From Asia to Europe students aren’t the only ones benefiting from Baker University’s travel abroad opportunities.
The Travel for Learning grant, an endowed fund donated by Loreine Collins Deitrich, is awarded to two or three faculty members every year to go toward travel expenses to conferences, institutions or other places to help faculty enhance their classrooms.
Kevin McCarthy, chair of the Faculty Growth and Enrichment Committee, said the committee favors applicants who are planning to travel outside of the country.
“The program is strongly orientated towards international travel,” he said. “Applicants who plan on doing something not so directly related to their teaching, and aren’t traveling internationally, are less likely to be chosen.”
McCarthy, who received a grant in 2002 to travel to Taiwan, Hong Kong and mainland China for three weeks, said one $5,000 grant is awarded annually with one or two smaller grants.
Associate Professor of French Erin Joyce and Professor of Art Inge Balch were the 2007 recipients both traveling in July. Joyce traveled to France for 2 1/2 weeks, while Balch traveled to Denmark and Sweden for four weeks.
“It’s fun to see things that I teach that I’ve never seen before,” Joyce said. “It’s important to me to keep my language fresh. I got to see what people are listening to now, and what they’re watching on TV. It’s helpful because things like that change so rapidly.”
Balch spent part of her summer attending a conference at the International Ceramics Research Center in Denmark and also went to Sweden to see famous glass and ceramic pieces. Balch, who is originally from Denmark, said the grant helped cover the cost of the conference, food and supplies. The grant also covered some lodging, but she spent some of her time with her family.
“I got to stay with my sister on a boat,” she said.
Although he was awarded the TFL grant last year, Professor of English Preston Fambrough split his travels into two summers, traveling to France in the summer of 2006 and to England and Wales last summer.
While in France, Fambrough studied the parallels between compassionate realism in paintings and literature in the Musée du Louvre and the Musée d’Orsay. His trip to England included traveling around the countryside looking at settings from famous novels.
“It’s been very beneficial to me as a teacher,” he said. “It helped me gain an understanding of the literature I teach. It has greatly enhanced the way I teach and provided me with photos that I can now use to help students visualize.”
Fambrough is not the only teacher who has chosen to travel to the United Kingdom. Lee Green and Lowell Jacobsen, professors of business and economics, spent their grant money traveling to London and Edinburgh, Scotland.
Jacobsen served as a visiting professor at Baillie Gifford, an independent investment management firm in Edinburgh, during his sabbatical in the spring of 2005. Green spent two months of his summer in 2003 attending King’s College in London.
“I got to meet all of these people from all over the world,” Green said. “What an experience.”
Green said his trip wouldn’t have been possible without the TFL grant.
“I wouldn’t have been able to afford the tuition without the help of the program,” he said. “You get professional development, and the benefits flow right to students. I would love to some day leave Baker a chunk of money to fund this type of grant.”
Joyce said teachers have to submit a budget and proposal as their application to the FGE committee, and are required to give a presentation once they return.
“When you get back you have to write a report to the committee outlining what you did and how it benefited your teaching,” she said. “Basically, you have to show that you did what you said you were going to do.”
Joyce, who brought back videos and DVDs to share with her classes, said she’s fortunate to have participated in the program.
“Its real importance is that it allows faculty to remain life-long learners,” she said. “It’s a great opportunity and we’re lucky at Baker to have a grant like this.”