Day 2—Focus on Galen University

 

Arriving at Galen University outside of San Ignacio.

Arriving via public bus from San Ignacio, we met with faculty and toured Galen University—first at their location outside of San Ignacio and then the Belmopan campus. 

Galen University is a private university of about 400-500 students with about 200 attending at the campus we visited in San Ignacio.  Programs include Bachelor’s degrees in Business Administration, Banking & Finance, and Primary Education with about 170 teachers enrolled as their main market segment. 




Palapa (shelter with palm leaf roof)
 and van at Galen University.

 Galen University uses a distance learning model in which approximately 150 students are served at once through the use of two-way video technology, which connects multiple classes meeting simultaneously at various sites to a live webcast led by rotating faculty.  Each site’s classroom has a facilitator who ensures the class computer and projector are functioning and properly connected.  This cyber gatekeeper at each site also facilitates students asking questions from their site during the webcast.


One of several classrooms used during simultaneous webcasts.

I would think this model works well to instruct 150+ students at once because each student and each class is part of something bigger than themselves.  Students see and interact with the other classes, so they see students like themselves learning and succeeding.  The instructors rotate, providing a variety of teaching and learning styles.  One still has the community building with classmates because students are physically attending and not logging on from home or elsewhere.  Although the lesson is led by one instructor, the various classes at the different sites have the opportunity to bond as a class, while participating in class activities.


Close up of cool and refreshing ceramic tile floor in classroom.

The Director of Student Affairs at Galen University mentioned several times that she was available to assist students at all hours through phone, email, Facebook and other social media.  I spoke to a second term student who had graduated from high school last year.  She corroborated that, indeed, the Director of Student Affairs is available to answer questions at 2am.  This student support is one way that Galen University has a very high completion rate.  They also offer many extracurricular activities to enhance the experience for students.  Another thing they are able to do because they are small is go back into the system to see who has graduated and follow up to see what graduates are doing.  The Director of Student Affairs has identified the need to have a counselor dedicated to assisting students.  She would also like to create an alumni network, perhaps getting alumni donors as they currently have no donors.

Student lounge.

One issue which they face, which I also see in the U.S. and influenced by increased texting, is that of students not having strong writing skills.  Galen University’s Director of Student Affairs referred several times to students’ inability to express themselves in writing. To address this, Galen University uses entrance exams as a placement test to work with a student and bring up his/her skills.  They also have tutoring services available, drawing from academic scholarship recipients who “give back” by assisting others with the writing process in a tutoring center.  Participation, to a higher degree, of scholarship students is expected.  Additionally, Galen University offers a mandatory career and employer strategies course in which students polish skills needed for writing a cover letter and filling out an application among other things. 

Library.

Another issue they face, which we also face in the U.S., is that of student disengagement.  Their Director of Student Affairs thought contributors to this are maturity level and values of adolescents launching into adulthood. To get students more involved, Galen University has started a seminar series in which students begin by joining the band for the national anthem followed by the school song.  The creation of the band (drums, guitarists, vocalists, and keyboardists) and various athletic teams (basketball) as well as games (chess and dominoes), both comprised of scholarship recipients, also tries to engage students. 

Galen University also offers a cultural experience course in which students are exposed to Garifuna drumming and language, engage in fieldtrips, and create a class drum.  The student I spoke with had taken this class and was hoping to join a few more extracurricular activities because they were fun.  Drums made by recent classes were on display at the front desk of Galen University.  Student artwork from recent photography classes adorned the walls near the front desk as well as the hallway upstairs.



Class-made and signed Garafuna drums on display at main desk.

The fact that Galen University at their student orientation addresses procrastination and plagiarism speaks to the topics of engagement and writing.

I found it interesting that, although he thought data important in driving change, the Interim Provost of Galen University did not need to look at the exact figures because it was intuitively evident that the curriculum needs better alignment to students’ future needs.  He mentioned having a frame of reference and making a difference one teacher at a time.



Registrars Office at Galen University.

It was great interacting with people who have similar roles to the ones I know back home, experience similar scenarios, and have the buzzwords to talk about it with us.