Sojourning in a University Academic Vineyard

About the Book

This book chronicles my 15-year sojourning at one of America’s historic institutions – Shaw University, founded in 1865 and located in North Carolina, United States of America. It focuses attention in two major areas – academic advising and multicultural education because of the influence these two areas can have on students’ retention and graduation. Research reports on my studies of students’ evaluation of their academic advising program and advisement of special student populations such as student-athletes constitute the book’s academic advising component. Exploration of the experiences of the university’s female faculty, the experiences of traditional and non-traditional students taking classes together, and the educational and cultural experiences of white students living and studying as a minority group in a predominantly black institution covers the book’s multicultural education thrust. The personal satisfaction or psychic incomes which I acquired from my students, faculty colleagues, and administrators are documented in a variety of personal notes, greeting cards, and emails. I hope that the book will inspire others to write about their experiences and update the studies I did and others addressing new problems relevant to the improvement of education at this great institution, as it continues pursuing its motto “Strides to Excellence: Only the Best.”

About the Author

Allyson A. Sesay was educated at the Albert Academy and the Milton Margai Teachers’ College in Sierra Leone, West Africa. He also received the BS degree (with distinction) in Agricultural Economics from Langston University in Oklahoma, a M.Ed. in Comparative and International Education, and a Ph.D. in Educational Policy Analysis from The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, United States of America. He has taught in a number of universities in Africa and the United States of America, including Usmanu Danfodio University in Nigeria, Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone; the University of Maine, Howard University in Washington, DC, and Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA. Professor Sesay has earned several accolades in academe including the Shaw University Teaching Excellence Award (Teacher of the Year); named in Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers on three occasions; and the Fulbright Teaching/Research Fellowship. His scholarly and community service activities have focused mainly on matters boarding on educational policy, curriculum reform, strategic planning, academic advising, institutional accreditation, and multiculturalism. Professor Sesay is currently serving as the Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the Institute of Public Administration and Management, a constituent college of the University of Sierra Leone. He is married with three children.