Apologies for the long hiatus; I have been busy and mildly
frustrated with a lot of loose ends. I
start many things, and finishing them takes a lot of effort. That’s what I have been doing… Feeling grumpy and petulant, I did not want to write bland, uninspired posts. But then again, it's presumptuous to assume that my posts were actually missed! As a writer, no matter the audience (large or small), dedication also means putting the pen down when the muse is not speaking...
As many of you know, for several years we (the faculty and students) have waged battles to improve standards in the UNT Geography programs. Now we are reaping the benefits. In the last several years we have hired a series of faculty who bring enthusiasm and excellence to our programs from Urban Geography, to Economic Geography, to Geographical Ecology, to Cultural Geography, to GIS. We have been building on existing foundations in Human Geography, Physical Geography, and Environmental Archaeology. Now, we are a department on steroids, poised for higher standards and growth.
This has been a lot of work; it started in the classroom and continues there. For example, we completely revamped our curriculum, providing a more rigorous series of preparatory courses for majors (at the undergraduate and graduate levels). Now we are concerned with recruitment and outreach, not to mention pushing our graduate students to present at conferences and to publish in peer-reviewed journals. We work… most of the time. Each funded grant, each article, each graduated student, and each employed graduate is accounted for―markers of success. We have a long track record of grant-writing success, publication, student placement, leadership in professional and scholarly societies, and we are building on it with a larger faculty.
What is interesting is that better degree programs now actually pay dividends for past graduates because they already hold degrees. As our reputation improves, so does theirs. A rewarding side effect is growth of our community: students, graduates, faculty members.
So, I have been tired, perhaps feeling burned out (mildly self-pitying even; my mother could/would tell you stories). It feels like each of us on the faculty works on multiple fronts at the same time. We seem to be pursuing an all-out assault on program improvement. But, then I realize (a pleasant surprise), this is what I (we) do… The Nike slogan from the 1990s holds true.
Check out our new website at www.geography.unt.edu, our new blog at UNT GeogBlog, our department Facebook page and our graduate program Facebook website to learn more (all developed in the last year!).
As many of you know, for several years we (the faculty and students) have waged battles to improve standards in the UNT Geography programs. Now we are reaping the benefits. In the last several years we have hired a series of faculty who bring enthusiasm and excellence to our programs from Urban Geography, to Economic Geography, to Geographical Ecology, to Cultural Geography, to GIS. We have been building on existing foundations in Human Geography, Physical Geography, and Environmental Archaeology. Now, we are a department on steroids, poised for higher standards and growth.
This has been a lot of work; it started in the classroom and continues there. For example, we completely revamped our curriculum, providing a more rigorous series of preparatory courses for majors (at the undergraduate and graduate levels). Now we are concerned with recruitment and outreach, not to mention pushing our graduate students to present at conferences and to publish in peer-reviewed journals. We work… most of the time. Each funded grant, each article, each graduated student, and each employed graduate is accounted for―markers of success. We have a long track record of grant-writing success, publication, student placement, leadership in professional and scholarly societies, and we are building on it with a larger faculty.
What is interesting is that better degree programs now actually pay dividends for past graduates because they already hold degrees. As our reputation improves, so does theirs. A rewarding side effect is growth of our community: students, graduates, faculty members.
So, I have been tired, perhaps feeling burned out (mildly self-pitying even; my mother could/would tell you stories). It feels like each of us on the faculty works on multiple fronts at the same time. We seem to be pursuing an all-out assault on program improvement. But, then I realize (a pleasant surprise), this is what I (we) do… The Nike slogan from the 1990s holds true.
Check out our new website at www.geography.unt.edu, our new blog at UNT GeogBlog, our department Facebook page and our graduate program Facebook website to learn more (all developed in the last year!).
0 comments:
Post a Comment