Professional Development: Cuba: Histories of the Present K-16 Educator Workshop, Tennessee State University/Vanderbilt University
I attended a teacher workshop at Tennessee State University in collaboration with Vanderbilt University titled, Cuba: Histories of the Present K-16. We met in an art gallery on campus and learned about the visual history of Cuba which was a really nice focus.
Most importantly, I appreciated the collaboration between Tennessee State University, a historically black college and Vanderbilt, a private PWI. One of the issues I have had as a PhD student at an HBCU is lack of funding in my area of interest. Some HBCU get plenty of funding, especially in the sciences, but for humanities, I have yet to see a federal national resource institution at an HBCU, with the exception of Howard University. So, students at those school lose out. I have always been a critic of the FLAS program. Basically, only students who go to schools who are national resource centers qualify for FLAS. Guess how many HBCUs are on the list?
I understand why. Professors teach more classes at HBCUs. When I say more, I mean it is not unusual for professors to teach 5 classes in the fall and 4 - 5 in the spring. Some PWIs have a 2/3 teaching schedule, or the norm is teaching 2 classes in the fall and 3 classes in the spring. However, they demand more research. Other research institutions have a schedule of 2/1, where professors teach 2 classes in the fall and 1 in the spring. For the later, the institutions expect that their professors apply for prestigious grants offered by the federal government. They have the time and the resources to do so. For the former, it is a dream, as the school is teaching-intensive and there is hardly any time to do so.
Institutionally, it is harder for professors at HBCUs to compete, not impossible, just harder. I think any student should be allowed to apply for FLAS grants, whether they go to the school that offers them or not. I think that is what the federal government is trying to do when forcing national resources centers to collaborate with HBCUs and community colleges. This is a nice step, but more is needed. Therefore, I am very appreciate of the collaboration between Tennessee State University and Vanderbilt University and hope that they continue to work together and share resources so that their students and the greater community can benefit.
Most importantly, I appreciated the collaboration between Tennessee State University, a historically black college and Vanderbilt, a private PWI. One of the issues I have had as a PhD student at an HBCU is lack of funding in my area of interest. Some HBCU get plenty of funding, especially in the sciences, but for humanities, I have yet to see a federal national resource institution at an HBCU, with the exception of Howard University. So, students at those school lose out. I have always been a critic of the FLAS program. Basically, only students who go to schools who are national resource centers qualify for FLAS. Guess how many HBCUs are on the list?
I understand why. Professors teach more classes at HBCUs. When I say more, I mean it is not unusual for professors to teach 5 classes in the fall and 4 - 5 in the spring. Some PWIs have a 2/3 teaching schedule, or the norm is teaching 2 classes in the fall and 3 classes in the spring. However, they demand more research. Other research institutions have a schedule of 2/1, where professors teach 2 classes in the fall and 1 in the spring. For the later, the institutions expect that their professors apply for prestigious grants offered by the federal government. They have the time and the resources to do so. For the former, it is a dream, as the school is teaching-intensive and there is hardly any time to do so.
Institutionally, it is harder for professors at HBCUs to compete, not impossible, just harder. I think any student should be allowed to apply for FLAS grants, whether they go to the school that offers them or not. I think that is what the federal government is trying to do when forcing national resources centers to collaborate with HBCUs and community colleges. This is a nice step, but more is needed. Therefore, I am very appreciate of the collaboration between Tennessee State University and Vanderbilt University and hope that they continue to work together and share resources so that their students and the greater community can benefit.
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