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Extoling the virtue of Travel Restrictions: How the School of Public Health, Walailak University, is making more international friends than ever

     

Asst. Prof. Dr. Warit Jawjit, Dean of School of Public Health, Walailak University 

   Aspiring to internationalizing the school in consistency with the university’s policy, Asst. Prof. Dr. Warit Jawjit, Dean of School of Public Health, Walailak University, kicked start the process integrating global vibes into the learning atmosphere. It commences with laying small yet solid stepping stones through every day’s pedagogic practices, before expanding cooperation into the research realm. With the pandemic escalating to its peak last year, School of Public Health, Walailak University successfully welcomed international professionals, experts and leaders in the field from the USA, Indonesia, Vietnam and Japan to its classrooms for the sharing of knowledge and perspectives with the faculties and students. 


    “It is fair to say that even though restrictions on travel are in place, making physical mobility impossible, we got to revisit the definition of international collaboration in the absence of travel. Now, we have been making more international academic partners than ever,” said Prof. Dr. Warit. Learn about School of Public Health, Walailak University’s international collaboration move along the ebb and flow of today’s New and Next Normal era. 


Driven based on the policy 


    School of Public Health operates in terms of internationalization in consistent with Walailak University’s strategic policy as a Global frontier research university. The school aims to gain recognition as a world-class public health institution, both for teaching and learning, and research. To achieve such goal, virtual classrooms in diverse programs are filled with guest speakers living half the world away. 


Hundred faces of Lecturers 

Meeting with Dr Susana Paixão, President, the International Federation of Environmental Health (IFEH) and faculties from Department of Environmental Health, Escola Superior de Tecnologia da Saúde de Coimbra, Portugal 


    The school invited guest speakers and guest lecturers to participate in class teaching. The list of guests invited gradually expanded from those in touch through personal networking to the leading figures in the field. According to Dr. Prasert Makkaew, head of the Environmental Health program, there was one session featuring Prof. Susana Paixão President of the International Federation of Environmental Health (IFEH) giving a talk on the Topic “The role of Environmental Health Officers in international workforce” to undergraduate students. 
    “I was quite surprised that a figure of such rank accepted our invitation in exchange for no monetary gains. She said it was her job send messages to the next generation,” said Dr. Prasert. 
    “Kind cooperation on their part also encouraged me to keep the session going as well,” Dr. Prasert added.

  
    Prof. Dr. Warit emphasized that keeping the network through guest speaker invitation was effective in strengthening relationship, helping both parties get to know each other before proceeding to coordination in other aspect. In response to limited social interaction and the scheduled visiting trip being on hold, the policy became more active in 2021. After having adjusted to the Pandemic era, transition into an online world created a new normal for entering a transnational community. 


    “Prior to the pandemic, the school’s move on international affairs spiraled down. However, it was not actually because of the restriction on travel or lock-down policies. It was because we restricted ourselves to the traditional norms involving air travels and physical mobilities. The pandemic taught us to look at the same thing but in a different direction,” explained Prof. Dr. Warit. 


With the international virtual classroom policy in action, the pool of international scholars coupled with relatively less expenses incurred and the 30% pedagogic practice policy- the scheme requiring a minimum of 30 percent of the courses offered be instructed by international guest speakers. Besides Prof. Dr. Susana, the dean shared three sessions of lectures and talk given by two other international specialists  generating positive responses from both the lecturers and students.


•    Dr. Atsuko Ikeda - Araki from Center for Environmental and Health Sciences, Hokkaido University, Japan talked about indoor air quality and children’s health. 
•    Dr. Toru Yoshigawa, National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, Japan gave a talk on occupational hazards which exist in every occupation and every nation. Everyone got to learn what measures are implemented in Japan to address this issue. Finally, 
•    Clinical Assoc. Prof. Benjamin Ryan, Department of Environmental Science, Baylor University, the USA to give an insight in the role of environmental health in disasters and emergencies challenges. 
•    Mr. Benjamin Lephilibert, Founder and M.D. from LightBlue Environmental Consulting gave a lecture on businesses for the society led by sustainable waste management  


    “Besides the knowledge and experiences shared, the process itself also got both the lecturers and students to assimilate themselves with transnational communication and learning. Even though some of the students were not 100 % ready to communicate, they learn what it was like to be part on an international community. That is what matters,” added Prof. Dr. Warit. 

Sustainable networks of academic fellows 

 


    Over the years, faculties and students benefited significantly from the network built because of its sustainable cooperation operating beyond official Mutual of Understanding (MOU). As an alternative to signing an MOU, what the school of Public Health is trying to generalize is the cooperation emerging from networks among academics, friends, students and alumni without any official commitments, only shared interest. 


    Prof. Dr. Warit further mentioned the importance of sustaining the network and keeping the cooperation constantly active through a series of activities or events involving the same experts as well as the culture of turn taking – each party taking turn giving a talk or teaching in the program of the other party. 


    “I consistently reminded all the lecturers that the cooperation should not be kept going on the basis of invite-talk fashion only. When spotting the potentials, the lecturers should be keen on staying in touch for feasible research collaboration and future academic conferences, said” Prof. Dr. Warit. 


    “Back in March 2022, during the Walailak University International Convention, we invited a panel of experts we have been working with to give a talk in our parallel seminars.”


    The school’s international cooperation policy has resulted in an increase in scholarly publications from a total of five papers in 2021 to 2022 over the first half of the year. Therefore, the conception of working the way from classroom teaching to research collaboration is proving a success. 

Overcoming language barriers 


    Given diverse English proficiency of the students, prior to the English-delivered session of talks or lectures, the lecturers will be in charge of requesting for the scope of lecturer from the guest speakers in advance in order to ease the students understanding on the topic. Likewise, after the session has ended, the lecturers will also present summarized key points. Regarding development of English proficiency, School of Public Health is committed to promoting it by funding a short tutorial program every semester. All in all, as Prof. Dr. Warit stated, the primary goal is to keep students attuned to the trends and updates in the field since this not only nurtures their knowledge but also familiarize them with global demands so that they are knowledgeable as how to adapt accordingly. 

In five years-time 

 
  

    SCImago recently ranked the Environmental Health program and Occupational Health program of Walailak University the second of the nation, after Mahidol University ranking top of the board and Chulalongkorn University following as the third. Therefore, the school’s responsibility is to maintain and progress to a higher rank through academic publications by faculties and graduate students. 


    “We need to increase the number of graduate students. That is because most of the content delivered by the world’s renowned scholars we invited are simplified. With Master’s degree and PhD students, the speakers can talk to their fullest knowledge and the students can benefit more from our practices and also contribute more in academia through their research,” said Prof. Dr. Warit. 


    To also fuel up publication potentials, School of Public Health is proposing for research funds from Ministry of Foreign Affairs to financially support the faculties and graduate students’ research. Nevertheless, a more crucial step taken is to internationalize the culture of an organization by recruiting English-speaking staff and orienting the mindset of the everyone toward being willing to walk the walk common in an international community. 

 

News by Nootchanat Sukkaew 

Division of Corporate Communication 


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