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.

Christine Walti:

I was a student in the MDE program and during this time was a hired as a TA for one of the courses. After I graduated I was hired by the UMUC partner in the program – the University of Oldenburg in Germany – to join their research staff. One of my duties was to teach in the MDE program. In February of 2008 I was also officially appointed as an associate adjunct professor at UMUC.  

I am the assistant director of e-Learning in the School of Continuing Education and Workforce Development at Anne Arundel Community College. To date I have not had a teaching role at AACC.

My initial profession as a social worker has influenced my teaching practice overall. I strongly believe in access and empowerment as two important aspects in the teaching and learning process. Both of these require a high level of responsibility and a good understanding of support – on all levels (institutional, programmatic and on the course level) – on the part of the instructor. Clarity of task, ongoing feedback from the instructor and accessibility on his/her part are crucial – as it is when working with clients in any social work environment.

Interviewer:

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

Christine Walti:

It is important to me to teach in an empathetic, supportive and faciliatory style, which is conducive to learner empowerment – a goal which is very important to me and guides my teaching on all levels. I view my role as providing the scaffold that enables transformative learning, which goes beyond gaining only factual knowledge.

I am a product of the School of Social Work in Zürich, Switzerland of the early 80s. This was a time when reflection, discourse, exchange and engagement with instructors and peers was paramount. We were challenged to explore and approach our boundaries, apply critical thinking and take responsibility for our learning and advancing the profession for the sake of our clients.

Interviewer:

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

Christine Walti:

I don't know that this is unique, but I try to see each learner as someone who has a backpack full of experiences, and I am eager to get to know about these and see how they apply these to a new context or materials.

Interviewer:

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

Christine Walti:

I would like to believe that it is because I treat them as adults, and I try to be clear, stay unassuming, and be patient and supportive.

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.

Christine Walti:

For the past 10 years I have taught exclusively online. I prefer asynchronous teaching because it gives me time to plan and set up the classes ahead of time and then, during the course I am able to respond to students in a timely manner that is conducive to my schedule as well.

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?

Christine Walti:

Distance Education (and I was a correspondence student in the 70's) for me has always been about accessibility and thus about equality and opportunity. It is “openness” in the best sense and again can lead to empowerment of learners despite challenges that learners may be confronted with that they might otherwise not be able to overcome.

I attend as many conferences as I can, I subscribe to numerous listservs (although I don't always have time to read them all) and attend webinars on particular topics, I try to fit professional development activities into my schedule (I have participated in a number of UMUC's courses and eventually want to get the advanced certificate) and possibly most importantly, I network with colleagues and friends in my discipline. We work on issues in our courses (grading, participation, assessment etc.) and we collaborate on research and presentations to the larger community.

The discipline of Distance Education is the teaching and learning itself. It gives me the opportunity to demonstrate the values that I believe in while at the same time allowing students to learn in the delivery format of the discipline they are studying.

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 to teaching your discipline online?

Christine Walti:

One of the biggest challenges is coping with the different levels of academic preparedness of the students in the courses. I realize that this is not discipline specific, but is what I experience as difficult for myself as well as for the students. I try to redirect the students to the available resources at UMUC and be honest and open in my feedback about their academic work.

One of the challenges in the courses I teach is that they are very conceptual and thus associated with a lot of reading and discussion. It is not easy to develop creative activities or use some of the newer technology tools.

Interviewer:

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

Christine Walti:

Students should understand and want to be managers in distance education. Many have the wish to teach online, but the program is not really designed for that specific purpose (although a course has been added that addresses this more). Learners must also be prepared to take on responsibility for their learning in this format and while this applies to all students in the distance learning environment, students studying this discipline must be particularly aware of this and its implications.

Interviewer:

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

Christine Walti:

UMUC has an excellent reputation, a wide variety of programs and courses and seems to be very competitive when it comes to tuition. What students usually only experience later, when they have already joined UMUC is that they have an outstanding array of services and support – my personal favorite is the Library!

Interviewer:

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

Christine Walti:

UMUC has developed many activities for adjunct faculty and strives to be inclusive. The professional development opportunities are extensive and new benefits are slowly being added (tuition remission, some employee benefits etc.)

Interviewer:

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

Christine Walti:

Make use of all of UMUC's resources, and in the case of the MDE – especially colleagues and our program director, Stella Porto, who is the most wonderful person to work with and exemplifies UMUC's commitment to adjunct faculty with her very personal commitment!