Campus Connection

One-on-one faculty relationships led to teaching, research opportunities for December graduate

When Mary Purdy was deciding on colleges, she thought UW-La Crosse would be a small enough school to develop strong relationships with faculty. She was right. Over her time at UWL, the December graduate regularly met with faculty during their office hours and after class. The relationships Purdy developed led to opportunities to collaborate on research projects and even become an assistant teacher. This semester Purdy has assisted in Assistant Professor Thomas Jesse’s “Literature of Black America” course. The experience is considered an internship where Purdy is a mentor to other students, holds office hours, helps develop lesson plans and team teaches. The opportunity arose after Purdy regularly met with Jesse during a class she was taking with him in young adult literature. Jesse saw “immense potential” in Purdy. “I had a high opinion of her, and this emerged organically from experience in the classroom,” he says. “She’s been a phenomenal help in class.” Jesse says building relationships with students is vital. He sees a lot of those relationships blossoming in upper division courses. It helps to have students like Purdy who actively pursue opportunities to connect with faculty. “Some students wait for you to come to them and blossom when you do,” he says. “She came before and after classes regularly to meet.” Similarly, Purdy says staying in contact with Assistant Professor Lindsay Steiner after taking her Introduction to Professional Writing course led to conducting research with her on risk and safety communication for University Police. This semester she created a survey to send to UWL students to get input on safety concerns and preferred methods for police communication. Steiner says collaboration with students is important. It’s an opportunity to learn alongside them. “Not only do I get to see a student learning and developing professionally, but I am also able to actively reflect on my approach to teaching,” she explains. “Part of the reason I love working at UWL is because of the relationships I am able to build with our amazing students.” Purdy says professors have not only given her opportunities, they’ve helped her discover her interest in a future of professional writing. Many in the English Department have been a great sounding board, she says. Skills she developed in English, as well as UWL’s student newspaper, The Racquet, and Odyssey, another online news source, gave her a leg up when pursuing a communications internship at Kohl’s Corp. headquarters last summer. After completing the internship, she was offered a full-time position as a communications coordinator for the company after graduation. ----- UWL’s Winter Commencement set for Dec. 18  UWL’s Winter Commencement will be Sunday, Dec. 18, at the La Crosse Center, 300 Harborview Plaza. No tickets are required to attend. Seating is on a first come, first serve basis. The ceremony begins for all graduates at 11 a.m. This includes students from the College of Business Administration, College of Liberal Studies, College of Science and Health and School of Education. A total of 695 students are candidates for graduation. This includes 103 graduate students and 592 undergraduates. More information on commencement is at www.uwlax.edu/commencement/