2. EARLY YEARS AT THE NUS SCHOOL OF COMPUTING
In 1997, Bernard was hired as an Assistant Professor at DISCS. A year later, DISCS became the NUS School of Computing. With its upgraded status, the school enjoyed a greater degree of autonomy to define its own culture. This also meant having to build up its funding and put in place new structures such as a mentorship scheme. Faculty in the newly established departments within the school found that they needed to be more forthcoming in ‘volunteering’ service. Teaching loads, too, were heavy.
Reflection 15: Would you describe your department as ‘collegial’? Is there a culture of volunteering to serve beyond minimal expectations? Does your department have a formula for calculating workloads as a way of equalizing the distribution of teaching and service responsibilities among colleagues? What are the pros and cons of adopting systems of workload calculation to ensure ‘equality’?
Bernard often agreed to teach modules that his colleagues were generally reluctant to teach, such as the first-year modules that typically had large enrolments. Some of these modules were not even ‘Computing’ modules. In those days, students in one faculty did not read modules offered by other faculties even if those modules were obviously relevant to their studies. Instead, each faculty or school would typically mount its own complete set of modules, even if some of these were outside its immediate areas of expertise. His department Head explained that it was extremely important to teach these firstyear modules well in order for the department to be able to attract Computing students who studied a common curriculum in their first year. He hoped that these students would go on to choose the subject majors offered by his department as they progressed into their subsequent years of study. The first modules that Bernard taught were on financial accounting, and managerial and cost accounting. He agreed to teach these courses because he wanted to play a part in his department’s efforts to attract students.
Reflection 16: What was the first course that you were assigned to teach? What are the challenges of teaching first-year courses? Is it a good idea for new faculty to be assigned to teach first-year courses? What are the challenges of teaching upper-level courses? Is it a good idea for new faculty to be assigned to teach upper-level courses?
The casualty rate was high then because some faculty members were not accustomed to the changing culture in NUS that emphasized research. Younger faculty had to hone their survival skills. Fortunately, they were sufficiently collegial to be mutually supportive of one another.
Reflection 17: Are you part of a formal or informal peer support group? Is it important to have one?
Thankfully, in Bernard’s case, Raman had taught him to persevere and Watson had taught him to be bold. Bernard’s initial success – and his generally relaxed character – gave him confidence. He realized that making mistakes was not a problem, but repeating mistakes was. And so he made an active effort to learn from his own and other people’s mistakes.
Reflection 18: Do you have an example to share of learning from your own or other people’s mistakes?
On reflection, Bernard feels that he was, at the time, being groomed by the Information Systems Department for leadership positions. Possibly, this was because he had been willing to work hard and to do the work that others were less willing to do. He was, in all of this, also able to continue publishing his research and attaining good teaching scores. In early 2000, Bernard was promoted to Associate Professor, gaining tenure in late 2000. A major promotion in three years was remarkable. At that time, according to the old system at NUS, faculty were promoted only after about seven years of service. Subsequently, he took on various leadership positions such as Assistant Dean (2000 to 2002), Department Head (2002 to 2008), and – since 2009 – Associate Provost. Bernard realized that having the right attitude can actually propel an academic to succeed ahead of those who rely only on their academic talent, impressive though their talent may be. Today, Bernard recruits graduate students to work with him mainly on the basis of their having the right attitude.
Reflection 19: Do you agree that, in academic careers, attitude is more important than aptitude and ability?
He makes it a point to find out what they want to achieve and then guides and grooms them accordingly. Bernard believes that everyone is disadvantaged in some way or other. But being aware of one’s particular disadvantages presents an opportunity to improve. It is important, he thinks, to lay strong foundations, even when one is on the move. Careers, he says, are more like marathons than short races.
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