Faculty Excellence at UMUC

Interviewer:

Please tell us about yourself—what made you decide to teach at UMUC? What kind of work do you do when you are not teaching at UMUC? Are there any life experiences that have influenced your teaching at UMUC? If so, please share one story.

Anita Baker

My long-term interest in teaching for University College is probably related to the influence of my early childhood in Denmark, where I was born. Denmark, as you may know, is the home of the folk high school movement, schools for "lifelong learning."  I taught at the University of Utah for 10 years, and when the opportunity appeared, became an administrator in UMUC’s Undergraduate School in the early 1980s, and that is when I started to teach for UMUC. My most memorable experience at the time was conducting a week-end course at the U. S. Air Force Base in Keflavik, Iceland. After some 20 years working outside of academia, I am honored to be able to teach for UMUC again.

Teaching at UMUC is my full-time occupation right now. My long-term experience, first in academia and then in the private sector and an international financial institution in consulting as a workshop leader/facilitator, has informed my developing a style of communication that seems to work well in both online and hybrid classes.

Interviewer:

How would you describe your teaching style or philosophy? What experiences or person(s) have influenced your style or philosophy?

Anita Baker

My teaching philosophy has also been influenced over time by my special area, business ethics. As an ethics officer in two large organizations, I became well acquainted with employees’ daily concerns and long-term issues. In the process, I came to appreciate how sympathetic understanding and encouragement can make a genuine difference in someone’s capacity to find satisfaction in work.

UMUC is an open university, and its adult students come from diverse backgrounds and with different skills and talents. I try to understand the unique situation of each individual person who is in the course. I remind myself on a daily basis that we "should walk in someone else’s shoes" and that we should "treat people as we would treat ourselves," with respect and consideration. I do my best to create an atmosphere of trust and rapport in the classroom, an environment where individual students can prosper. Many of our students are fighting difficult battles in their personal and professional lives; some of them are also on active military duty in the Middle East. These backgrounds and aspirations present to me as a teacher the real challenge of the need to be flexible without compromising academic standards.

Interviewer:

Please explain if you do something special or unique in your teaching and what made you develop this.

Anita Baker

I use a great deal of empathy and respect.

Interviewer:

What do you think it is about your teaching style that appeals to students?

Anita Baker

I try hard to provide course participants with a positive classroom atmosphere where they feel it is safe to try new ideas and to share insights and experiences from their professional lives. In the classroom, whether online or hybrid, I view myself not just as an instructor in business management, but as a "coach" and a facilitator. As the saying goes, "Be a guide on the side, not a sage on the stage." I also try to provide "added value" in my classes by sharing insights from my several work experiences as well as my experience in university instruction. As a facilitator, I try to help our adult students connect the dots between the concepts and theories they learn from required readings and exercises with their daily work and personal experiences.

I personally have a good time teaching my courses, and I do tell my students that it is all right to discuss serious topics and relax as well. A sense of humor is important, and not taking one's self too seriously is important too. These are lessons in life that I try to communicate to our adult course participants.

Interviewer:

Do you teach face-to-face, online, or both? Do you have a preference between teaching face-to-face and online? If so, please explain.

Anita Baker

I teach both types of classes, but I enjoy teaching face-to-face classes in particular because of the opportunity to meet the students and to work with them one-on-one. In hybrid classes I have met students face-to-face at various locations around the Baltimore-Washington, D. C., area and have conducted additional office hours during the week at Dorsey Station or Adelphi to discuss their work. There is no doubt that constant communication and words of encouragement can and do significantly impact students’ work and attitudes in a positive manner and that is, of course, true for both online and hybrid classes.  

Interviewer:

Please tell us about your chosen discipline-i.e., what made you interested in the area initially? What do you do to stay current in your discipline? What do you like best about teaching in your discipline?

Anita Baker

My academic training is in economic and social history and problems of modernization. I am sure that my family background, both my parents’ families were farmers and my grandfather was an agronomist in Russia in the early 1900s, influenced my interest in these areas of study. I worked for the World Bank Group where addressing economic development issues is central to the institution’s mission. It is a small step from problems of economic development to international business management and the challenges of globalization, topics in a course I teach in the AMBA program.

 I attend professional meetings, read professional journals, and occasionally facilitate workshops outside the United States. What is particularly appealing in teaching international business management is the variety of topics, the fact that they deal with current and future social, economic, and political issues, and that the information and issues develop and change on a daily basis.

Interviewer:

What is the most challenging to you in teaching in this area? What teaching strategy do you use when you encounter the challenge? Are there any special challenges in teaching this subject matter online?  If yes, please explain what could be done to meet the challenges.

Anita Baker

What is appealing in teaching international business also presents a huge challenge. This is the challenge of keeping up with the daily and weekly international news as well as with scholarship on current events and trends. The WebTycho classroom with its various capabilities to post information and links to Web sites and media, teleconferences, and Wimba tools, can be used to present information on current events and trends.

Interviewer:

What suggestion would you give to students who are interested in majoring or working in your discipline?

Anita Baker

Students who are interested in economic development issues should focus first on getting a good solid liberal arts education and then specialize in subjects such as agriculture, biology, economics, environmental studies, finance, entrepreneurship, small business, management—just to note a few of the subjects they can study at UMUC. There are so many exciting possibilities for students today. I would also encourage them to add topics such corporate social responsibility, corporate governance and "sustainability" to their academic programs. They should then try to get some practical experience, to work in some capacity in the private sector or with a non-governmental organization, a government or multilateral organization with development or assistance activities or projects, for example—whether they are conducted in the United States or outside the United States.

Interviewer:

In your opinion, what makes UMUC the college of choice for students?

Anita Baker

The dedication of its instructors, the institution’s insistence on excellence in its academic programs, and the variety of programs offered in flexible formats make UMUC the college of choice for students.

Interviewer:

In your opinion, what makes UMUC the employer of choice for future faculty members?

Anita Baker

UMUC has dedicated support staff, a broad vision and mission, and an insistence on excellence in all its activities.

Interviewer:

What suggestion would you give to new faculty who are interested in teaching in your discipline at UMUC?

Anita Baker

Please send us your application. We welcome instructors who are dedicated to teaching as a profession and who will support and further our institutional mission and goals.