On October 20th, Professor Kristen Foltz presented a symposium titled “How to Make Your Professors Work For You: Strategies for Developing Professional Relationships and Research Opportunities.” Professor Foltz is an Assistant Professor of Speech who specializes in public speaking, which includes business communication, professional presentations and global strategic communication. As a licensed attorney and mediator, she is also interested in conflict resolution, freedom of speech, and other legal issues relating to communication.
The talk today emphasized the benefits of making meaningful connections with professors, suggesting that it can help students’ academics, career, and on-campus success. She highlighted the ways in which students could mine professors for resources, such as learning about clubs and organizations, travel abroad, on-campus jobs, and selecting classes. She suggested that getting to know professors as people can aid with everything from networking to internships to resume reviews. Students who make an effort to reach out to their instructors have been shown to improve their academic achievement, evince a greater motivation to learn, develop leadership/communication skills, and even earn higher grades.
Professor Foltz’s talk will be uploaded after it has been processed (about a week after her talk), here.