Greenville University is where students can thrive from learning and getting resources from our very own professors. Professor Jane Bell, who studies in Marketing, Management, and Sports Management prepares students for situations that will help them in the future. Before becoming a professor, Bell attended University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill. While in school, Bell got her undergraduate degree in Business. After she graduated, she got a Master’s Degree at Ohio University in Sports Administration.
“I didn’t really start out to be a professor. I was a volleyball coach and sports marketing director. But, I always was a teacher and I always like teaching things so I got involved in volleyball. Then, after I coached collegiate volleyball, I taught my children, so I retired to be an at-home mom and I was educating my children. Then after they got back into school, I started educating at Kaskaskia Community College. I’ve always enjoyed being at the collegiate level. Then, the opportunity arose for me to teach here and be part-time [in Greenville]. So I was an adjunct starting in 2008 and then I was hired as full-time.”
It’s not always easy being a professor, especially at the collegiate level. There are always challenges and experiences that many will face when becoming a professor. Bell said of challenges, “I think the challenge was coming through work experiences to the college level. Some people get PHD’s and come to college teaching through academia. It’s challenging to understand all the aspects of educating even though I haven’t had education classes. It’s more of learning on the job, learning from mistakes and learning from things that worked.”
Professor Bell mentioned key goals that she uses for her benefits as a professor of Greenville University. The key goals give her positive feedback as well as a sort of progress report. “You need to love people and love students no matter their grade. It’s helpful that if you have a natural teaching gift, but not everyone does. You can become a good teacher and you can learn how to do it. That’s a little bit more challenging to go at it that way but some may have a natural gift. Never be satisfied with how your courses are going. You always have to be changing. You have to be willing to learn about yourself. Keep growing, learning and changing your courses. Improving and adjusting to your students is important because students change over time.”
Many professors like Bell have unique and effective ways of teaching proper material for students. Professor Bell is well known for her accomplished and helpful teaching that students to really gain knowledge from her material!
