Today was our first full day of the program, although it feels as if we have been here together for a week -- in a good way! The group is already starting to share and bond. It is an amazing experience.We started off with an overview of the program and a hilarious video to introduce us to the U.K. I have to share this with my students (and you, of course). Here is the link if you have 5 minutes: UK Video
We then had a warm welcome from US-UK Fulbright Commission Executive Director, Penny Egan CBE (shown below).
We received a great overview of the exciting things happening at UEA, including a 50th year celebration and their #1 ranking in the Times for student satisfaction. A few things that already struck me as unique, or different from the U.S. system of higher education...
- The government plays a much bigger role in assessment and reporting
- Universities devote vast resources to marketing and recruitment. For example, UEA has roughly 110 employees devoted to marketing, admissions and recruitment.
- The mission of universities is traditionally less vocational and more for the sake of learning (although I am sure we will learn more about the role of vocational education later in the program)
After the lectures (that is Anne-Marie Bruner-Tracey above) we had a wonderful guided tour of the Norwich city centre. A current and former Fulbrighter accompanied us on the tour. Norwich is the most in-tact medieval city in Europe. Oh, and did I mention the weather is perfect right now?
Here are a few shots...
We ended the evening with a dinner at Farmer Brown's, a restaurant with wonderful local and organic food. This was followed by a British Culture pub quiz that drew out the competitive spirits and had everyone cheering. I had delicious pork loin
I need to get to bed to start early. Goodnight!