New IU professors learn the ropes on campus while teaching students in the classroom

Sandeep Junnarkar leaps up the stone stairs as he frantically rushes from Ernie Pyle Hall to the School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation. He runs down the hallway looking inside each classroom for the right room.\nHe stops and asks a man in a yellow shirt, "Do you know where Room 155 is?"\nThe man turns and points at the door right behind Junnarkar's head.\n"The biggest challenge about being new on campus is just finding classes," Junnarkar says.\nLike many students, Junnakar, a professor, is adjusting to his new job teaching at IU.\nDespite the fact that he couldn't find his class, Junnarkar said he knows what he is doing in the classroom.\nA native of New Dehli, Junnarkar has been around the world and said he has soaked up knowledge from everywhere he's been. Before he even finished high school, he'd lived in India, France, England, and the United States.\n"It was kind of hard as a child," he says. "But looking back it was a great experience."\nNow a visiting professor of journalism at IU for two years, he said he hopes to give back to students what he has gotten out of his experiences.\nBefore coming to Bloomington, Junnarkar was the New York bureau chief at CNET News at www.cnetnews.com, one of the first news sites dedicated exclusively to the Internet. His duties included writing special reports on the strengths and weaknesses of technologies and assigning various stories. \nJunnarker is currently teaching J201: Reporting,Writing and Editing, as well as Online Journalism. \nHe said he comes into teaching with high hopes. Even though he's just starting, he wants to create a class devoted to technology and business reporting next semester. \n"Especially since the way the financial situation is going in the U.S. right now, people need to know about these things," he said. "You can't just go into that field without a solid background. We have to have people who know how to address these issues."\nNandina Gupta, an assistant professor of finance, said she is also excited about the opportunity to teach at IU her first year. After attending college at the University of Pittsburgh, she taught international finance at the University of Michigan. \nEven though she doesn't have the difficulties with starting teaching, she does have to adjust to a new campus. Gupta said she already notices the similarities between the colleges.\n"Bloomington and Ann Arbor are very comparable," she said. "Both culturally and demographically they seem the same." \nAlthough Gupta has only taught at one other college, she has seen many others, and said she feels she is lucky to be in Bloomington.\n"This is a far more beautiful campus than many others that I've seen," she said. "I definitely like the small town atmosphere and being able to interact on a personal basis."\n-- Contact staff writer Jess Huffman at jerhuffm@indiana.edu.