Advisor profile: Jan Slater

As Associate Director of E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University, Jan Slater is able to pursue her passion for advertising, teaching and advising. After earning her B.A. in Journalism and Theater from Hastings College in 1978 and M.S. in Advertising from the University of Illinois in 1992, Dr. Slater earned her Ph.D. in Public Communications from Syracuse University in 1997. She taught at Xavier University, Syracuse University, and the University of Nebraska before joining the Scripps faculty in September 1998. She was named Associate Director in July 2003.
     Dr. Slater’s position as Associate Director involves the full range of advising responsibilities. She regards advising as an important part of her job and considers Scripps to have one of the strongest advising programs at Ohio University. Each quarter Dr. Slater advises approximately 75 students, including students from all majors within the School of Journalism, five undecided students from University College, and several Bachelor of Specialized Studies students. Having such a diverse group of students requires her to advise students in overcoming several different types of challenges. Dr. Slater often finds that freshmen feel lost and very overwhelmed with requirements. “I always tell the freshmen to use that first year as an exploration tool – really keep your options open,” she said. “But sometimes they’re very impatient. They want to get going.” Dr. Slater finds journalism students are often just as impatient and want to immediately jump into their journalism courses while ignoring their general education requirements. She tries to focus her advising on getting students to concentrate on their end goals and look past the next quarter.
    In addition to her duties as an Associate Director, Dr. Slater teaches one class a quarter including advertising copywriting, advertising strategies, advertising campaigns, and advertising media planning and buying. She enjoys teaching a wide range of classes to keep things exciting, and she never gets tired of teaching. “Advertising is a discipline that can change every week,” Dr. Slater said. “I can always bring a new topic to class and say, ‘Hey, here’s what happening in the industry today,’ and that might be a lot different than what was happening yesterday or last month. It’s always something new.”
    Dr. Slater’s favorite aspect of her career is getting to touch the field she loves everyday while having the opportunity to send great students into the profession. “It’s always fun to watch them grow up, which is basically what we do,” she said. “And it’s always fun to be a part of them finding their passion.” As Associate Director and a professor, Dr. Slater always strives to assist students in reaching their goals. Her continual, active, involvement in students’ lives has certainly helped to make her one of the University’s outstanding faculty advisors

— Natalie Smith

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