We left for the junior college at 1:00. We were to meet with the Dean, Assistant Dean, and the other FT facutly at 1:30. We arrived a few minutes early and waited unil 1:30. The culture here is that if you are on time you are early.
Mr. Gilharry and Ms. Gomez were the only two there to meet with us. Mr. Gilharry is the assistant dean and director of the Tourism Managment program. Ms. Gomez is the director of the Business Administration program. Mr. Gilharry began by discussing the program outline document he had emailed us the night before. On Tuesday, he had mentioned needing help with syllabus construction; however, while there today, he printed out a copy of his current syllabus. It was very detailed with all the major components expected in a syllabus. His biggest need is that he needs to get the other faculty to update their own syllabi. He already has a good template in place if he uses his own as an example.
He identified some other areas they feel they could use some assistance: student handbook update, admission application review, program brochures, and software for tracking admission, payments, coursework. The group offered several suggestions based on our experience and what our individual institutions utilize. Both Mr. Gilharry and Ms. Gomez seemed very receptive to our ideas and suggestions. They did get a little overwhelmed, I believe, because they want to do so much but not everything can be done on immediate time table as they seem to want it to be.
We left that meeting at 3:45 and went for a late lunch at Wet Willy's to talk as a group about what we can feasilby do within the time that we are here as well as a plan that we can leave them with prioritizing and setting short-term and long-term goals.
At 6:00 we reurned to the junior college. We observed a distance education course on Computer Technology for Galen University. There are 11 students enrolled in the course and by 6:30 only 5 students had shown up for class. The internet connection was good; however, there was difficulty hearing the instructor online and getting the screen focused.
Next, we got to sit in on a high school class and observe a tourism guide certification class. Students attend high school at night for 2 reasons: (1) they are working during the day and cannot attend day courses or (2) they have been expelled from school and can only come to night classes as a second chance. In Belize, kids are only required to attend school up through the age of 14. Tuition is required for high school if they choose or can afford to attend. The particular class we sat in on was a Morality and Ethics course. The students were not very engaged.
The tourism guide certification course we observed was a little different. These students were very engaged. These students are currently working in tourism but are needing the certification to be a certified tour guide.
Today was very productive and a great learning experience. It is easy to see the things that we take for granted on a daily basis and even with the challenges we encounter on a daily basis, our jobs are easier for the resources we have.
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