On numerous occasions faculty and administration have had the need to identify individuals with expertise about a specific country/region. The primary method to identify such individuals has been through a personal network or referral. While this system may work for a well-connected individual, in most instances the need remained unfulfilled.
The Center for Innovation in Teaching and Research (CITR) has initiated the process of constructing a voluntary Country Specialist Database (CSDB). The primary purpose of creating this repository is to provide the WIU community with a searchable database that identifies individuals who have traveled, resided, or in some other manner, obtained expertise about specific countries of the world.
It is hoped that this database can link the islands of expertise that exist on the WIU campus to maximize teaching and research opportunities. This voluntary (opt-in) searchable database will identify individuals by country of expertise.
