About you?
What is your background?
Nursing, Teaching/ Training and Development. I hold
an R.N., BA(Hons) Social Science, Teaching Cert. (Further Ed.) and MSc
Economics (Social Policy & Planning) and did all my studies in England.
What initially attracted you to your job?
I was happy at home managing my small business when
this university approached me and asked me to work as a nurse at their Campus
Health clinic. After 6 months I was lecturing part-time teaching undergraduate
students Sociology. One year later I am
now an Associate Professor in the Behavioural Science Dept. teaching Sociology
Subjects e.g. Gender roles in society, race and ethnic issues, contemporary
social issues and sociology.
Define your job?
I advise students in choosing their subjects,
Lecture, mark papers, set exams, work as a member of a team in the Behavioural
Science Department, and still give health advice to staff and students even
though I am no longer working as a nurse.
Can you walk me through your day to day activities?
Prepare my lectures for my classes for the day,
either from scratch or revise my notes. Usually two, one and a half hour
classes per day, Mon – Thurs. Fri is usually meetings.
Deliver lectures, advise and support students.
Mark papers – Tests and essays
Give feedback to students on assignments.
Attend staff meeting and other meetings about once
every week.
What are the key issues facing your sector?
My university is run by a religious org. and operate
with in a specialize culture.
About 48% of the students are not of the religious
persuasion as the org. and this has an impact on its culture.
There has been an influx of students in the past year.
How does government legislation affect your job?
The Govt. want to acquire 1st world status by 2020
and want a certain number of students to have a degrees by then. Students
studying for BA get all their tuition fees paid and for MA 50% of their tuition
fees paid. In the past year my university has doubled its enrolment and many
classes are very large.
What impact has technology had on your job?
We are now registering students online and are
attending courses to do more on line teaching.
What are the best things and worst things about your job?
I love the interaction with the students
It is good to see students learn and develop their
potential and achieve good grades.
There is good team work among the staff in my dept.
The large classes are overwhelming (70+) Marking
scripts – tests, essays and exams.
Keeping the register up to date is a pain.
Do you have any horror stories?
Not really.
What attributes do you need/ what are you looking for when hiring someone in
your role?
Hard worker, flexible, dependable, must love students
both young and mature; patience, a good listener, a team player, be able to
work under pressure and meet deadlines.
What are your tips/ advice for those starting out?
You will make mistakes at first but as you learn the
job you will get more confidence and improve. Set out to enjoy the work and the
students and be prepared to learn from them. Let the student know that you do
not know everything.
What are your three favourite websites?
I use the internet when I am preparing lectures
to gather information mainly.
Leave a Reply