UCO Students Skype with Award-Winning Author

With technology on the rise, you don’t have to travel to learn from somebody on another continent. A professor at the University of Central Oklahoma gave students a Skype lesson with the author of a book they read in class, allowing them to ask questions about the book, and learn from an international point of view.

UCO’s Spanish Professor and Department Chair of Modern Language, Diana Pardo, offered students with an interactive class and a Skype lesson from Haitian author Evelyne Trouillot.

“I think it’s important to bring somebody to our classroom, because we are bringing something that very few people in Oklahoma know anything about. By bringing it to them, it becomes alive. It becomes something that is more authentic and more original, as opposed to just reading the book,” Pardo said.

The award-winning Haitian author has several books and novels touching base in polemic topics. She is also known for writing from a woman’s point of view.

Several of her works have been translated into German, English, Spanish and Italian, and have also been published in magazines in Cuba, France, Mexico and Canada.

The usually typical class started a little differently on Tuesday, with Pardo welcoming the Haitian author to a classroom full of excited students.

“We want to welcome you to our university, our class, our state, our country and we are going to do our best to make this a pleasurable encounter,” said Pardo.

Students of the African-Caribbean Literature class were offered a Skype lesson where they could ask questions about a book they were required to read in class, “The Infamous Rosalie,” including questions about the characters in the book, the history of the Haiti, and well as her inspirations to write a novel over slavery.

Over 20 students attended the class, and said they were thankful for the opportunity to meet Trouillot.
“She really took me to a different world, and she inspired me to look at life in a different way,” said Jordan Moss, a UCO student.

A student in class, Kameron Ackerman, welcomed Trouillot with a Haitian flag, while another student welcomed the author in French, her native language. Students seemed well prepared and engaged to meet the author.

“Reading the novel was great, but when we bring that person into our classroom, somebody from Haiti, a country that we have a lot of misconceptions about, we are trying to dispel a lot of these misconceptions. It’s important that we bring that to Oklahoma, to keep up with global competency, and to make sure our students know about the world,” Pardo said.

The novel written by Trouillot, “The Infamous Rosalie,” displays the story of Lisette, a Creole-born slave living in Haiti, suffering struggles to maintain her dignity, while dealing with the fears and traumas among the plantation masters. The novel also focuses on the aspects of the Haitian Revolution.

“It was very eye-opening just to learn about slavery, but also what woman went through. A lot of times you don’t get to read that in just normal history books. It was really eye-opening,” said Azucena Yearby, a student at UCO.

UCO Receives National Recognition for Student Engagement

The University of Central Oklahoma’s effort to help students engage with each other and the community around them has brought national recognition among prestigious colleges and universities.

The Wall Street Journal Times Higher Education College Ranking ranked UCO sixth place in the Top 10 list compiled for student engagement. UCO was the only public-regional university ranked on the Wall Street Journal’s Top Schools for Engagement list.

“It was a very prestigious recognition that we received, and we were absolutely delighted that other people discovered it. It was really a testimony to what goes here with our students, our faculty and our staff to receive this ranking,” said Jeff King, executive director of Center for Excellence in Transformative Teaching and Learning.

Over 100,000 colleges and universities around the nation were surveyed on questions over student engagement with staff, faculty, organizations and programs offered by these institutions. Other questions highlighted students’ satisfaction with their college experience.

For each institution, 50 students were given a survey. The institutions, however, were not notified about these censuses.

“What I like about this is that it’s based on not just data, but also on interviews. We didn’t know they were interviewing our students. We had no idea,” UCO President Don Betz said.

The engagement ranking was derived from seven questions. Survey questions included how challenging classes were, the level at which classes prompted critical thinking, the students’ connections to the school, and interactions in the community.

“What these people were trying to do with their particular survey was to get more of a read on what [a UCO student’s] actual experience was like, among all other indicators that they were collecting. And as it turns out, the University of Central Oklahoma ranked extremely highly in how much students are engaged with their education, with their faculty, with other staff on campus, with organizations and service learning, and so forth,” King said.

Governor Mary Fallin has complimented UCO’s administration for being recognized nationally for helping students connect with each other and the world around them. Fallin said UCO efforts are similar to her Oklahoma Works initiative, which aims to ensure Oklahoma students have the necessary education and skills to enter the workforce prepared and well-equipped.

Betz believes education is the single most significant factor in the long-range development of the opportunities for students, along with the development of character, which is influenced by education.

Betz said he receives feedback from employers articulating that UCO students are very engaged, alert, adaptive and eager to learn.

“But ultimately what it is, to me, is affirmation and encouragement that the pathway we are on is a pathway that is worthwhile. [A pathway] that serves not only our students, but our society, our communities, the metro area and the state of Oklahoma. And if we do that in the right way, especially with our costs here compared to many across the country, we think that we are, in that way, serving students as best as we possibly can. So we are encouraged; we have to be,” Betz added.

UCO tied for the sixth place with well known institutions such as Auburn University, Michigan State University, Miami University, among other institutions.

It’s noted that the results show a clear divide between public and private institutions, highlighting that private colleges are more prompt to receive high rankings, as public schools have more restrained spending.

“We are just again very, very pleased, and hopefully we can continue to serve our students and the community very well,” Betz said. “I can thank the entire faculty and staff of the institution—those people that get up every day and come here with a passion for what they do and a belief in the possibilities of creating opportunities for our students. And I also thank the students. They were the ones that did the reporting.”