Jill Mitchell
Associate Professor of Accounting at Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA)
Q&A with Professor Jill Mitchell about Student Partners
What are the benefits of this program for instructors?
At a community college where we generally have a lot of adjuncts, Austin has been a tremendous help to get our adjuncts on board and using WileyPLUS quickly. If I didn’t have a Student Partner, that would have taken a lot of time for me, so it was helpful to have Austin work one-on-one with new adjuncts to get them up and running. I could share what I knew from the instructor side, but I think the adjunct needed to see what was happening from the student’s perspective.
How do the students in your class benefit from having a Student Partner?
My students appreciate having another resource to contact whenever they have any WileyPLUS issues, concerns, or questions they may not want to ask their professor. Once students understand that the Student Partner is always there to answer their questions, even via email, they appreciate having another point of contact.
What are the main benefits for a Student Partner?
The benefit to the Student Partner is so tremendous because they get to be a liaison between the professor and the students. This give them the chance to demonstrate their communication skills and exposes them to all the professors in the department. So they not only get that recognition from faculty, but they also show their ability to work well with their peers.
What specific traits and skills does your Student Partner exhibit?
Austin is always present and engaged in class, and he’s excited about accounting and even looks for ways to get involved with professional organizations. I also saw that he was spending the most time in ORION and taking advantage of all that WileyPLUS has to offer. Austin also has excellent communication and writing skills, so I knew he would be able to help other students and answer their questions.
What advice can you give to other instructors who are thinking about nominating a Student Partner?
Definitely find a student who is dependable and has completed at least one course in WileyPLUS. You also want someone who has good communication and writing skills and is relatable to other students—someone just like them who is working full-time, going to school full-time, and managing it all. All of my decisions are always based on what’s best for my students, and this program has just been the icing on the cake.
Jill Mitchell is an Associate Professor of Accounting at Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA) at Annandale. She is the President of the Washington, DC Chapter of the Accounting and Financial Women’s Alliance (AFWA), and she serves on the Board of Directors of the Virginia Society of CPAs (VSCPA). She served as a founding advisor for the National Society of Collegiate Scholars NOVA Chapter, the first community college chapter to earn the Platinum STAR Award. Prior to joining the faculty at NOVA, Jill was a senior auditor with Ernst & Young’s Business Risk Services practice in Miami, Florida. She is a Certified Internal Auditor and graduated from the University of Virginia’s McIntire School of Commerce with an M.S. in Accountancy. She is a graduate of the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business and Honors Program where she earned a B.B.A. in Management Information Systems. She recently earned a graduate certificate in E-Learning Instructional Design from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, and she is currently pursuing an M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction with a concentration in Instructional Design and Technology. She and her husband enjoy UGA football, watching their 11-year-old son play competitive tennis, and going to NASCAR races.