Jill Joyce

My teaching philosophy can be summarized as, "We are here for them." This simple phrase is at the core of everything I do and aspire to be for my students. I hope to show you that I am living up to my word through four hallmarks of me as a professor: feedback, open door, practical assignments and service learning, and mentoring.

Feedback: I gather feedback from every class each semester through four means, in addition to traditional student surveys of instruction, because I am here to make this class the best it can be for them. I'm also here to make them the best practitioners they can be. I'll continue to regularly revamp, and even overhaul, my classes to do exactly that.

Open Door: It's not just an open door though, it's an invitation to stop and be human. I have a stress-relieving doodle station in my office. When done, students (AKA my kids) get to hang their art work on my "fridge door," which is two white boards hanging end on end on the wall. I also have comfy chairs, tons of food pun decorations, and a whole grain candy jar (AKA my cereal jar). Students perform best when they feel connected to their department, especially the faculty. It can be a little distracting for me, but again, I'm here for them. That door will never close and the cereal jar will never go empty, because OSU Nutritional Sciences is family.

Practical Assignments: Every assignment I give is practical. Assignments are a chance to practice, ideally when appropriate with real people, and provide examples to save for the future, not just busy work. They are also opportunities for us to serve our community and instill a servant heart in our students and their future medical practice. Again, I'm here to make them the best practitioners they can be.

Mentoring: I also take every opportunity to include students, with the warning that they can and should say no as needed, in manuscript reviews, abstract reviews, grant writing, invited guest lectures and conference presentations, precepting interns, being on committees, doing research translation and outreach through social media and podcasts for first responders, anything and everything. It may take longer to include a student along the way, but I'm here for them. The excitement and growth they get out of the experience is worth every second.