Grinnell Corps: Thailand
The Grinnell Corps established a new program in Thailand, starting with the class of 2010. Our host institution is Payap University in Chiang Mai, and our contact person there is Martha Butt ’64. Ms. Butt first traveled to Thailand in the 1960s as a part of Grinnell’s 5th Year Travel Service Scholarship Program, which was a precursor of the Grinnell Corps.
Payap University was established in 1974, by the Church of Christ in Thailand (a national, mainline Protestant church), as Payap College. It began with about 160 students. In 1984, the college was granted university status and was renamed Payap University. Today the university enrolls over 6,000 students who study in both Thai and international (English medium) programs at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Although most of the students are Thai, Payap has students and teachers from nearly 30 countries and many religions. Grinnell Corps fellows in Thailand will need to be comfortable working in a Christian university, though there is no expectation that they themselves be Christian.
As with our other international Grinnell Corps programs, we plan to send two fellows to Thailand; they will depart in August 2011 for fourteen months. Fellows will have vacation during the university's break in April and May, but will not receive a stipend for this time period (unless they elect to teach optional courses during this break).
Fellows will be sent as educators. They will both teach in Payap’s English department and will have responsibilities for developing and running academic programming in Payap’s residence halls, which are currently under construction. Fellows will be given a general curriculum to follow, but will be responsible for daily lesson planning.
Fellows will also hold office hours in the English department, and will audit an intensive Thai language course during their first semester there. It may be possible for fellows to undertake a TESOL certification course in Thailand before beginning their work at Payap.
Fellows will live in a residence hall on the Payap University campus, where they will have a single room with bath. Fellows will not be responsible for rule enforcement in the residence hall. Fellows will also be paid a stipend of 10,000 baht (approximately US$330) per month.
In selecting fellows, we are most concerned with finding candidates who demonstrate flexibility and the ability to cope with ambiguity; who have a genuine interest in Thailand and in teaching at the university level; who have a tolerance for tropical weather; and who have strong intercultural skills.
