Technology Professor Wins Distinguished Fulbright Specialist Award

Holly M. Hutchins, associate professor of human resource development, has been awarded selected for a Fulbright Specialist grant in Business Administration at Edinburgh Napier University, United Kingdom. As a Fulbrighter, Dr. Hutchins will travel to Scotland in April, joining the ranks of distinguished scholars and professionals worldwide who are leaders in the educational, political, economic, social, and cultural lives of their countries.

Tell us about your motivation to pursue the Fulbright. I learned about the Fulbright opportunities from attending a workshop at UH, and was drawn to their mission of "increasing mutual understanding" with global colleagues. In today's world, developing relationships and increasing understanding is critical to leading positive change. I also see the Fulbright experience as an opportunity to broaden my network and expand my own intercultural learning. I am excited to be involved with colleagues at a premiere institution, Napier Edinburgh University.

What specific programs will you evaluate? As a Fulbright Specialist, I will conduct follow-up interviews and focus groups with doctoral students attending Napier Edinburgh's Business School. Many of their students are located internationally, so I will explore the experience of online learning, virtual mentoring, and their overall satisfaction with their doctoral studies. One of my expertise areas is in program evaluation, and this project will allow me to apply varied approaches to assessing impact. I will also make research presentations about e-mentoring, imposter phenomenon, and transfer of learning.

How will this experience support the UH College of Technology programs and complement your professional goals? Assessing our College of Technology programs is ongoing, so my experience in evaluating an international doctoral program will assist in our own effort at developing an eventual Ph.D. program. My hope is that there are additional research or other collaborative opportunities to arise from the experience as well.

What do you hope to learn and accomplish in Scotland that would not be entirely possible in the United States? Perhaps to send and receive email in a castle? Seriously, I believe any international experience expands a person's ability to see things differently, which then prompts us to ask different questions. I will step into a different learning system, so I am sure that my immersion will be a useful comparative experience. I will be very interested in learning about Napier's approach to online learning and student engagement, their perspectives concerning evaluation, and differences in overall learning practices and culture. I will be sure to take a picture in the Edinburgh Castle wearing my UH gear!

Follow Dr. Hutchins' Fulbright Experience in Napier Edinburgh University: http://www.travelpod.com/members/hhscotfulbright.