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Faculty Excellence at UMUC
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Faculty Interview
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| 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. |
| Warren Sharp: | I was fortunate enough to work in a vocation I loved for over thirty years---automating and controlling equipment and machinery in almost every conceivable industry. Even then, there came a time when I asked myself, "If I were to do something else, what would it be?" So, at the tender age of 48, with two girls in college, I was accepted to Vanderbilt University's doctoral program. My wife found herself with three college students on her hands. I learned about UMUC and their overseas program from a fellow classmate at Vanderbilt, but did not join UMUC until several years later. |
| Interviewer: | How would you describe your teaching style or philosophy? What experiences or person(s) have influenced your style or philosophy? |
| Warren Sharp: | That's a tough question. In the 1970's and '80's the buzzword in business was "quality.” U.S. auto makers had a quality problem . Japanese cars were of a higher quality than U.S. cars. Total Quality Management (TQM) became the operative for business at the time. With tongue-in-cheek I tell my students that in my classes we practice "Total---not partial--- Total Quality Instruction (TQI)." So, what is quality? Is a Lexus a higher quality car than a GEO? Is a Big Mac a higher quality burger than a Whopper? One definition of quality is "conformance to requirements." The Acceptable Quality Level (AQL) is zero defects. I ask my students if they want to turn in quality work and they all say they do. I go to great pains and effort to tell them what is required. I give them examples of quality work: Current Event Reports are to be turned in with a cover memo. Memos are initialed, not signed. The titles of magazines are in italics, not underlined. Know the difference between there and their, etc. To a degree I suppose it works. Occasionally on the class evaluation a student will simply write "TQI." One of the best teachers I ever had asked us how we would determine the size of a grapefruit from six feet away if all we had for a measuring device was a bushel of peas. This was a course in nuclear engineering, and he went on to describe how to measure the diameter of the nucleus of an atom by "throwing" neutrons at it. |
| Interviewer: | Please explain if you do something special or unique in your teaching and what made you develop this. |
| Warren Sharp: | In the first class I took at Vanderbilt (remember, I was 48 years old) the professor never wrote anything on the board. Instead he lectured, referring occasionally to two or three pages of notes on his podium. As I wrote furiously I would glance over at those notes. "Why doesn't he give us his notes? Why does this seem like a contest?" So, I give my students copies of my lecture notes. I give them a consolidated list of topics to be covered on exams. On the student evaluations I probably get more positive comments regarding the notes than on anything else. |
| Interviewer: | What do you think it is about your teaching style that appeals to students? |
| Warren Sharp: | According to the student evaluations it is real-world experiences and humor. I come from a business background, and it is often easy to describe a personal experience which illustrates a point. Usually it is one in which I come off as a dunce. Sometimes I look for ways to add an "extra dimension" to a class. For example, in Business Strategy we study several cases. One was a firm called No Pudge! Brownies, a no-fat brownie mix. I bought several boxes of No Pudge! brownie mix, baked them, and brought them to class. When we studied Puma Athletic Wear, I wore a Puma tee shirt. When we studied Harley Davidson, I wore a Harley tee shirt. I considered bringing in a motor cycle, but the classroom was on the second floor. We watched a scene from Easy Rider instead. |
| 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. |
| Warren Sharp: | I teach both online and face-to-face. It's too soon to say what I like best. I have been doing face-to-face three years and will start my second online course in September. For me, long-range planning is dinner tonight, so the mechanics of setting up Class Announcements and Conferences several weeks in advance for people I will never see is still fun. |
| 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? |
| Warren Sharp: | First and foremost, I am a mechanical engineer. Aptitude tests showed that while I have a high degree of interest in how things work, I have no interest in making them work. After graduating from Georgia Tech I started work on my MBA at night. That took about six years, and I figured I was finally through with school. I developed a course in automation and controls for our clients and employees. Attendees usually complimented my efforts and asked if I had ever considered teaching. As the old joke goes, I thought people who could, did; those who couldn't, taught; and those who couldn't teach, taught Phys-Ed. I knew that if I were to teach it would have to be at the university level, and that would mean completing a doctorate. Vanderbilt was right down the road. Their catalog described an interdisciplinary program called Management of Technology. They gave me a scholarship, and the rest, as they say, is history. I read business periodicals (Business Week, Fortune, WSJ, Forbes) and maintain contact with some of the faculty at Vanderbilt to stay current in my field. |
| Interviewer: | What is the most challenging to you in teaching in this area? What teaching strategy do you use when you encounter the challenge? |
| Warren Sharp: | Textbooks today are so involved that just separating the "wheat from the chafe" is a challenge. There is usually a CD, videos, an Internet site, Internet references, cases, etc. Some of the texts are an industry unto themselves. |
| Interviewer: | Are there any special challenges in teaching this subject matter online? If yes, please explain what could be done to meet the challenges. |
| Warren Sharp: | Some "authorities" consider the phonetic alphabet to be the greatest invention in the history of mankind, but it is still less efficient than the spoken word. (As I sit here typing this, I am using two fingers). I have a video-cam perched atop my monitor. I'm sure there is some way for me to record a five or ten minute lecture to include with each conference which could eliminate several hundred words of text. |
| Interviewer: | What suggestion would you give to students who are interested in majoring or working in your discipline? |
| Warren Sharp: | The advice I would give is to read the appropriate periodicals on a regular basis. Realize that the authors of those articles who are commenting on how well or poorly a company has been run are Monday-morning quarterbacks who have never had to develop a strategy in a competitive situation. Try to get your news from some source other than the Internet. On the Internet you will seldom "stumble" across an article as you will while thumbing through a magazine. Also, constantly work to develop your writing skills, and be able to divide one number by another and give the answer as a percent. |
| Interviewer: | In your opinion, what makes UMUC the college of choice for students? |
| Warren Sharp: | UMUC is the college of choice for students because of its association with the military, availability, and convenience. |
| Interviewer: | In your opinion, what makes UMUC the employer of choice for future faculty members? |
| Warren Sharp: | In my case it was opportunity to live in Asia and travel. |
| Interviewer: | What suggestion would you give to new faculty who are interested in teaching in your discipline at UMUC? |
| Warren Sharp: | If you play volleyball, my colleagues and I would encourage you to come to Okinawa . Aside from that ---- Since I am a "traveling" faculty member I try to get along without a lot of "stuff." My pencil holder is a Campbell 's soup can. We don't have a TV, but we do have DSL Internet service. I subscribe to several business magazines. During the first few months it seemed that every week brought a new culture shock (be sure and get a re-entry stamp on your passport; take a copy of your orders with you when you travel). However, the UMUC faculty and staff are very supportive, as are my Japanese neighbors. Finally, take (or at least audit) the first term of a course in the local language and culture. |
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