As current chancellor John Bardo prepares to step down from a 16-year reign, students have been hearing many different things about what he will be doing during his “time off.” Is he really taking time off? Is he coming back? What will his research include?
In an exclusive interview with the Western Carolinian, Bardo said, “Generally, what I am doing is not ‘time off.’ Next year will involve a study leave that is designed to help me prepare to re-enter the classroom and to become an active scholar again—as is appropriate for a senior faculty member. I plan to continue to research on the emerging issues involving higher education and the future of society.”
He also is about two-thirds of the way completed on a new book he has been writing and is interested in spending time understanding and researching the changes that have been happening in British higher education with the creation of new and interesting universities.
In addition, Bardo is very passionate about higher education in the United States and how the country is currently facing many issues within university systems.
“Because of my 16 years as chancellor, because of my academic background and because I have had the good fortune to serve on the SACS Board of Directors, I may be able to bring a different perspective to the national discussion than what one hears most commonly,” Bardo said. “I plan to write a number of papers regarding key issues such as assessment, educational quality, curriculum reform and emerging roles for higher education in the 21st century.”
This will be a part of Bardo’s research, focusing on issues within higher education and where higher education is heading in this century with all the changes we are facing as a society.Following his research, he will be return to teach classes at WCU.
To prepare, he will over next year be spending time learning how to teach using Blackboard, interactive pedagogies and preparing materials for class. Since he has not taught classes on a regular schedule for quite a few years, a lot of things have changed, including the way students are taught.
“Much of my teaching may be online, so I also need to update my knowledge of that environment as well,” Bardo said.
Bardo hopes that he will know what classes he will be teaching by July and preparations for those classes will begin just as soon.
