Sanjukta Chandra is out to change the world — or at least her
corner of it — and the University of North Florida is a big part of her plans.
The native of India is studying electrical engineering at the
master’s level at the University of North Florida. She also holds a bachelor’s
degree in electrical engineering from her homeland. She is highly proficient in
her field, but it is not her passion. If she had had her choice, she would have
studied classical Indian dancing. But as a product of the middle class in
India, her profession was not her choice. As is the custom there, parents
choose the educational and professional path of their children.
“Parents in India want their children to make safe career
choices,” the petite brunette said. “They want their children to be engineers, management
graduates or doctors or to study information technology so they will be assured
of a good salary and a secure life. But that is not how it should be. Children
should follow their interests, their passion.”
Chandra likes electrical engineering well enough, but it is not
the path she would have selected for herself even though it does pay much
better than dancing professionally ever would. And it wasn’t until she came to
UNF that she understood it does not have to be that way.
Once she met and worked with Dr. Len Roberson, the dean of the
Graduate School, she realized that education and passion could be combined and
often is in the United States. Chandra was already deep into her UNF studies
when her parents decided to send her younger brother to the U.S. to also study mechanical
engineering. UNF soon became the top school on the list and Chandra was the
point person to get her brother into school and to obtain the correct
immigration status.
“My brother was trying to get into UNF as a graduate student and
we were having a hard time,” she said. “I was so lost and did not know what to
do. I finally sent an e-mail to Dr. Roberson and within an hour, I had a reply.
He asked me to come in and meet with him and that he would do everything he
could to help. I could not believe it. Here was someone who did not know my
brother at all but he was willing to help us.”
And he did. One of the things that sets UNF apart from other
colleges and universities is its employees’ devotion to students. Time and time
again, one hears about faculty and staff members who have gone out of their way
to help a student overcome a situation. Roberson is no exception.
“He did everything he could to get my brother accepted into UNF and
to find a graduate assistantship to help offset the financial burden on my
family,” Chandra said. “It came down to the School of Engineering and whether
or not he would be accepted to the mechanical engineering program. Then one day
I was sipping a cup of coffee and Dr. Murat Tiryakioglu (director of the School of Engineering) walked past and said, ‘I
accepted your brother.’ I could have hugged him. First Dr. Roberson and now Dr.
Murat had helped my brother without even knowing him.”
And that was when Chandra made a decision to change the education
system in India. Along with her husband, Mayukh Das, a Ph.D who works as a
business analyst for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida, Chandra hopes to return
to her native land and begin to educate parents and their children about how to
combine a passion with an education. “If I dream of living a life doing the
things I most enjoy, it is because of my husband,” she said. “ It was not that
I was unaware of my passion, but I lacked the courage and support to follow it
as a career path. Mayukh is the one whose guidance, inspiration and constant
support encouraged me to think outside the box and to do the things that give
meaning to my existence.” Now, she wants to — with her husband — help her
countrymen and women to understand that passion and a secure future are not
mutually exclusive.
“If a student has an interest in a subject, they will work hard to
learn all they can about it,” she said. “And they will find new ways to apply
the knowledge and to grow their field. The more interest they have, the better
they will be. And the better they are, the more money they will make. It is
simple, really. But we have to show them it can be done.”
At UNF, that is already the norm. The faculty and staff in the
Graduate School live and breathe that mantra. Students who choose to study at
the master’s level at UNF can combine their academic interests with a solid
professional career. A UNF degree will open many doors for them in the future.
In concert with the University’s academic colleges, the Graduate
School supports and promotes graduate education at the University of North
Florida by developing, maintaining and enhancing strong graduate programs and
an excellent graduate faculty. Its programs cultivate advanced knowledge and
skills in their chosen fields, encourage proficiency with research and other
forms of scholarship and are relevant not only to its students, but to the
communities it serves through discovery, community-based learning and academic excellence.
Dr. Len Roberson, in his second year at the helm of the Graduate
School, has been at UNF for 13 years. The father of seven has been on the
faculty of the Department of Exceptional Student and Deaf Education, served as
the program director for the deaf education graduate program and was its
department chairman for nearly four years. He earned his doctorate in deaf
education from Gallaudet University, holds a Master of Education degree in
educational leadership from the University of Central Florida and a bachelor’s
degree in deaf education from Flagler College. He holds national certification
as a sign language interpreter from the National Registry of Interpreters for
the Deaf. He is involved in several national organizations, led the development
of the new ASL/English Interpreting program at UNF that has both an
undergraduate and graduate program in interpreting and has published several
articles in the area of teacher effectiveness and interpreter education.
And he has a vision for the future of the graduate school. “I
would love to see us more forward with additional doctoral programs,” he said. “We
have a long-standing Ed.D and the doctor of physical therapy and the doctor of
nursing practice which are both entry-level degrees for the field — meaning
that they are the minimum required degree for the profession — but I would love
to see our University graduate programming expand to include doctoral programs
that meet our regional and local needs.”
“As the University of North Florida continues to grow, it must
also continue to meet the needs of the community we serve,” said Dr. Mark Workman,
provost and vice president for Academic Affairs. “More and more professionals
are returning to the classroom to seek master’s and doctoral degrees as they
round out their educations and careers. We are continually working to determine
which programs fit our strengths and which meet the needs of the community.”
Roberson said that is the challenge — to determine which programs
have the depth and breadth necessary to expand at the graduate level. Growth is
good, he said, but not just for the sake of growth. Academic expansion needs to
be strategic and forward-thinking.
Roberson said another goal is to explore alternative delivery
methods of graduate degree programs such as distance learning. With more and
more of the population wanting to pursue advanced degrees but still needing to
work full time to finance the further education, potential graduate students
want to be able to enroll in programs that can be provided wholly online.
“The students may not be able to attend a 3 p.m. class in a
building on campus,” Roberson said. “They want the convenience of taking online
classes that are of high quality and from an accredited university. They would
love those programs to be at UNF.”
Roberson said UNF’s reputation precedes itself at both the
undergraduate and graduate level. “UNF offers a high-quality education with
pre-eminent faculty who not only teach, but are active in their professions and
in research. To be able to offer even more graduate-level programs for which
there is a demand from students and employers will only enhance that
reputation.”
What sets UNF’s graduate programs apart from others in the region
and in the state is the small faculty-to-student ratio and the relationships
that are formed between faculty and students in and out of the classroom.
“Because of our small class sizes, there is a direct connection
with the faculty, and students build an experience base for a career,” Roberson
said. “Our graduate classes provide opportunities for faculty-student
interaction, formal research and ongoing relationships that help our students
feel connected to their program and the University as a whole.”
And that experience begins with the first contact a potential
student has with the Graduate School. Roberson and his staff of six are
committed to working with students from the moment they inquire about a UNF
graduate program to the moment they walk across the stage at commencement to
receive their graduate degree.
“The dedication of our staff to graduate student success is
phenomenal,” Roberson said. “The staff is absolutely committed to making sure
the students have a positive, student-focused experience during their time at UNF.
Their studies might happen in one of the academic colleges, but we take care of
just about everything else they need from helping students maneuver through the
academic system to getting answers about financial aid. We have to know a
little bit about everything to provide that high level of service that students
have come to expect from us. And we would not have it any other way. The staff won’t
let anyone fall through the cracks.”
Chandra and her brother can certainly attest to that.
“I told my brother he was the luckiest person I know,” Chandra
said. “Dr. Roberson did everything he could to help us and he never met my
brother — never exchanged one single e-mail with him — and he helped my brother
through the application process, helped him find a graduate assistantship and
additional funding for his education. How can a person be so helpful to a
stranger?”
Because it is the UNF way.
