Faculty - Business and Management

Dr. Belinda Wee’s Ph.D. is in Education, with a specialization in Human Resource Development, from the University of Minnesota. Her Masters of Arts in Human Resources & Industrial Relations is from the Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota and her Bachelor of Science degree is in Restaurant, Hotel and Institutional Management from Purdue University. She had been an adjunct instructor with Husson University’s College of Business since 2010.

Dr. Wee’s field experience include being engaged in high level management positions in various large organizations that enjoy international presence, mainly as a human resource practitioner. She earned her place in those organizations by applying and demonstrating leadership and management skills in conceptualizing, communicating and over-seeing the execution of strategic plans to ensure that the areas under her lead consistently contribute value to the organization. Her portfolio encompassed corporate level responsibilities like crafting Human Resources Policies and Procedures to be implemented organization-wide. While working with a management company which had interests in various hotels in China and Australia, Dr Wee designed training and development modules for implementation in each of those hotels. Her pursuit of a career in the international hospitality sector led her to live and work in Singapore, Malaysia, the People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong, Australia and the United States.

The establishment of a Corporate Training Center that is located in Beijing, China for Holiday Inn, Worldwide is another feather in Dr Wee’s cap. Besides recruiting and training course facilitators for this corporate university, she was also involved in the development and teaching of some of the corporate university’s courses. She managed the hotel management company’s human resources in the China region, including the training and development needs of their 17 properties in China, Hong Kong and Macau then. During the course of her tenure, she also had the opportunity to be involved in the business development of the company and had participated in the various stages of marketing hotel management contracts to hotel/business owners in Asia.

While working on her doctorate degree, Dr. Wee co-founded an online business offering unique Chinese and Tibetan handmade arts and craft items. Her China-based business offered her the opportunity to deal with international businesses/customers throughout southeast and north Asia, Australia, Europe and also in the United States. Another entrepreneurial endeavor of Dr Wee’s is an outfit that provides automotive consultation and services that she co-founded with her husband. Dr Wee credits this business for having deepened her insight and understanding of the issues that surround business operators/owners here in America. Just before joining Husson University, Dr. Wee worked full time for the State of Maine.

Dr. Wee’s research interests are in the areas of expatriation, career development, motivation, mentoring, managing and optimizing organizational talent, international human resource management and development, organization development, amongst other topics. She keeps current on trends and best employer practices in the business arenas and actively participates in attending and presenting papers at conferences. She also serves as a peer reviewer for papers submitted to refereed journals and professional conferences.

Being involved in community service is Dr. Wee’s personal expression of “giving back” to the community. She actively volunteers and serves at her church’s outreach activities. She was also a volunteer supervisor at the Youth Activities & Drop-In (The YARD) in Hartland, Maine.

I passionately believe that my role in teaching is to be that of not just a facilitator, but also a coach, a manager, and a mentor to my students. People construct meanings and knowledge through their interactions with each other and with texts, carried through by reflective and critical thinking. An effective teacher is one who plays an important part in this construction stage of the learning process.

We often hear that knowledge is power. One of the responsibilities of a teacher is to prepare students for a productive and effective role in the society and I believe that the consequence of learning is the acquisition of not only knowledge, but of skills and attitudes too. People learn either because they are genuinely interested to know or they have to know in order to survive. The goal of instruction therefore, is to impart and provide knowledge or skills required by the students.

I truly believe that teachers can contribute positively to society through their students. Learning takes place both formally and informally. An energetic and motivated teacher is capable of bringing life to the students’ minds and imparting attitudes that have long lasting influence on lives. In my personal experience, I credit my undergraduate academic advisor, Professor Ray Dault, for having made significant impact on my adoption of the philosophy to always give my best effort in all my undertakings. He had also challenged me to go beyond efficiency and to become an effective person. Likewise, I would like to impart some of these values to my students by requiring them to always give their very best effort in their class assignments so that this practice will eventually become an integral part of them as they walk into their future. And I hope that they will find that the consistent giving of their personal best is one factor that contributes significantly towards their achievement of the success, in whatever form, that they seek.

Active learning can only take place when learning is literally seen as a verb and not a noun. As much as it is the responsibility of the teacher to teach, the onus to learn is on the students and they must have the desire to learn before learning can take place. My responsibility as a teacher would be to use a variety of teaching methods in my classes to cater to the diverse learning styles of students and to motivate their learning. I would take the class through the theoretical concepts and this would be followed by examples of application, as far as it is possible. My classrooms would be a place where there is commitment to dialogue so as to exchange ideas. Questions from students are earnestly encouraged because their questions represent inquisitive, engaged and interested minds. It is a fact that questions posed by learners show that reasoning or thinking is taking place, and therefore there is learning. I will attempt to answer questions posed by my students as completely and as accurately as I can. I will also stage my classes by posing questions to my students to check their understanding of the materials being taught.

Finally, it will be my responsibility as a teacher to ensure that although they will need to work hard, they may be surprised at how enjoyable the learning journey can turn out to be!

Gerald received his B.S. in Computer Science from the University of Cincinnati and worked as a Systems Engineer for a number of years in the paper industry. While there, he oversaw the applications development efforts and established a number of standards and guidelines for improving the quality of the software produced. He has been at Husson since 2001, originally as an adjunct faculty, sharing his passion for Information Technology. Several years ago, Gerald started his own computer consulting company where he was recognized as an Independent Software Vendor for his development work on a Windows Certified commercially available application. In addition, Microsoft recently presented him with two awards: the Microsoft Front Runner award, and the Microsoft Certified Partner award.

No other thing has done more to shape our lives over the last quarter century than computers. Data and technology are everywhere, and how we interact with it and use it continues to change at an unbelievable pace. I share my passion for Technology with my students and stress the importance of becoming lifetime learners. Teaching them to effectively leverage the current hardware and software helps prepare them for an I.T. job. Teaching them those skills that transcend technology; such as logic, critical thinking, problem solving, and most importantly communication; is equally if not more meaningful. It is these skills that will prepare them for an I.T. career.