting was… six hours long!  Not a lie.  The worst part is that if we gave out any failing marks for the final or for the semester we must be able to explain it.  Last semester I gave three Fs in a class of 126 and was grilled for nearly 20 minutes explaining that “I had to give the student a zero on the final!  He didn’t show up to take the test!  Zero attendance at the exam means zero grade.”

So, that is what’s going on in my life right now.  I know a lot of professors out there read my blog so just think how lucky you are that none of your schools have adopted the esteemed Setswana system of quality assurance.  The good thing about invigilating each other’s exams is that there was a funny/awkward/irritating incident at the culmination of Biki’s exam Monday night.  But I’m going to save that story for a separate blog post.  Stay tuned.

A Few Final Pictures from Congo

While there are 54 countries in Africa, a lot of those nations may look very similar to the outside observer.  And for good reason.  Many countries across Africa suffer from some of the same challenges: poverty, food shortages, health problems, etc.  In many ways Congo looked similar to several other areas I’ve been to, but there were a few distinctions, or at least phenomena which were more prevalent here than in other places, that I wanted to share.

Petrol (gas) stations were few and far between.  I think I only counted three the entire time I was in the country.  So aspiring entrepreneurs will travel into town, purchase fuel, and then sell it in plastic water bottles scattered throughout the country.  If you remember during Hurricane Sandy last year New York residents began showing up at gas stations with empty 5-liter water bottles, or plastic gallon milk jugs because all the retail stores ran out of gas cans. But the gas stations refused to sell to anyone without a proper gas can due to safety regulations.  Congo does not appear to have those safety policies in place: (Sorry, you need to turn you head 90 degrees to the right.)

In 1994 after the Rwandan genocide, two million genocidaires crossed the border into Congo in less than a week to avoid being prosecuted for human rights violations.  The UN and international community set up refugee camps to accommodate the massive influx of people.  Those refugee camps still exist!  And they extend for MILES.  The reason those people are still refugees after 20 years is partly due to the fact they don’t want to go to jail for crimes during the genocide, and part of it is because they simply don’t have the money to return to Rwanda or move elsewhere:

During the volcanic eruption in 2002, the water pipes in Goma were destroyed.  They are attempting to lay new pipes, but I’m told digging through hardened lava is quite a chore, so it is slow going.  Similar to the fuel-filled water bottle ventures, here are people filling jerry cans in Lake Kivu and then cycling around town selling them:

As I mentioned, part of the reason for my trip to DRC was to visit the Tourism Program at the University of Goma:

The class I visited:

Do you see the wooden bike on the right hand side?  These things were all over the place in DRC.  It was the main method for transporting goods since no one really owned a vehicle:

And finally, the Nyiragongo Volcano:

Overall, it was an interesting trip to Congo.  I’m glad I went and can’t imagine ever going back.  But if nothing else, it gives me a new appreciation for… EVERYTHING.

A Thank you/Love Letter

As the semester is beginning to wind down at UB, I have begun thinking about how much I am looking forward to returning home.  This is particularly the case when it comes to work.  While reflecting on the conveniences I’ve missed I thought I should take this opportunity to write a half thank you-half love letter to my home institution.  Here it goes:

Dear Texas Tech,

How do I love thee.  Let me count the ways: 

To the Academic Support & Facilities Resources department- Thank you and I am sorry.  I know I tend to be a high maintenance client, but I feel compelled to get just the right classroom for each professor and every class in my department.  But I appreciate your patience with me.  I know more than once I’ve asked you to allow me to enroll 51 students in a classroom with only 50 seats.  “But there will never be 100% perfect attendance- I promise!” Now I understand and desperately wish other institutions were so diligent.  I also now LOVE the “Don’t remove desks from the classroom” rule.  I currently teach 73 students in a classroom which should really only accommodate about 20 (by your standards).  Sometimes I walk in to teach and there are 200 chairs piled up to the ceiling.  Other times the classroom is completely empty- no tables, no chairs, nothing.  I truly bow down before you for the dedicated logistical planning you do for everyone across campus.

To my administrators- Thank you for planning ahead.  I don’t always like meetings, but at least you tell me in a reasonable amount of time when a meeting will be held, the location, the agenda and what I need to do to prepare.  Here I get a phone call on my personal mobile telling me to report to the Dean’s office in five minutes.  When I get there I’m told there is a meeting about faculty candidates.  Then I get reprimanded for not having reviewed the two binders filled with CVs.  KVP: “I’m sorry sir.  I didn’t know there was a meeting or that I was supposed to have prepared ahead of time.” Dean: “You should have known!”  Thank you TTU administrators for realizing I don’t read minds.

To the mailroom- Thank you for delivering the mail.  It is comforting to know that every day at 2pm I can expect the mail.  My mom sent me a Christmas card in November.  I still haven’t received it.  Thank you as well for going the extra mile and hunting me down on campus when there is a package for me and you aren’t sure where to send it.  Not too long ago a package came to my office and I wasn’t there to sign for it.  The secretary sent it back.  KVP: “I don’t understand!  Why didn’t you sign for it?”  Secretary: “It wasn’t addressed to me.”  It took three days and visits to five different offices across Gaborone to get hold of my package.

To the support staff (admin assistants, business managers, etc.)- Thank you for taking some amount of initiative and figuring out how to solve the problem.  Last week I tried to get an exam copied.  I took the exam to the secretary who does the copying.  All the copy machines were running at the time so she refused to accept the exam because she didn’t want to be responsible for it.  She insisted I take the exam with me and return 20 minutes later.  Upon returning 20 minutes later she wouldn’t copy the exam because she had run out of paper.  She told me to go find paper and then bring the paper and the exam back.  I then went to secretary #2 who said she would get me some paper.  I told her I had a meeting and asked if she could deliver the exam and the paper to secretary #1.  She agreed.  An hour later while in the meeting in my office secretary #2 said she had the paper and I could take the paper and the exam up to secretary #1 to be copied.  KVP: “That’s the whole reason I gave you my exam in the first place.  So you could do it! I can’t; I’m in a meeting.”  She agreed to take care of it.  Three hours later I hadn’t heard from her.  I returned to her office and asked whether the exams had been copied.  She had forgotten about it since she had gone to lunch.  I took the ream of paper and the exam to the copy room.  Turns out the copying secretary had left early for the day.  Seven hours of effort and still no copies!

To the IT Department- Thank you as well for taking initiative and solving the problem.  I know I’ve had to use your services about half a dozen times while I was in Africa and you were in Lubbock, but you’ve still been able to help me!  All that distance and you can still help me! At the beginning of the semester I entered my new classroom to discover the computer at the podium wasn’t working.  Contacted IT, they said they knew about it.  They didn’t offer to fix it though.  I went out, purchased my own cables to hook up my laptop to the projector.  Turns out the bulb in the projector didn’t work.  Went to IT, they didn’t have a bulb.  The third week I bought a bulb for the projector, screwed it in, and by that time one of the wires from the projector to the power source had been poached to use in another room.  Reported it to IT, they said they didn’t have time to fix it.  You know that saying, “The buck stops here?”  Yeah, that’s not the slogan for the UB IT department.  I’m pretty sure their slogan is “Pass the buck.”

Yes, Texas Tech, you have been good to me.  I know I haven’t always been forthcoming with my feelings, but sometimes I’m a little shy.  I hope it isn’t too late for me to express my appreciation and love at this juncture.

Yours Truly,

Kelly

How to Make a Baby (and other strange things I teach my students)

In one of the courses I teach, there is one highly anticipated class session each semester.  Students hear about it from their peers and look forward to it for two years until one day they walk into the classroom and hear the words: “Today you are going to learn how to make a baby.”  I don’t teach Biology and we don’t discuss the actual act, but I use this as an example to help students learn how to build a process model.  Students are free to develop their own steps in making a baby which range from the traditional such as dating then getting engaged then getting married, etc., etc.  Some choose more creative methods: go to frat party, meet girl, wake up the next morning, “What’s your name?,” nine months later get a phone call, “Surprise!” Ultimately, I don’t care how they get their baby, so long as they understand how to develop a process model.  I have never once had a student fail the process model question on the final exam.

In Resort Development class we talk about rubber duckies.  Since many resorts are beach resorts, the environment and sustainability are crucial to success.  If the beach is full of pollution people won’t want to visit and the hotel will lose money.  Students have a hard time understanding the complexity of beach pollution.  They always ask, “Well, if we keep the beach clean it’s not a problem, right?”  Not quite.

Many people don’t realize beach pollution is only partly to blame on people who are on the actual beach.  A lot more of the pollution originates in the water.  On any given day between 5 and 6 million containers are transported by ship.  Did you know that 90% of the world’s goods are transported by sea?  Well, not all of those containers reach their destinations safely.  On Monday a ship lost more than 520 containers due to 30 foot waves and wind upward of 60 knots.  Apparently most of those containers carried millions of pounds of cigarettes.  “Sorry Mr. Marlboro.  We know where your cigarettes are.  It’s just that you need a wetsuit in order to come pick them up.”

Perhaps the most famous container-overboard incident occurred in 1992 when a container full of 29,000 rubber duckies fell off a ship in the Pacific Ocean.  Leave it to a Ph.D. to make the best out of the situation.  Oceanographer Curtis Ebbesmeyer began monitoring where the “friendly floatees” washed up in an effort to study ocean currents.  The most recent reported sighting was in August of 2013.  That’s 21 years tracking lost rubber duckies!

Living in Botswana has given me so many unusual things to teach my students.  I’m not quite sure how I will be able to squeeze all my new found knowledge into only one semester.  But I am definitely up for the challenge.

Singing and Dancing with Siyaya in Zimbabwe

When you live overseas as an American citizen you are assigned a Public Affairs Officer (PAO).  This person typically meets with you shortly after you arrives, checks in with how and what you are doing sporadically, and if you get into trouble, you call your PAO.  My PAO, Amanda, came to visit me at UB about a month ago.  During our visit I told Amanda about my background, what I am teaching and about my research.  At the time Amanda mentioned she was getting ready to host a U.S. Embassy youth exchange between Botswana and Zimbabwe.  Since the youth exchange was related to wildlife conservation, economic opportunities and health, she asked me if I would be interested in being a guest speaker since my field covers two of the three exchange topics.  I agreed and rather than just guest speaking for an hour, I spent the entire week with her, 30 high school students from Botswana and Zimbabwe and another 20-30 adults and chaperones.  I will talk more about the youth exchange in another post, but for now I wanted to share a small part of the experience with you. 

While we were in Zimbabwe there was a cultural program in which the students performed.  In addition to the students’ performances, a local Zimbabwean group called Siyaya came and did a routine.  The group’s manager also talked to the students about the value of the arts, education and finding a passion.  He was great.  Siyaya was formed about 25 years ago and performs all over the world.  They’ve spent a considerable amount of time in Europe, and I can understand why; they are excellent.  Unfortunately, this video does NOT do the group justice at all.  The lighting was poor and my video camera died right before the best song of the night, but here is a short clip from the nearly one hour concert we enjoyed from Siyaya.  I have to say, this is one of things I will miss most when I leave Africa:

The End of the Semester

Today marks the end of yet another semester.  Every semester I learn something.  Some semesters are more educational that others.  This semester, due primarily to the change in location, students and colleagues I learned a lot.

Today I gave my students their final exam.  I know I’ve mentioned before how much I’ve enjoyed teaching my Intro to Tourism class.  But there are a few distinct differences about my students here at the University of Botswana compared to my students back in Texas which are a little challenging to get used to.

I will start off with what I like better here.  Here in Botswana there is no attempt to negotiate grades.  American students, regardless of the university in which they are enrolled, are often unwilling to accept the grades they earn.  Every semester without fail I have easily half a dozen students or more argue, beg and/or complain about their grades.  I stand my ground every time, but that doesn’t halt the process.  I am very explicit in my syllabus, I make announcements and I reiterate time and again that students earn their grades, I do NOT accept late work, and no I will NOT round up so you can get the next higher letter grade.  Inevitably I have a senior who is supposed to graduate come to me and tell me that if he fails my class he won’t graduate.  “You chose this fate when you missed 8 classes, knowing that attendance counts towards your final grade; when you missed your group presentation and plagiarized half of your semester report.”

Here in Botswana students do not question the grades they are assigned.  Three of my students failed to come to class the day they had a group presentation.  They asked if they could have partial credit since they contributed information.  I told them “No.  You were told at the start of the semester if you do not participate in the group presentation you will receive a zero.” I reported these conversations to my department chair expecting she would receive a visit from the students; she never heard from any of them.

So, I wish my American students would take note of what my Batswana students already know: Earn your grade.  Don’t come to me in the 11^th hour asking for me to make an exception to the rule and do you a favor.  It’s not going to happen.

However, my Batswana students are not angels.  The thing I do NOT like about the Batswana students is there is a widely accepted tendency towards cheating.  Yes, American students cheat, but I don’t think it is as prevalent as it is here.  And I know in my classes back in Texas cheating during an exam in my class is a highly dangerous sport as suffering my wrath is way worse than failing a class due to cheating.  I think my Texas students would rather explain to their parents they were foolish enough not to study and therefore earned a poor grade than risk cheating and having to deal with the ‘Phelan Eyes of Shame.’

But here in Botswana cheating is rampant.  And everyone knows about it.  The faculty try to discourage it as much as possible, but the students are so accustomed to it they don’t understand how to deal with it.  During an exam I gave earlier in the semester I threw three students out of my classroom and automatically gave them zeros for cheating off a classmate’s test.

But to go back to my previous point, Batswana students don’t question authority.  When I threw the students out for cheating they didn’t attempt to defend themselves, explain their actions or beg for forgiveness.  They accepted their fate without argument.  Of course, they also knew that they earned their punishment, just like they understand they earn their grades, whether they are good or bad.

Here are my students working hard this morning during their final:

Now all I have to do is grade 126 exams and in six week the cycle starts all over again.  I can’t wait.

My 100th Blog Post from Africa: Happy Thanksgiving!

For those of you out there diligently reading my blog posts every weekday, thank you for being a loyal follower.  Today is Thanksgiving in America and this is the 100^th blog post since I moved to Africa four months ago.  In honor of this occasion, and more importantly, because I took some really cool videos while I was in Uganda, I put together a brief compilation of some of my experiences there.

Not everything I did in Uganda is in the video as I couldn’t record certain things, but I would like to acknowledge the following organizations which made my trip very memorable:

Encounter Africa Safaris which organized my trip, accommodation and travel partner to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest to see the gorillas. http://www.gorilla-tracking-uganda.com/about-uganda-gorilla-safari-company.html

Uganda Wildlife Authority which provided the guide, porters and escorts during our gorilla trek. http://www.ugandawildlife.org

The Department of Tourism at Makerere University where I guest lectured for two days.

Uganda Bicycle which gave me a great workout mountain biking through the muddy streets of Kampala. http://www.ugandabicycle.com

Ricky’s Boda Boda Tours which gave me an excellent tour of Kampala on the back of a very safe boda boda (motorbike). http://www.kombitours.com/kampalabodatours

Ndere Cultural Center where I had dinner on my last night in Kampala and watched an impressive dance troupe representing different ethnic groups from all around Uganda. http://ndere.com

Holland Park in Jinja, the beautiful B&B where I stayed in Jinja, the source of the Nile. http://www.hollandparkuganda.com

***Disclaimer: Please be aware I was in no way compensated by these organizations for mentioning them on my blog.  Also, I found all of them through my own devices and did not receive any discounts or free services.  There is absolutely no ulterior motive in my naming these companies.  They all just made my trip a great experience, and in the event anyone reading this decides to visit Uganda I highly encourage you to consider using any of these businesses.  If I am fortunate to visit Uganda again in the future I expect I will be contacting most, if not all, of these companies again.

And now… for my video.  Enjoy:

Guest Lecturing in the Tourism Department at Makerere University

As you know, I’ve already arrived back in Botswana from my trip to Uganda, but I realized I never actually talked about one of the main motivations for my visit: seeing Makerere University.  Makerere University is considered “The Harvard of Africa,” or at least that’s what I was told by a few locals.  Or maybe they said “Harvard is the Makerere of America.”  I can’t be sure.  But, you get the picture.

In all honesty, I don’t know much about Makerere, but it is the largest public university in the country, and first opened there in 1936.  And I knew they had a tourism program, which was what prompted my visit.  The professor with whom I co-teach here gave me the name of a professor at Makerere who I emailed and asked about visiting campus.  The Makerere professor asked me to guest lecture for two days about career opportunities in the tourism industry, the American perspective of tourism in Africa and Uganda, and how to appropriately market to western tourists.

I really enjoyed my time at Makerere.  I was so impressed with the faculty and the students.  Everyone was very engaged and asked lots of questions, which was great.  One of my occasional frustrations with University of Botswana is that sometimes there is a bit too much arrogance and unwillingness to consider suggestions/ advice/ criticism.  At times it feels that UB has a “We already know everything” attitude, so they rebuff new ideas.  Refreshingly, Makerere was the exact opposite.  When I mentioned that a lot could be done to improve the way Uganda markets to westerners, the crowd was all ears.  They originally asked me to speak on the topic for three hours.  I told them that was too long and suggested an hour.  After two hours the audience was still going strong and we probably could have gone on discussing the entire afternoon, but I had to end it there in order to get to my next appointment.  But I really enjoyed the conversation and their willingness to consider new ideas.

While at Makerere I was also very happy to meet the professor who owned the tour guide company I used for my trip to Bwindi to see the gorillas.  In fact, I used his company as an example, and afterward told him I thought the tour guide I had, Tolbert, was a rock star.

In addition to visiting classes at Makerere, I also stayed at the guest house on campus.  It was convenient because it made getting back and forth to lectures easy, but the campus was huge and very hilly, so I could do my morning and evening “hikes” around the buildings.  Below are a few pictures I took from one of my morning strolls.

Welcome to Makerere University, “The Harvard of Africa”:

 

And the Guest House, complete with contact information if you would like to make a reservation:

Makerere had these giant birds all over campus.  I’m not sure what they are called, but when I say giant, I really mean that.  If I stood next to one it would probably come up to about hip height:

The School of Forestry, Environmental and Geographical Sciences, where the Tourism Department is located.  There were over 1,000 undergrad students enrolled in the Tourism Program:

And some of the students who attended the lecture I gave about career development in the tourism industry.  This was a shot of only half the room; the room was wide, and packed pretty tight, but at least the students look as if they were having fun:

Another building on campus:

There were also at least two churches and a mosque on campus.  The only negative to having a mosque on campus, for me at least, was that it was only about 300 meters from the guest house where I was staying.  And if you haven’t spent much time around mosques, they all have loud speakers attached to the buildings which broadcast a call to prayer five times a day.  The first prayer time is at dawn, so every morning at about 5am I was woken up.  By the end of my stay the sound became incorporated into my dreams.  Here is one of the churches where a wedding was being held:

Overall I had an excellent visit to Makerere and I’m hoping I get the opportunity to go back.  In fact, since my trip to Rwanda was cancelled, I think when I reschedule the trip to Rwanda sometime in the next few months I will add a few days in Uganda so I can spend some more time there and at Makerere.

Quality Assurance

One of the best things about being a professor is encompassed in the phrase “academic freedom.” For anyone reading this who isn’t a professor or graduate student, academic freedom means that academics are permitted to research and teach without any significant limitations. As long as the professor teaches the objectives in the course he can use whatever methods (ethically and within reason of course) to do so. That’s why if four different professors teach the same course, they can get away with using completely different assignments, tests and grading methods.

Due to the academic freedom mantra, this means many professors often have little if any idea as to what their colleagues are teaching or how they are doing it. Since I am the Associate Department Chair I see the syllabi from my faculty and may sit in on classes from time to time, but if I wasn’t an administrator I wouldn’t be given that kind of access.

Here at the University of Botswana academic freedom exists and is readily championed, but there is a second belief system which is just as prevalent, if not more so: “quality assurance.” When I first learned about quality assurance back in July I was really excited by the prospect. I was told that all the faculty in the department would get together several times before and during the semester to give input on one another’s classes. Hearing this, I was jealous as I wish I had this kind of input back home. I’ve tried at other times in several institutions to encourage professors to include particular concepts in their classes to better prepare students for future coursework (i.e my classes). However, each time I’ve requested someone to include an extra topic I’ve been met with pushback: “I don’t have time.” “That’s not in my syllabus.” “I don’t know anything about that topic.” I’ve even offered to go into someone else’s class and teach a certain module and still haven’t received a welcoming response. So when I heard about quality assurance here I was gung-ho, until of course I entered my first quality assurance meeting.

My first quality assurance meeting was back in July. The six professors and lecturers in the Tourism & Hospitality Management department met to examine one another’s course syllabi. I quickly realized my idea of quality assurance was worlds apart from the accepted standard. Rather than providing suggestions for topics to include in the course or feedback on assessment rubrics, it was a communal proofreading session. The better part of an hour was spent on one particular syllabus debating whether the comma went before or after the word "and." I cannot tell you whether a consensus was ever reached as I eventually became so disenchanted with the whole situation I tuned out and when asked for an opinion I conceded, “Sounds good to me.” At that point I was so worn down they could have been asking me if I was in favor of drowning puppies for fun and I would have agreed.

Recently we had another quality assurance meeting. Apparently I did not learn my lesson the first time, and entered this meeting bright eyed and bushy tailed only to have the wind quickly sucked out of my sails yet again. The agenda called for everyone to have their final exams written so that they could be reviewed by the group. Expecting to receive recommendations about the rigor or wording of questions I immediately realized this was another exercise in editing. My graduate students readily brag/commiserate/dread my love of the English language and resulting tendency towards Nazi-esque editing. As such, the only issue with my final exam was the fact I wrote November 2013 Examination Period on the exam cover sheet instead of November/December 2013 Examination Period. Sadly, not everyone’s final was as straightforward. Ms. Comma from the July quality assurance meeting had several dozen grammatical errors which took a good chunk of time during the meeting. But the real impasse came when the group could not decide whether Ms. Comma’s exam should utilize bullet points or alphabetic sub-questions.

While I think quality assurance is a great idea and I wish universities would utilize this practice to actually improve their courses, I’m disappointed the concept isn’t better applied here. While I am here at UB I will gladly contribute what I can to assuring quality by providing my editorial expertise, but since I likely won’t be able to institute a quality assurance component back home I will be satisfied with my academic freedom.