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.

Norbert Page:

I became a UM Faculty Member in Fall 1990 when a colleague with the U. of Maryland Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences (MEES) Program asked that I fill in for a medical staff toxicologist that had been teaching the Environmental Toxicology course. The staff toxicologist was pregnant and needed a replacement for the semester. I agreed to substitute for her, and as it turned, out I continued to teach the course for another seven years. In 1998 I transferred to UMUC and helped develop and teach the Physiology and Toxicology course.
About five years ago, a number of courses were designated for the expanding Distance Education Program and my course had been selected. I served as Content Expert for the Hazardous Materials Toxicology course (ENMT 305) and taught it for several semesters. Subsequently, as the Online Program continued to expand, I served as Content Expert and Instructor for two more courses, Environmental and Occupational Safety and Health Management (ENMT 320) and Risk Assessment (ENMT 390). Beginning with the Fall 2007 semester, I will also teach the Global Environmental Management course (ENMT 495).

In my prior government and private careers, I presented many lectures and speeches and always enjoyed the opportunities. A major activity in my business was to conduct toxicology reviews and hazard or risk assessments, which often led to service as an Expert Witness in litigation proceedings. Presenting information to a jury or judge is pretty much a teaching activity.

I have been a private consultant for the past 20 years, consulting primarily in toxicology and environmental risk assessment. While I continue to consult, I have reduced my business workload and like to think of myself as "semi-retired." For the past decade, I always prioritized my schedule to be able to handle the UMUC teaching assignments. I have a little more time now and really enjoy the UMUC Teaching.
I am still a partner and Vice President of ToxaChemica International, a Maryland small business firm. Until I reduced my work load, I served for 10 years as Manager of the ToxaChemica Prime Contract with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to provide Professional Services for the Development of Occupational Standards and Guidelines. In that capacity, I called upon the services of numerous other experts in occupational safety and health, such as industrial hygiene, epidemiology, and economics, to provide advice and consultations to OSHA in the development of occupational health standards and guidelines.

I suppose that my experiences in my military and private careers have helped shape how I teach and the style that I use. As far as teaching experiences at the UM, there was an older student who had recently retired and was bent on pursuing his kayaking hobby. He was an excellent student excelling in all aspects with perfect scores on all tests up to the final exam. He had a perfect attendance record and presented perhaps the best research project for his term paper that I have ever had. After taking the final exam, he came up to me and thanked me for the course but proceeded to tell me that the final exam was the hardest he had ever taken. I asked him why he was taking the course and he said: "I just wanted to know more about Physiology and Toxicology." He was retired and moving to Florida where he could pursue his kayaking hobby year round. I realized that he had an advantage over the other students as he had much more time to study and learn the material. Oh, by the way, he had a perfect score on the final exam.

On the other hand, I recall a young lady who was struggling with many of the concepts, and I spent considerable time working with her. She was always full of questions, and even though she had read the textbooks, she was often confused. She made it through the class with an unremarkable grade. Soon after the class was over, I found that she had nominated me for the Stanley J. Drazek Teaching Excellence award and made the comment: "If you don't know, turn da Page." It was nice knowing that one of the struggling students appreciated the efforts made to bring her along. That strengthened my philosophy to commit myself to provide a little more effort to those in most need.

Interviewer:

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

Norbert Page:

I would say that I am pretty relaxed and friendly with the students, while letting them know that I fully expect them to do their best. I make sure that the students understand what is expected of them and I test them (informally and formally) to make sure that they are learning. Each week I set up a conference pertaining to the week's objectives and initiate discussion on at least two important current events. I thoroughly enjoy the conference discussions and encourage input by all the students. When necessary, I will send queries to students in order to bring them more into the discussions.

What I enjoy the most from teaching is the knowledge that students have actually learned and performed well in class, and realizing that I had some small role in their accomplishments. It is personally satisfying to see students progress in their college education. The online conferencing provides for good student dialogue; however, I miss the visual and verbal interactions of the face-to-face classroom.

I suppose I would have to go back to my childhood and the encouragement always given by my mother when I thought things were too hard. However, I probably have to give more credit to one of my high school instructors, Dr. Frederick Roehm. He's about the only high school instructor that I can remember. Dr. Roehm spoke with a bit of accented English and was paralyzed on most of his left side. Apparently he was a survivor from one of the Nazi death camps and had been used for human experiments. Dr. Roehm had been teaching physics at the U. of Miami but preferred to teach at a high school, and we were lucky to get him. His style was to make each student feel special, and we all strove to out-perform the others. He was obviously a great teacher as our school routinely placed first, second, and third in the state-wide physics exams. He was indeed a remarkable man who had seen the worst of mankind but survived and then devoted the rest of his life to training young people. He made a lasting impression on me and he will always remain in my memories. I am sure he had a lot to do with setting the tone for my style and philosophy for life. I guess I always wanted to be like him and follow in his footsteps, at least in teaching.

Interviewer:

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

Norbert Page:

I can't think of anything special about my teaching style. I guess I observed how others have taught and had good results and pretty much have followed in their paths, implementing new approaches as technology progressed.

Interviewer:

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

Norbert Page:

Based on the student questionnaires at the end of class, the students seem to have always rated me high in friendliness and preparation. I think the students also appreciate my attention to how well each of them is doing and in keeping them informed of their standing in the class.

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.

Norbert Page:

I have taught both in the face-to-face classroom and online, but currently I am teaching strictly online. I actually prefer teaching face-to-face since I feel I can better sense how well students understand and are learning. I feel I have more control if I see them and can work a little more independently with each.

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?

Norbert Page:

My initial chosen discipline was Veterinary Medicine, in which I received a doctorate degree from Ohio State University. I practiced for a couple years but then had to serve my military draft deferral commitment. On my assignment as a Military Veterinarian in Japan, I had the opportunity to observe first-hand the results of the horrors of the atomic bomb detonations at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The military had a need for medically-trained officers to specialize in radiation effects and toxicity, and I readily accepted an assignment to the University of Rochester Medical School graduate school in radiation biology. Following receipt of a MS from the U. Rochester, I spent four years conducting radiation toxicity studies in San Francisco and another four years managing research programs for the Atomic Energy Commission. I then moved into even more general aspects of chemical toxicology for the National Cancer Institute, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, and finally, the Environmental Protection Agency. As I was eligible for retirement, I started my own business in toxicology consultations.
I am a member of several professional societies in toxicology and attend meetings and continuing education courses. I also maintain a personal library and receive several current research journals.

I am now teaching Environmental Health Management. Our environment is undergoing rather drastic changes with many indicators pointing to more serious problems for the future. One only has to point to global warming, climate change, emerging diseases, natural disasters, and of course, man's role in contributing to these problems, to see the importance of environmental health management. It becomes even more a concern if one adds in the threat of environmental terrorism and a crumbling infrastructure of public utilities. We could be in for some really bad times ahead. Persons trained in Environmental Management could indeed play important roles in our survival and well-being.

Interviewer:

What is the most challenging to you in teaching in this area? What teaching strategy do you use when you encounter the challenge?

Norbert Page:

Perhaps the greatest challenge to teaching in Environmental Health Management is keeping up with a changing world and changing politics that affect our knowledge base and setting of national and international priorities. I do my best to present the facts as best I can determine them to be, along with the differing viewpoints that come into play, especially when politicized as we have seen recently. I want the students to think through the situation and learn how to deal with controversy. It is not unique to have students who are already working in some aspect of environmental health, and I try to encourage those students to share their experiences and knowledge with the class.

Interviewer:

Are there any special challenges in teaching this subject matter online? If yes, please explain what could be done to meet the challenges.

Norbert Page:

As I see it, the biggest challenge to teaching environmental health online is to bring the latest information to the students while still using the modules that may have been developed a few years before and thus a little out of date. If I were in the classroom it would be easy to keep the class materials current. To do this for the online courses, one has to supplement the modules and perhaps even textbook with additional readings or PowerPoint presentations. On the other hand, one really great advantage now is that the Internet makes available current event readings and news reports and, in many cases, raw data. I frequently refer the students to new and informative Web sites to make sure they are exposed to the latest information.

Interviewer:

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

Norbert Page:

One of the biggest challenges that young people or retrainees have to make is to determine just what an education and career they should commit to. They are making what could be a life-long commitment and once deep into the training, it is difficult to turn back. One can always question their decision. Therefore, I suggest that those expressing an interest in environmental health management read as much as they can on the subject and perhaps visit with commercial or local government environmental health officials to see just what they do. A visit to the scene of an environmental disaster, such as Katrina, a nuclear power plant, or a hazardous waste site might be also helpful.

Interviewer:

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

Norbert Page:

UMUC has some major advantages over other environmental management programs in that is a part of a wonderful and respected university, has a fine academic reputation in the environmental area, and it offers a variety of learning experiences.

Interviewer:

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

Norbert Page:

The UMUC faculty is a respected collegiate body with a wonderful and friendly camaraderie. The facilities are pleasing and well-equipped for effective teaching, whether online or in the face-to-face classrooms. Another selling feature is that is makes available faculty training in new techniques and media so they can advance their abilities in teaching.

Interviewer:

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

Norbert Page:

Assuming that they already have been screened for their knowledge of the discipline and have some experience and interest in teaching, I would invite the candidate to visit with me and go through how the courses are constructed and how they are taught at the time. That might either turn them on or turn them off. We should always strive for teaching excellence. Our students deserve the best education that we can possibly provide.