“We strive to prepare our students for the global work environment,” said Neil Seitz, Ph.D., dean of the School of Business and Administration.

With an ethnically-diverse faculty, Saint Louis University offers students exposure to various ethnicities and cultural experiences.

Despite the benefits of such diversity, some students have expressed concern in understanding their foreign instructors.

“I have friends who have teachers that they can’t understand,” said sophomore Patrick Keefe. “They can’t learn the material effectively.”

Associate Provost Ellen Harshman, Ph.D. has not been informed of any such difficulties.

“Nothing can get corrected unless someone knows it needs to be corrected,” she said.

Seitz explained that of the faculty members in the business school receiving a below-average rating, teachers with native languages other than English are under-represented.

“Only one such instructor received average evaluations of less than [average] during the prior semester, in one section of one course. I do not believe that understandable English was the issue,” Seitz added.

If a problem in understanding occurs, Harshman encourages students to evaluate whether they can work through the difficulty.

Additionally, Harshman pointed out that in many cases, foreign accents become more understandable with time.

She also admitted the anxiety that can arise during the first few classes.

“If I am terrrified about a subject, then I am very anxious about not missing anything,” she said.

Taking another section is an option as well as developing a “buddy system” for studying, according to Harshman.

Student Government President Jay Perry urges students to speak with the department chair or instructor, otherwise nothing can be done to improve the situation.

“This is one of the issues that is probably best addressed on an individual basis,” Perry said.

On the instructors’ side, Harshman hoped instructors who may have a difficult time explaining things clearly would utilize other resources such as visual aids.

While Harshman acknowledges that problems may occur, she also sees the benefits of a diverse faculty.

“Part of our education is to learn from people unlike us,” Harshman said.

When hiring new faculty members, Harshman explained that ethnic diversity is an important aspect.

“The goal is that we hire people who will bring in a diversity of experience,” Harshman said. “We also have to hire solid scholars and good teachers.”

“What I’ve seen is people making very distinct efforts to hire the best people and make very distinct efforts to find diversity,” Harshman added.