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USF Poly Professor Takes Management Course to Students in Central America

A pilot program for teaching courses internationally - in person and not via the Internet - started in El Salvador recently, helping to stretch the educational reach of the University of South Florida Polytechnic beyond central Florida.

Dr. Richard Kelso, an instructor in the College of Technology and Innovation, took his International Sales Management course to ISEADE Business School in Antiguo Cuscatlan, El Salvador, as the first of its five-course certificate in marketing management program. Tapping into USFP's expertise for offering applied learning experiences in its own business education programs, the school reached out to USFP for help in providing the course.

"Polytechnic's visibility internationally has grown tremendously recently," Kelso said. "This course helps provide an opportunity to expand our teaching reach beyond Florida, not only to El Salvador but everywhere."

Dr. Richard Kelso. (Photo by Tom Hagerty, USF Polytechnic.)

USFP currently offers several online courses, including those in the new master of science in information technology, allowing students to earn degrees and professional certifications across the internet, said Dr. Richard Plank, director of USFP's Division of Innovation Management.

"This pilot program in El Salvador, however, is the first certification class USFP offered internationally to be taught in person," Plank said.

Kelso's five-day course introduced 30 post-graduate students to a range of management concepts, including the global sales marketplace, ethics, decision-making skills, communication and presentation skills, and cross-cultural interactive skills. In addition, the course gave the students - most of whom currently have sales jobs - valuable leadership, team-building, measurement and assessment content that would help them expand their current job and future career options.

Even before arriving in El Salvador, Kelso started his course by assigning two tasks: an applied learning experience project and a self-assessment, both of which were due on the first day of class. In the pre-work project, students had to select and interview a sales manager, evaluate the interview, and provide six presentation slides about the interview in front of the class. In the self-assessment, Kelso had the students evaluate themselves on their knowledge, beliefs, feelings, and actions related to a range of personal skills, abilities and interests.

Kelso, who is not fluent in Spanish, said that language was not a problem.

"Everyone was wearing headphones and there was a woman in a glass booth in the back of the classroom translating to the students and then back to me," Kelso said. "That made the communication almost fluid, providing the same level of interaction had we been speaking the same language."

Overall, the students were enthusiastic about the course, Kelso said. Some of the course evaluations offering feedback help convey both their appreciation for USFP's connection with ISEADE and their thanks for Kelso's energetic teaching.