October 2021, Klamath Falls, OR – The U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board awarded a Fulbright grant to Dr. Sharon Beaudry of Oregon Institute of Technology. Dr. Beaudry, a business professor, spent the month of September completing a project at the Southern African Wildlife College in South Africa.
The Fulbright programme aims to exchange knowledge and establish partnerships benefiting participants, institutions, and communities both in the U.S. and overseas through a variety of educational and training activities. Dr. Beaudry is one of over 400 U.S. citizens who share expertise with host institutions abroad through the Fulbright Specialist Programme each year. Recipients of Fulbright Specialist awards are selected on the basis of academic and professional achievement, demonstrated leadership in their field, and their potential to foster long-term cooperation between institutions in the U.S. and abroad.
Dr. Beaudry, who has expertise in business strategy, human resource, and accreditation, spent the month helping the college build quality measures for their strategic plan. Working alongside Anelle Rautenbach, the College’s head of quality management and accreditation, the project’s goal was to build out the College’s strategic plan’s balanced approach that supports their holistic mission of conservation.
During Beaudry’s visit, another Fulbright, Dr. James Danoff-Burg, aided the college in development of their new three-year blended learning diploma programme. Both Danoff-Burg and Beaudry worked with the academic units in the development of applied approaches and best practices in online course design and pedagogy.
Beaudry is quick to point out that her time at the College was a truly immersive experience supporting the Fulbright mission of “exchange.” Beaudry notes, “The folks at the college were wonderful hosts, continually offering me opportunities to learn about the work they do. From the very beginning, I was invited on game drives to learn about the greater Kruger area and its inhabitants. There was nothing like sharing the excitement of a rare wild dog spotting with both colleagues and students.”
Beaudry and Rautenbach plan to continue their collaboration in the future to support the build out of the College’s strategic plan measurements. Beaudry also plans to share details about the Fulbright programme with colleagues at Oregon Tech to encourage participation. Beaudry adds, “Since my return, my students are eager to learn more about my experience in South Africa. As a professor of business, I’m looking forward to sharing how I used many of the same business tools and processes that students will be using in their own senior projects. And this also shows them – business can be applied everywhere, including in an exciting South African experience and context.”
Oregon Tech Business Degrees include nine programmes: Accounting, Business Management, Cybersecurity, Information Technology, Health Care Management, Health Informatics, Marketing, Operations Management, Technology & Management. These programmes are offered at the Klamath Falls campus, and many are also offered in the Portland-Metro campus as well as online.
