After 11 years working in industry, I have chosen to teach because of the profound impact that teaching can have on others’ lives. While working in industry, I took every opportunity to teach whether in formal classroom settings or in informal “coaching” sessions. I find no greater job satisfaction than in assisting others to learn. My motivation to teach comes from a desire to help others and see students’ excitement as they learn new concepts. I believe teaching is my way to make a positive difference in the world one student at a time.
My approach to teaching is based on the belief that my purpose at the university is to serve the students. This service focuses on the long-term best interests of the students, not only in classroom learning but also in career choice and life decisions. Serving students begins with respecting them as individuals who can make worthwhile contributions to my learning and others’ learning. This type of respect also leads to taking a personal interest in my students so that they know that I value them. Taking a personal interest means treating students as whole people who have a life outside of class. Serving students means going beyond just teaching them the facts of economics to teach them how to learn, how to think, and how to help others do the same. It means challenging them to excel rather than simply survive. For me, there are several keys to serving students including knowledge, variety, enthusiasm, contact, relevance and high standards.
ECO 235 Economics of Telecommunications and Public Policy
This course covers the economic and public policy issues related to the telecommunications industry from a historical, present and future perspective. Students will learn the economic, legal and regulatory history of the industry to better understand the current issues confronting the telecommunications marketplace.
ECO 236 Economics of Energy and Public Policy
This course covers the economic and public policy issues related to the energy industry from a historical, present and future perspective. Students will learn the economic, legal and regulatory history of the industry to better understand the current issues confronting the energy marketplace.
ECO 335 Economics of Regulation and Antitrust Law
This course covers the origins, aims, methods and effects of economic regulation and antitrust. The course will provide the theoretical foundation for economic analysis while allowing the student to apply sound reasoning to actual legal cases or case studies. The study of legal cases and case studies will be done primarily through in-class discussions.
Students will learn to use economic criteria for judging the applicability of regulation to different industries. Since this is the first course in the Master’s Degree sequence in Policy Studies in Electricity, Natural Gas, and Telecommunications, there will be an emphasis on case studies in these industries. Current events in these and other industries will be analyzed with the economic framework developed in class.
ECO 436 Seminar in Electricity, Natural Gas and Telecommunications Economics
This course is designed to be the “capstone” course for the M.A. program in Electricity, Natural Gas and Telecommunications sequence. The student will use the theoretical and analytical tools from other courses to make sound economic judgments regarding public policy and managerial decision-making.
There are two primary goals of this course. First, the student is to have a comprehensive understanding of the electricity, natural gas, and telecommunications industries including their history, regulation, and current issues. Second, the course is designed to simulate “real world” situations that the student may face in the workplace. This will include: writing and presenting testimony as an expert witness; writing and presenting a paper to professional colleagues; writing and presenting a report to the vice president of a corporation; evaluating and reporting on others’ work.
Other Courses I have taught
- ECO 103
- ECO 320
- ECO 436
- ECO 495
- ECO 498