Write Like a Bee

Thank you if you read my other story titled “Read Like a Butterfly.” If you did, yes, you’re right, it was not just reading that was challenging when I first joined a U.S. university. Writing was even more so because in the academic culture where I come from, writing was just an annual ordeal. What happened back in South Asia (please do not generalize though) is you only wrote during the final examinations (once a year!). You would neither know who would read your papers nor would you get any feedback. You just got a grade—actually, not even a grade, but “marks” starting from zero, so most students got below 60 out of 100 points.

Doing it only for extremely high-stakes exams made writing the most absurd activity in itself because it was done just to “pass” an examination. You never found out what worked and how to do better next time. It also made writing an act of adventure, but a terrifying and stressful one. If you’re lucky, you pass; if someone didn’t understand your style, you were doomed to failure—and often, even talented students failed. I always felt pity about one of my friends, who often had great ideas and wonderful logical framework in his papers, but unfortunately he failed almost every exam (at least his first attempt) because he had a bad handwriting!

So, most of my previous experiences made writing feel like something to be avoided whenever possible, rather than a part of the learning process, a practical skill that I would want to develop for academic and professional growth. Taking great risks once a year and waiting for months for the results didn’t prepare me at all to do a completely different type of high-stakes writing in graduate school in the U.S.

Once in the U.S., I had to write several papers for every course every semester—not just once a year! Hmm… what did that mean? Well, it was first very, very difficult to start writing. I would often wait for a great idea or vision to begin writing with. When I had to write, due to the pressure of the deadline, I would hysterically write something, but the product would not be as good as I would love to see as my final piece. Since the deadline would be right under the neck, I would have to submit what I had, and, hope for the best. I felt like writing perhaps was not for me! It appeared like I might not be able to continue my graduate journey any longer. But no! That was not an option at this point. I had to do something.

What I did is I took chunks of texts from a few articles from the internet and put them together as my paper. While this looked like a last straw at this critical moment, my inner self was not happy at all. I did have the paper ready but is it going to work? I knew it’s not going to work for two reasons. First, this is just the beginning of my graduate schooling. And second, I wouldn’t be happy even if I completed my degree this by compromising with my own values. Above all, my goal is ambitious—I want to become a researcher in the field of global higher education. I would rather decide to give up than submitting the plagiarized paper. I couldn’t sleep that night. I kept looking for options. There was only one option left–-writing center. I had heard about it but had always thought that it was for the undergrads. Wouldn’t it be embarrassing to tell them I needed help with my writing? Graduate student, I am! But my conscience said, “You’re here to learn after all, Tom! Go ahead and try everything that is at your disposal.” I checked online. Yes! The writing center website said it was not only for graduate students but also for faculty! Cool! I went to bed at 6.00 am after setting an appointment to writing center via the online appointment system.

A sweet lady greeted me at the writing center at 11.00 am that day. I now forget her name but the meaning of her name had something to do with flowers.

“What brings you here today?” asked she. I was a bit nervous and felt awkward and tense as it was hard to say, but she was welcoming.

“I am not happy with my paper,” I handed over the 10-page paper to her. She took a couple minutes to skim over the paper, while I waited for her to get mad at me and probably tell me how foolish I am.

“It looks fine. Why are you not happy?”

“It is only the first two pages that I wrote myself. Rest is copy-pasted from other articles.”

“Okay in that case, I know what you need.” She stood up and went away.

I had no clue whether she was going to call the police, or to bring something to help me (hopefully). My second guess was right. “Here,” she handed me a few green pages neatly stapled together.

“This is a copy of a book chapter. It gives examples on using quoted materials. Using others’ works for your own work is okay. The only thing is, you need to cite properly. This chapter tells you how to do that. Read this at home. But for now I want to you to do something.”

She wanted me to mark whether I agreed, disagreed, or partially agreed with the ideas of all the authors (other than my own ideas) on the paper.

I quickly did so, while she read the first two pages that I had written myself.

“You don’t have any problem in the sentence level,” she said.

“I know how to write a sentence. I have been an English teacher! But the problem is I am not a good writer!” I said under the breath.

“Did you say something?”

“Yes, I said I am not a good writer,” I articulated this for her.

“Well, you can be a good writer. You just need to work on organization and flow of your writing. I have some great tools for you to use. But you need to set another appointment. We’re out of time.”

“Really? But I have my assignment due tomorrow!”

“What? You cannot finish by tomorrow. Ask for an extension, make an excuse! See you in the next appointment!”

Since I felt like I was pretty much on track, I didn’t make excuse. I honestly talked to my professor and told him that I needed an extension. I explained that I had found some good sources lately and that I wanted to write my paper really well. My professor agreed. I got a week’s extension.

I set several appointments with the sweet lady. She gave me one lesson at a time. She gave me lots of photocopied materials to use as reference while writing. Most useful was the list of transition words grouped into several categories such as agreement, opposition, limitation, contradiction, cause, condition, example, emphasis, consequence, conclusion, etc. She also gave me resources and walked me through the process of making an outline and mind-map, showed me how to divide the whole assignment into several parts so that I could work on one part each day. She also gave some practical suggestions such as having another “pair of eyes” to read before you turn in your paper. I jokingly asked how to find a pair of eyes and she also jokingly said, “Go to a church!” That suggestion worked well too. I found a substitute teacher, who agreed to go over my writing to make sure everything I wrote made sense. She would mark if something didn’t and I would rewrite that part. I also reciprocated by helping her with her project report.

Along the way, I learned that writing is not a one-shot enterprise. Writing becomes better and better with every revision and with revision comes a clearer vision! So it is extremely important to set aside regular chunks of time dedicated for writing and then write regularly. I learned not to worry about clarity, grammar, or even ideas while writing the first draft. The key was to revisit the drafts and edit for improving clarity, correctness, flow, and organization. If this sounds familiar to you, you’re lucky! You probably had good teachers who guided you to become a good writer. I did have a wonderful teacher who taught a course on “reading and writing” back home. But what he called reading and writing techniques was actually the “definition” reading and writing. That was pretty much about it.

My experience with writing had kept me away from realizing that writing is a regular activity, a habit, a regular recurrence. Realizing this made me think differently about myself. Whereas I used to think I am not made of the writer-clay, it was liberating to learn that good writing is an outcome of several steps. It is a persistent enterprise like that of a bee’s work. I did have to struggle to find myself in the writing regime. But I did crack the code: What I was doing wrong was that I was handling reading and writing in a wrong way—I was reading like a bee and writing like a butterfly.  

What does a butterfly do actually? It dilly-dallies on the flowers that it finds nectar in. Reading is like that – enjoy what you like. But when it comes to writing, you have to act like a bee! As I enjoyed the taste of a good writing, it would also give me an inkling of how I would write something similar myself. I started collecting my favorite words, phrases, expressions, structures, etc. to fit them into my own writing as a bee collects nectar from various flowers and brings back bits and trickles into its honeycomb. With some practice, reading about writing, and imitating the styles of writers I read, I was gradually able to get myself into the regime of writing. I no longer hated my own writing. Though I did not start loving my own writing very soon, learning one strategy after another started giving me a sense that I was moving away from the great impediments that I experienced initially. I started hearing appreciation from my professor about my “good” writing. A shocking sense of joy hit me when I received a strange request from an American colleague before I completed my master’s degree and joined the doctoral program: “Tom, can you review my paper? I love the way you write.”

To cut a long story short, now that I know the nature of the beast, I just “write like a bee.” I focus on details, return to drafts, and take small steps to continue improving it—laboriously and carefully. Yes, there is a lot of labor involved in it, but what has now changed is the feeling that sustains along the process—a tinge of joy.

Take initiatives! Get Connected!! Get involved!!!

This is something that I wish somebody told me in the very beginning of my academic career in the US—take initiatives. An international student’s academic journey begins with a seemingly disadvantaged situation as compared to that of the local students because you begin with adjustments and settling in process. Inherent in this process is a danger that you may just buy into not being “able” to do certain things. I am writing this post to guard you against that insidious element.

Just keep on mind that life’s adjustments never end. So, it is advisable to start taking steps toward academic and professional development early on. If you want to truly succeed in the university and build for success when you graduate, you must start thinking about more than just maintaining good grades. Of course, as I see in some students’ stories on this site, you may find yourself hardly catching up with coursework (and for graduate students, assistantship responsibilities as well) during the first semester, but how long should you wait? Until the second semester— the third— ? But then the time to graduate will knock on your door before you are ready! So, you should start looking at the bigger picture of professional development right when you join your program. Yes, you may want to gradually increase the time for getting involved, but there is no need to wait in order to start at least thinking about, learning some ideas, and taking small steps.

Also, everything may seem overwhelming in the beginning! You may even feel like an odd person wherever you go, whatever you say or do. But if you think about it, that is also where you are special! So, please do not seek safety in silence. Sure, there will be some risk of making mistakes. But it is by daring to make mistakes that you create opportunities for yourself, for learning and connections at first, and then for contribution! The day will never come when everything will be settled and you’ll start your “big” initiative with confidence. If something goes wrong, you’ll learn a lesson. You’re here to learn after all, aren’t you? By speaking out, you’ll be grateful that you added your unique perspective to the conversations. Be shocked, but do not get shaken: tenacity matters!

Research shows that most important elements of student success as self-efficacy and involvement, which reinforce each other. Even though it may seem like a non sequitur, involvement outside the classroom is extremely important for your success. Such engagement outside not only pays back ultimately but is almost essential to academic success and necessary for professional development in the long run. Student Integration Model developed by Tinto (1975) emphasized a student’s involvement in the community. In his subsequent search and publications, Tinto followed up on the idea of involvement as an important element in students’ academic persistence and success (Tinto, 1993, 2010). Two more researchers highly involved in student learning and development have also highlighted the importance social involvement apart from the classroom activities. They state:

What matters is the nature of experiences students have … the courses they take, the instructional methods their teachers use, the interactions they have with their peers and faculty members outside the classroom, the variety of people and ideas they encounter, and the extent to their active involvement in the academic and social systems of their institutions. (Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005, p. 642)

While none of these models were specifically developed to account for the international students, evidence suggests that the importance of involvement is vital for various minority groups. There is relatively limited research on engagement in the community on and off campus among international students; however, general research does indicate that international students can greatly benefit by being involved both academically and socially. For instance, Trice (2004) found that interacting to Americans and other international students helped international students succeed in many ways. After an outstanding review of theories and existing literature, Trice established that international students who socialize with host national students are the “most satisfied with and the best adjusted to their experience abroad. Nevertheless, it appears that relatively few international students spend substantial time with Americans” (p. 673).

As Trice tells us, international students tend not to get socially involved. But we know that it is hard to be successful academically and professionally without developing a whole range of “soft-skills” that help you become a well-rounded scholar, professional. It is by such involvement that you begin to gain social and networking skills for leadership. However, if the idea of social engagement sounds a little daunting to you, then just start by working closely with your professors on top of taking the class and completing the assigned work.

Even if you are still trying to focus on maintaining a certain GPA, you can get “involved” by at least trying to get support from the professor rather than waiting until the deadline and trying to address the challenge without support. Trust me: it is okay to show your ignorance to your professor—he or she is there to guide you after all. You can impress him/her by showing how you learn rather than by pretending that you already know a lot. And trust me, your longer journey toward academic, professional, and community/social engagement could be starting in a great way as you build stronger relationship with your own professors. There is a high correlation between academic success and social involvement because, as I previously mentioned, these two reinforce each other.

Conventionally, there are two things that most people pay attention to when it comes to international students: language and culture. These are the “barriers” they know about and they may unknowingly convince you that you just need to overcome these two in order to be successful. But there is a lot more about becoming a successful scholar in a new environment and getting ready for the professional world within a few years. Get involved in the community within and beyond the campus.

Every university has a diverse range of student organizations, each trying to achieve a special goal by bringing together a certain group of students. Based on what support you need, search from the list of student organizations at your university/college. If you do not find one that caters to your needs or interest, find out how to establish a student organization yourself. Design some programs and seek funding, invite members, you’ll love the process, they’ll thank you and you’ll be noticed. Nothing will go in vain! What you do on campus today will go a long way into your future life and career.  

Beyond the classrooms and your professors’ offices and within the campus, there are many opportunities for academic and professional development. Start visiting the Career Development Center early on; they will help you plan and execute a career development plan so that when you graduate you are ready to go on the job market with confidence. Use the library, Writing Center, and other academic services in order to boost your learning. Go to workshops, guest lectures, and other events on campus in order to boost your professional growth. All the above services and events may not seem “necessary” for getting a degree but they will help you learn very important skills and more fully understand the broader context of higher education. They will help you prepare far better for when you graduate than if you limit to being a straight A student.

Among other methods of engagement, volunteering is highly effective in social integration because this also develops a sense of belonging with the community, and thus increases a self-recognition and self-efficacy among students (Manguvo, Whiteney, and Chareka, 2013). These experiences can be extremely useful for international students to thrive in the academic as well as social life. 

Talking of student involvement in US universities, there is an old culture of fraternity and sorority-life, which often creates an insider-outsider dichotomy.  Few international students go to these conventional places in order to learn American culture. As far as I know, these organizations may not be the best places for enhancing your academic and professional growth. However, you may want to learn whether these organizations can provide you with opportunities that you can benefit from. The point is to seek out places, events, and people in order to create opportunities for you to engage with a variety of people from different backgrounds.

Remember that you should not just assume that you are the outsider who needs to learn about the local cultures, institutions, and people. In today’s world, you should go multidirectional rather than unidirectional. For example, many local students are willing to learn about foreign cultures, so you can share your culture with them. Invite them to your cultural organization. 

Let me add at this point that conventional views, even research/scholarship, about international students tend to be based on the idea that they are “outsiders” trying to gradually become insiders, or “legitimate” members of the academic, social, professional, and discourse communities here in the US (Lave & Wenger, 1991). This framework has some value, because we do try to learn how to perform like insiders. However, in today’s world, this view can be quite often inaccurate and unproductive. If you think about it, in a globalized world, you could be the “insider” in a variety of ways, as when you are helping local students understand social issues from your part of the world, add a more global perspective on an issue, play the devil’s advocate when local colleagues seem to consider something local as universal, etc. Even academically, you may be an expert in a subject area due to your past education or experience. In all these cases, the insider/outsider model becomes rather problematic. Indeed, one of the purposes that American universities admit international students is for the cultural enrichment of local students. I’m sure you have a considerable amount of knowledge about the world that can help you flip the outsider/insider positions, which will benefit both parties. Try it and you will like it!

But don’t limit your engagement within your department and the campus. Even if you can spare a small amount of time, find ways to engage with people outside campus whenever you can. Meeting people in places such as local churches, clubs, and cultural organizations will help you understand the local society and culture at large. Being connected to local people and understanding their lives and ideas can be extremely helpful in the long run, not only because the education system you are in is “situated” in that larger society but also because you are very likely to start doing your academic and professional work with the people outside the campus.

Whether it is within your department, in the campus community, or with scholars in your field at large, networking is extremely important. Never eat a lunch by yourself. This is what one of my mentors told me years ago and this mantra has proved to be a blessing. On campus, or in a conference, I approach to people, take interest in them, and find connections. You can save time, enjoy conversation, and build networks—while making your lunch taste better!

The main idea I am trying to suggest here is this: develop professionally, and for that, start early, be strategic, take one step at a time, and actively seek opportunities. Start working on your writing skills, both academic and other types. Start working on your presentation skills. Start finding and attending conferences in your field. Start proposing papers to present. Start networking with experts in your field. Start sharing the experience and expertise that you bring from your previous educational/professional career. Never tell yourself that your professional skills—writing, using technologies, communicating, presenting, networking, and so on—are limited “because” you are an international student. Tell yourself that if they are limited it is because, like any other student, you haven’t seriously committed to improving them yet. Start doing what you can. Plan and reach your goals, however small. With the support, resource, and opportunity that you now have—which you can reinforce with your passion and perhaps anxiety—you can turn any deficit into strength very soon. If you only look at the deficits, you’ll dampen your own aspiration. Look at your positive sides—you are resourceful. Dare! You can!

References

Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.

Manguvo, A; Whiteney, S; & Chareka, O. (2013). The Role of Volunteerism on Social Integration and Adaptation of African Students at a Mid-Western University in the United States. Journal of International Students 3 (2), pp. 117-128. 

Pascarella, E.T. & Terenzini, P.T. (2005). How college affects students: A third decade of research. San Fransisco: Jossey-Bass. 

Tinto, V. (2010). From Theory to Action: Exploring the Institutional Conditions for Student Retention. Smart, J. C. (ed.). Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research, PP 51-89. Springer Netherlands.

Trice, A. G. (2004). Mixing it up: International graduate students’ social interactions with American students. Journal of College Student Development, 45, 671-687.

Note: This article was originally contributed to the “Translating Success” project as an expert post.

College is the Best Time to Bloom as a Leader!

Researchers in higher education say that the college years are crucial for an individual to grow as a leader. It is during this time that consistent cognitive, attitudinal, value and psychosocial changes take place among colleges students.  

While examining the net effects of college, Pascarella and Terenzini (2005) also concluded that it is the time when students increase “their civic and community involvement and become more open to diversity” (p. 581). All findings indicate that college is the best time to develop globally minded and educated citizens.   

Student affairs professionals, therefore, have a unique opportunity to offer students co-curricular learning opportunities that complement global education in the classroom. Traditionally, this has been accomplished by relying on international “exchanges” (more recently known as “study abroad”) as the mechanism to create global awareness.

With the rapidly changing world however, the challenge for student affairs professionals is to look beyond study abroad programs and create meaningful cross cultural programming on campus or in the local community.

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If you are a college student and want to learn how you can develop as a leader on campus, please read my post at Translating Success by following the link below.

http://translatingsuccess.org/expert-post/take-initiative-get-connected-get-involved/

Building a Global Community: Role of Higher Education Institutions

Statements of most universities’ vision and mission for higher education today are abuzz with the need to help students cultivate the sense of global citizenship as well as achieve the goals of liberal arts education. This desire is a necessary response to the paradigm shifts in geopolitical power dynamics in the world, increasing economic and career challenges faced by universities and their students respectively, and radical advancements in information technologies that are transforming higher education. However, it is not easy to see what specific approaches and strategies that the universities are using for producing global citizens in the sense of well-rounded and productive graduates who are professionally competitive in the local and global markets (and not the cultivation of global citizenship as an intellectual ideal). As an international scholar who is passionate about learning and contributing ideas about how universities can achieve the goal of producing productive global citizens in response to the crises that higher education is facing around the word, I believe that students affairs are best positioned to take the lead in helping universities achieve this goal. The goal can be achieved by adopting a three-pronged approach that is frankly but surprisingly simpler than it may appear. In the rest of this short essay, I describe what that approach would look like focusing on how student affairs can take help universities fulfill this mission.

Redefine and Re-Sell the Mission of Global Citizenship

The idea of global citizenship as an educational goal was a part of the larger mission of liberal arts education in the United States, so it is by no means a new idea. What is new is that this mission has changed from being an intellectual ideal into a pragmatic necessity. Because of the globalization of trade, industry, and the service sector–and additionally because this globalization is radically intensified by globalized communication and information technologies–our students will practically need the skills for communicating and working with globally interconnected academic and professional markets. As a result, student affairs that take the leadership in promoting this education goal will no longer be promoting an ideal but educating and demonstrating to the university community practical benefits of developing in our students the sense of–and skills for–surviving and thriving in global professional market.

Provide Leadership, Promote the Mission

Universities already strive to achieve the goal of cultivating global citizenship among their students, but they normally do so through individual departments, initiatives, and programs. Student affairs are in the best position to provide leadership and promote the mission on university-wide scales. Also, universities spend tremendous amounts of resource in traditional programs like study abroad programs and international missions when in fact they already have global communities of international students and faculty right on campus, often from as many as a hundred different countries. If the ideas, experiences, expertise, and indeed outlooks of these members of the university are tapped into, student affairs can create “global education exchange” programs right on campus. However, this does not mean that they should replace the world with people who are “already here.”

Develop Global Learning Networks

As much as there are challenges, there are  opportunities in any field. It is possible to network to the learning or professional community literally across the world. For example, a physics student needs to understand the field of physics on a global level  because he/she will be working and indeed competing with a global community of physics scholars and professionals in the future. And then it’s possible to create personal learning networks as well as professional organizations and networks of the best minds in the field. Today, even while one is a student, students with leadership potentials can also start developing their own networks and leadership roles in their field on an international scope. This is not only doable because of the technology at our hands, it is becoming eminently practically necessary because of the challenges that every academic field is facing today.

 
In conclusion, as an international scholar who worked as a teacher and leader in secondary and postsecondary education in a developing country, who is involved in professionalization of the field in both at home and the United States, and as a scholar of student affairs who has a passion for leading in educational projects that have global scopes and missions, I strongly believe that scholars, researchers, and administrators in this field have an extremely important role to fulfill in the face of increasing challenges brought about by the internationalization of higher education. What can we do to turn these challenges as exciting opportunities? While examining the net effects of college scholars consistently suggest that college is the best time to develop globally minded and educated citizens because it is the time when students increase their civic and community involvement and become more open to diversity.

 

Nepal Earthquake

Nepal has undergone two devastating earthquakes in three weeks since April 25, 2015. A series of aftershocks have wreaked havoc among men, women, and children. As our hearts go out to the people suffering at this time, we are praying for the people in Nepal and trying our best to help as much as possible in various ways. The most humbling and comforting is the fact that many of our friends from around the globe are reaching out and asking, “How can we help?” We are trying to find most creative and least intrusive ways that we can ask these wonderfully generous people to do to support the humanitarian crisis in the Himalayan country.

My Speech at the Vigil Addressing University of Florida Community 

Dear Members of the Gator Nation,

Last Saturday, on April 25th, 2015, a massive earthquake rattled our homeland Nepal. This devastating blow followed by nearly 100 aftershocks wrecked havoc on Nepal and resulted in over 7,000 deaths, rendering more than 15,000 injured and damaged above 150,000 homes leaving hundreds of thousands of people homeless.

(Photo credit: Photojournalist Andres Leiva, 
Allegator)

Nepal is historically and culturally popular Himalayan nation. Now everybody knows the geographic and political situation of the country so I will share with you an interesting geological fact. Geologically speaking, the tiny country stands on a tectonic plates that is between two gigantic tectonic plates that constantly squeeze it .  

This is not a normal earthquake. The epicenter village called Barpark had about 1200 household and only less than 50 remain standing. Traditional Nepali homes do not usually fall. Mountains were dancing. I have heard from one source (yet to be verified), Kathmandu has been dislocated on the earth – about 10 feet to the south and 10 feet up vertically.

Hardest hit are the most vulnerable ones: the poor and vulnerable – it seemed like extreme injustice intensified by nature. We don’t know. Schools have been damaged. Too many children have lost their parents.   

What does it mean for us? We are learning about survival and revival. We are learning about the extremely resilient people, who are able to come together and do amazing thing in the world. A recent new story highlight a single survivor from his 18-member family. And the one person who is alive is helping others actively. He goes on to rescue a 101 year old man buried in the rubble for the last 8 days.

Many of our wonderful friends here in Gainesville (and many from around the globe) asked us: how can we help? These members of the Gator Nation broaden the meaning and function of education as members of a global community of interconnected humans. At a time when another part of the world can use some support from people on the other side the globe. And I do want to take out one moment to talk about this very amazing university. The president is here, the administrators are here, the faculty and staff are here today, coming together to stand with the Nepali people. Not only because they see a few Nepali students in the university, but because they really care about the world. UF is a public institution, which is globally engaged in the true sense. This is incredible and I have no words to describe the profundity of gratitude I feel today.

As Native Nepalese and now proud citizens of the Gators Nation, we ask you, fellow Gators, for three things today. Three things: Donate, Communicate, and Pray.

1. Donate: Please donate what you can, when you can. Every dime and dollar make a difference. Give your gift to the people collecting money. Our treasurer Dev himself is holding a box. Alternatively, donate via charity organizations. We personally donated via Help Nepal Network USA. But there are others such as the American Red Cross, Oxfam, There’s more information on the Facebook page #GatorsHelpNepal

How is money being used? Very smart people on ground are helping. Rosha Pokharel, the former vice president of Nepalese Student Association, is actually at the ground zero of the impact, where she is working with a team of doctors and nurses to provide the most essential relief to the wounded, vulnerable, and bereaved.

2. Communicate: Tell your friends you donated. Use the hashtag #GotorsHelpNepal or #GatorsWithNepal and @GatorsHelpNepal

3. Finally, please keep Nepal in your prayers.  

We thank you on behalf of our families and friends here, and in Nepal.

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( This speech was addressed to the UF community on May 4, 2015 at University of Florida’s Turlington Plaza)

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Was covered by Independent Florida Alligator

http://www.alligator.org/news/campus/article_129e2c70-f2d9-11e4-96d8-2b7e54d04db3.html

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If you are willing to donate, here are some recommended organizations you can donate to:

Action Works Nepal

United Florida Nepal Association – Florida Association of Nepalese Societies

Himalyan Healthcare

Help Nepal Network

Stories of Nepal

American Red Cross

ANMF: American Nepal Medical Foundation

Brother’s Brother Foundation

Oxfam America

World Vision

Dorm Nepal

Want to know more?

UF News

Engineers Without Borders

Local News TV20

Gainesville Sun May 12

Gainesville Sun April 29

Time for Reverse Transfer

Between 2003 and 2013, about two million students transferred from community colleges to universities (i.e., without earning the associate degree) but did not go on to complete the college degree that they intended to. The fact that these students were enrolled for at least two years in college makes the data even more painful to study. Because transfer to college is an increasing pattern but completion from college is decreasing, it is time that college students who earn enough credit be awarded the associate degree.

And that is where the idea of reverse transfer comes in.

There are many benefits of reverse transfer. First, because completion of bachelor’s degree often takes five to six years or even more, a student who cannot reach all the way to the end of the four-year college programs is able to use credits earned to receive an associate degree (with 60 or more credits). That is, for students who have to drop out of college, the fallback option of intermediate degree.

Second, even if a student is making progress toward a four-year degree, the ability to use an associate degree after some time can make a big difference in their academic, and social lives.

Third, the student gains some self-efficacy toward the daunting journey of pursuing a bachelor’s degree. Let us think of an individual who transferred to a university from a community college where she earned about 40 credits. She has no degree that she can mention yet. Then, say she earns some 30 more credits at a university. At this point, if she wants to find a job (an increasing reality), what is the highest degree in her hand? High School. Some employers do have the check box “some college, no degree”; but even in this case, she is not yet able to mention a degree.

Finally, when a student is able to complete a degree by using reverse transfer, she can enjoy the earning premium (often referred to as “sheepskin” effect) of a credential at hand. In the context of dramatic tuition increase and students dropping out for financial reasons, an increased income can significantly increase the chance of completing college.

Reverse Transfer is the newest manifestation of a century-long Access Agenda (that more citizens have access to higher education and advanced professional skills) and also a means of a more specific national mission called the Completion Agenda (that more citizens complete college level degrees). According to Terry O’Banion, Completion Agenda has been the driving force for community colleges for more than a century. But while four-year college became more accessible and desirable for more people in the past few decades, the idea of lateral/forward transfer of community college credit became more and more popular. With the economic crisis and skyrocketing of student loan debt, the possibility of students falling through the cracks has become all too common. In this context, the idea of falling back to earn a lower degree has become a socially viable option.

There is another reason why reverse transfer has recently started drawing people’s attention. Community college graduates are gaining prestige in a number of areas in business and industry. According to Kelsey Sheehey,

Community college students juggle a lot of responsibilities. Most work at least part time, many have families to care for and homework doesn’t do itself. Successfully keeping all those balls in the air requires focus, determination and maturity – traits that hold a lot of weight with recruiters from businesses and four-year universities.

In a U.S. News article, Kelsey Seehey quotes Maureen Crawford Hentz, director of talent management for A.W. Chesterton Co., a global manufacturing corporation headquartered in Massachusetts: “If you can juggle family, working, homework, school, internships – I want you. It’s just as simple as that.” Hentz used a memorable metaphor to describe her preference for community college graduates (who were employees in a steel factory): “Both were great dancers, but Rogers did it backwards and in heels,” she says, reciting a famous quote. “Community college students do it backwards and in heels.”

Not many employers may agree with Hentz’s point of view, but this is evidently a significant trend.

In the face of a deteriorating economy–which rather paradoxically demands that more students graduate–the potential of reverse transfer to meet the Completion Agenda (notwithstanding its side effects) is huge. As indicated by President Obama’s 2020 Vision the Completion Agenda has become a national imperative, (more so than ever in its two decades long history). The alternative pathway for “completion” provided by reverse transfer is also associated with global competitiveness in terms of degree completion numbers and quality workforce.

Looking at this new opportunity of assisting students obtain college degrees, many states are asking institutions to coordinate to facilitate reverse transfer, which may have a significant impact towards increasing the number of college graduates in their states. Hawaii is leading this initiative and many states are following the suit including Maryland. “Hawaii may be the furthest ahead in statewide coordination,” Inside Higher Ed quoted Holly Zanville, a program director of Lumina Foundation, who have given a descriptive name to the phenomenon — “credit when it is due.”

To highlight the potential of significant contribution of reverse transfer toward Completion Agenda, Community College Futures Assembly, a national think tank, is organizing a National Policy Summit on reverse transfer in January 2015. Dr. David Pelham from the National Student Clearinghouse and Dr. Dale Campbell and Dr. Tina O’Daniels of the Futures Bellwether College Consortium discuss relevance and impact of reverse transfer in this podcast.

 

According to National Student Clearinghouse’s Research center, 45% of the students who complete degrees in four year institutions, have previously enrolled at two-year institutions for at least one semester. It is in the interest of students, parents, universities, and the nation at large to not let earned college credits to go to waste, just because our students didn’t get past an ultimately artificial finish line.

The mortar and gown may be important markers for our culture, but much more important for the economic and social health of the nation (as well as the dignity of our students and families) is that we do give credit for the hard earned education to our students–whether or not they walk across the podium wearing a gown!

Horse that Doesn’t Drink Water

In a recent graduate course on Higher Education Policy Development, one of my classmates metaphorically gave up, his hands up in the air: You can take the horse to water but you cannot make him drink. We were talking about why certain students or student groups perform chronically poorly. We have similar problems in our country, but before I get to the issue of education itself, let me share my confusion about the horse itself? If we take a thirsty horse to the source of water, why wouldn’t it drink? Is there anything that prevents a horse from drinking even if it is thirsty?

Your horse actually is the animal that carries your loads and does all the hard work for you. So it should naturally crave for food and drink. It would rather make more sense if your horse asked for more food and may be more water – it has done hard work after all. But – according to the saying, you can take the horse to the water but you cannot “make” him drink—if he himself is not willing to drink it. Coming from where I do, the metaphorical horse that doesn’t want to drink from the opportunity of education at first seemed absurd for me.

After a little research, what I found was shocking. Why horse doesn’t drink water is actually complicated. Even though water is the most important nutrient that a horse needs to keep itself going, it is likely to get dehydrated due to lack of water consumption, excessive sweating, and overwork in course of a long work, particularly in a hot day. Dehydration complicates the horse’s bodily functions so the body stops sending message to the brain that it is thirsty. It is a strange coping mechanism that the horse’s body is “equipped” with in such a way that it has an ability to keep going without drinking water. What happens is that early in dehydration, the horse can cope well with the fluid loss.  As dehydration progresses, the heart rate will rise, because there will be less fluid in the blood vessels, so the heart has to pump the blood around faster to achieve the same effect. If the fluid deficit continues, then the body will begin to pull the fluids from surrounding tissues to help support the blood volume. To help conserve fluids even further, urination will decrease. Once this “suicidal” course of action starts, your house won’t drink water because of the mismatch of communication between the body and brain and it no longer “feels” thirsty.

This also reminded me of one of our neighbors’ child that refused to eat anything. The parents were so much worried that they always did something to get their child to eat. Finally, they took the child to a children’s hospital, where a team of nutritionists and pediatricians diagnosed that the child was not given food in a structure and as a consequence she developed an aversion toward food. They said that it wouldn’t be possible for the child to come back to normal eating regime, unless the child was admitted to hospital for a few months. From what I know at this point, the child is back to normal now. And from my research in the same line, I have also found that it is possible to make the horse drink water as well. What it takes is some time, energy, patience, and some expert consultation and probably some money.

The context of discussion in the class was the education attainment data of various demographic groups in the USA. Our attention was caught by the low academic attainment rates of the minority students such as African American and Hispanic students. Even though it was not too surprising that African American and Hispanics had lower attainment rates as compared to Whites, what was more disappointing was the trend of the last decades (data from 1990 to 2012) that showed that the gaps of education attainment between Whites and Blacks and between Whites and Hispanics were continuously widening. Probably to explain this with his witticism, one of my fellow classmates (I respect him otherwise) quipped out the tired proverb: You can lead the horse to water but you cannot make him drink.

If a horse doesn’t drink, if your child refused to eat, or if a certain segment of population is not “attaining” enough education, it is a problem. So when you have a problem, you should not make a hammock out of the rotten proverbs and relax in it– not at all particularly if you are in the field of education. You should take an approach to find a solution. And once you take the latter approach, solution is out there.

If we go out of the USA and look at the global scenario, the problem is even worse. There are historically deprived populations all over the world. Most ironically, these populations happen to have made great contribution in building their nations (as the African Americans and Hispanics in the USA). There are Dalits and Janajatis, Rohingyas and Harijans, immigrants and refugees all over the world that are overworked and neglected like the dehydrated horse and there are populations that are continuously pampered with all attention.  As it is up to the parents and horse owners to ensure that their kids and horses eat and drink, so is it the responsibility of education policy makers to take steps (even if it is costly) to ensure all segments of their populations receive palatable education.

What problems do you consider tricky like the thirsty horse not drinking water in the education system of Nepal? What do you think we should do about them? I would love to hear your stories and reflections. Thanks in advance!