I spent three very special years as External Examiner for the Foundation Degree in Professional Photography course at City of Bristol College; amongst lecturers there I met Jeff, a happy and relaxed American who shoots wonderful editorial work, Martin who wrote a great deal of the course (and has since successfully gone freelance) and Steve who mainly teaches on the ND course and is the External Verifier for our NVQ courses. They're all still good friends, and we had many very worthwhile discussions together with the charismatic Course Leader Luis Bustamante. Luis retired around the same time as my three-year contract finished, and he wrote me a final letter in response to the External Examiner Reports that I had made during that time. He started by very generously listing the features of my visits that he thought valuable, and although it's blowing my own trumpet, I must tell you what he said:
"...I'd like to highlight some of the features of your visits which we appreciate:-
* Fairness, balance and depth,
* Understanding of the sector and of the changes taking place in the profession,
* Adherence to high academic and professional standards,
* Sophisticated understanding of the everyday issues of running an academic programme and of the wider context,
* Inspirational - your comments have always generated internal debates that help set future agenda,
* An ability to call things by their name."
And he finished his two-page letter by saying:
"Finally I would like to state that your visits have constituted a form of 'inspection' that is functional and highly motivating to us, They have invariably instigated staff discussions that connect the programme with the wider picture. We can only wish that educational institutions relied more on this type of real-life experience ......"
That sort of genuine response to your work is just about the most valuable reward you can have.
JB
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