Family and Friends! An update on our Semester at Sea voyage at last.
We have just made it to St. Petersburg today. The weather is amazing and
as warm as it gets here- in the 60's! We also have been treated to one
of the 50ish days a year they have with SUN! But back to the beginning,
since we have been too busy to write until now.
After arriving in Southampton, England and having a day for Registrar
training, we headed for the MV Explorer, our home for the next 4 months.
I was so happy to have a nice window in the cabin and we are on Deck 4
with many of the faculty, staff and several students. We had a day to
settle in before the students arrived, while we were configuring the
electronics to work on the ship, having safety talks, preparing for
student orientation, etc. The students arrived in waves on Saturday,
most traveling from a hotel at the Heathrow Airport in London. We
departed from the same docks that the Titantic did, and we were able to
see the Queen Mary 2 at a dock next to ours. She sailed by our ship
later as you can see.
These ships are amazing. The Explorer has 6 decks for us, and other
areas reserved just for the crew. We have a very small pool, and outdoor
area for eating meals, 2 dining rooms, and a large room called the Union
in the front for large lectures. The classrooms have been carved out
from other spots, like the corners of the dining room and nooks of the
lecture hall. We have 9 classrooms in all of varying size and design.
Classes are scheduled from 8 AM until 5:15 PM, with no classes during
lunch time, allowing all faculty, staff and students to eat together. In
fact, we are ALWAYS together- all meals, classes, lectures, field trips.
It is awesome- great energy and enthusiasm for our adventure.
Here are the STATS
The fall '13 voyage sailed with 573 students, 15 Lifelong Learners (plus
eight partial-voyage LLLs), 40 faculty, 31 staff, and 36 family members.
Student gender distribution: 26% male, 74% female.
The Explorer departed promptly at 1700 from Southampton U.K. en route to
Saint Petersburg, Russia.
Students represent 247 institutions. Top sending home institutions
include: U San Diego 10% (57), Elon 3.6% (21), U.Va. 3.5% (20), U.
Colorado 2.6% (15), Bentley C. and Colorado State U. (each) 2.25% (13),
and U. Oregon 1.9% (11).
Students permanent residences represent 48 states. Top states
represented include: CA 19.5% (113), CO 6.4% (37), NY 6.1%. (35), VA 4.7
% (27).
Students who are non-US passport holders total 36. These students
represent 18 different countries. The top non-US countries represented
include: Canada (6), China (6), and Mexico (5).
The top represented academic majors include: Business 10% (57),
Psychology 8.3% (48), Communications and Undecided (each) 7.1% (41),
Political Science 6.4% (37), Marketing 4.3% (25), Biology 4.1% (24),
Journalism and Sociology (each) 3.1% (18), International Studies 2.9% (17).
The aggregate incoming G.P.A. for all students is 3.3
The multi-national crew numbers 182 and represents 15 countries.
The faculty and staff successfully completed a two- day orientation and
hosted 200 parents and family members at a reception on Friday evening.
The fall '13 voyage is led by Executive Dean Nick Iammarino (Rice
University), Kathy Thornton (U.Va.) and their seasoned and capable
administrative team.
I.S.E. Vice Presidents Sal Moschella and Rich Watkins are sailing
through Hamburg to help with the start of the voyage (as are four other
I.S.E. staff). Michael Segal is sailing through Antwerp.
Fall '14 deans Sue Weitz (Gonzaga U.) and David Breneman (U. Va.) are
aboard to observe orientation and the first segment of the voyage.
Russian Inter-Port Lecturer Dmitri Strovskii, professor of the
department of media history and journalism faculty of the Ural Federal
University, Ekaterinburg, Russia, joined the voyage yesterday and will
be engaged in the classroom and community.
I.S.E. is hosting SAS alumna Ariel King through Hamburg. Dr. King is the
founder of the Ariel Foundation International Women Impacting Public
Policy and is a permanent representative for the National Council of
Women at the United Nations. Dr. King is leading a small contingent of
U.N. representatives who are observing the program, including Boniface
Chidyausiku, Zimbabwe's ambassador to the U.N. Dr. King has arranged for
a special field trip for select students to participate in the U.N.
Human Rights Council at the United Nations in Geneva.
End of STATS
We set sail Saturday evening August 24, heading east for 4 days to St.
Petersburg, Russia getting there Thursday morning. In terms of student
schedule- it was CRAZY! Sunday was orientation all day, at which I had
to speak about the honor code, having briefed the faculty on it the day before.
Most faculty and students are not from UVa, but we
are the academic sponsor. This means they will receive a transcript from
UVa, and that students need to work well in advance to make sure the
coursework will transfer. S@S strongly recommends that students enroll
in only 4 classes (12 hours) so that they can make the most of their
time in the various ports. We have informative lectures, special
cultural speakers, ambassadors and other VIPs on board each night, as
well as student activities/hall meetings, etc. In addition, each class
has a Field Lab once per voyage in one of the countries we visit. It is
a high powered day of coursework with immersion in the culture of that
country. Most faculty and staff wish we could join one of these Filed
Labs, but they are limited to students.
My first big challenge was class Add/Drop, which was scheduled for
Tuesday night, after students had one of each class. For 1 1/2 hours
they had the chance online to add and drop classes themselves. Then the
system was closed, we ran reports for what was still open, and at 8 PM,
I manually added in students who wanted a 5th class. I had the help of
wonderful work study students to manage the lines and we just chipped
away at it. Later, Kathy Thornton entertained students for a few hours
with space stories, while they waited their turn in line, At 11 PM, Bill
finally convinced Kathy that he could handle the remaining line, and he
stuck it out with me until we completed all registration at 12:30 AM. By
the time final rosters were printed and stuffed into mailboxes, along
with a time change, it was 2:30 AM before we got to bed. PHEW! SO glad
that challenge is over.
Bill has been very involved with helping in the Computer Lab. From the
time we set foot on the ship, there have been computer challenges.
Getting all faculty, staff, students and LLLs (Life Long Learners)
computers and all devices synced to the ship's email system has been a
challenge. In fact many faculty were still working on their systems when
575 students arrived with their computers. He has put in LONG hours in
the computer lab. As a reward for his hard work he got an internet
access upgrade from 2 hours online (after that is used up you have to
pay for more) to unlimited access for the whole trip from the IT
director. In fact, long lines of those needing help were a constant
sight for the first week. The lab is open from 8 AM to 11 PM with tech
support. They have had 3 staff and 10 work study students and volunteers
helping out. By the 3rd day of class, problems were down to a dull roar,
so we could all head out to enjoy the port of St Petersburg.
We feel so fortunate to be here. It has only been a week, but we have
met so many fantastic folks on this adventure. What an amazing
opportunity to live and learn with folks from all parts of the US, and a
few from the rest of the world. Bill has retreated to the cabin when he
is overwhelmed by the noise and energy to watch Star Trek Enterprise
episodes, and Iva has been pleased to listen to as many talks as the job
has allowed so far. In fact, last night we had John Boyer (from Virgina
Tech) deliver an impressive 3 hour history of Russia (1800's to present)
until midnight! He is a performer and keeps his audience interested with
his candor and animation. The students love him, and he teaches
Geography!! Of course his Geography of Wine course is one of the most
popular...
... to be continued
The lifeboat practice drill before we left dock in Southampton
Wind turbines on the Baltic Sea
