Karlshochschule International University

… Prof. Dr. Kai Holschuh?


Prof. Dr. Kai Holschuh, Chair in International Business, Operative Marketing, and Services Management, Head of the BA Programme in International Business
“When not instructing students, a professor who is new and still building up teaching, research and administration material spends much of  the time doing what a university student does to write papers: research, read, think, write and organize.
Here a more detailed list:

• looking for sources of ideas and knowledge (researching)
• reading books and academic articles
• developing outlines of teaching material for courses to be taught in the following semester
• developing outlines of research material for papers or study programs be developed in the coming months or years
• writing drafts of the teaching material, including assignments, exercises, exams, bibliographies, etc.
• developing other teaching material (mostly PPT slides) for classes
• correcting drafts of written and visual teaching material
• gathering and analyzing data for research articles
• writing and correcting research papers

Some time is also spent mentoring students on their bachelor theses, evaluating those theses or other papers, as well as correcting second chance exams and management summaries. In addition, organizing and managing administrative details is an on-going activity. In my case, managing adjustments to the International Business program and reviewing/expanding on the university’s quality assurance program may not be a thrill but needs to get done. Then there are a couple of less frequent matters, such as interviewing candidates to become students at the university, arranging visiting instructors or presentations, hiring instructors, contacting and communicating with other teachers and researchers, visiting seminars or conferences.
In short, at least for me and probably for most professors starting out in the field, teaching during the semester is by far the easiest, simplest and also most exciting part of the job. Ask my kids, that’s the time when we can go to the movies or play sports together.
Hey, non-teaching time is fine, especially if you like to learn new things. For me, though, teaching is more thrilling and more worth blogging about!”