To conclude this section, we will attempt to present an evaluation of our collaborative process in profile writing. As we discussed our work in this project, we all concurred that it has been an interesting and enriching experience.

In terms of the research, we were struck by the fact that the accessibility of information electronically greatly differed from one professor to the next. Some were easier to research than others. Most of the professors have a short profile on the CGU website; however, some had not been updated recently, and others contained no more than a small perfunctory introduction. Also, as we contacted some of them via e-mail, some professors were more forthcoming in their answers about themselves and their work than others. We also noticed this factor during the panel discussion (group interview). All the professors seemed more eager to discuss general topics than to answer specific questions about the nature of their work.

With regards to our findings, we were surprised by the fact that all the professors we profiled have, or had at some point in their career, an administrative role in the CGU community besides their established roles as instructors, researchers and mentors. Another fact that stood out, was the amount of years these professors have been at CGU. Most of them have been here for many years; as many as 36, 28 and 24 years for Professors Berger, Drew and McHenry respectively. This indicates that professors find at CGU a comfortable environment that allows them to realize their academic aspirations.

Another factor that drew our attention is the fact that most of these professors possess a multi-disciplinary background and an eclectic variety of research and teaching interests. Professor Drew has also commented on this factor during the panel discussion (group interview). He said that most CGU faculty, “are not uni-dimensional”, and indicated that this is a trait CGU looks for in its hiring process. This trans-disciplinary orientation is reflected in Professor Berger’s combination of statistics and psychology; Professor Denzau’s background in electronics, mathematics, law, economics and politics; and Professors Brodie and Shaw’s association of Gender Studies with history and with religion, respectively.

It was also interesting to note that not all the professors come form the same cultural background. For example, Professor Olfman was born in Canada and Professor Arguelles in Cuba. Another factor that captured our interest was the significant amount of publications that CGU professors collaborate with graduate students in writing. We were able to see this as we studied their respective C.V.’s. And of course, we were awed by how extraordinary all these professors are and how much they had accomplished in their professional lives.

With regards to our findings about our group-work experience in profile writing, we all sang praises for the wiki. Using wiki pages to present our section of the project was extremely convenient and enhanced the effect of this combined effort. It allowed us to contribute to the project simultaneously and to be able to proof-read, edit and add our own input to what the other group members wrote. For some of us, it was our first time working on group projects through this technological medium. This presented us with a good opportunity to explore it and to discover how user-friendly it can be. Doing the work in wiki pages also made it visually easier to see how our section progressed and alerted us to the sub-sections that needed completion. We also communicated via e-mail constantly in order to coordinate our tasks throughout the process.

Finally, we also wanted to remark on the fact that during this creative process, our group reflected positive synergy.  We worked well together and each one of us has managed to do a fair share of the workload; which is why we consider this to have been a successful endeavor.