Although being a pharmaceutical representative allowed her to continually learn and exemplify her commitment of helping others, Horten said she wanted to pursue her long-time goal of a career in higher education. She used her experience to not only help with the understanding of lesson content, but give perspective on how that content is transferable to real-world application in industry.
“Having completed Penn State’s iMBA, which is the previous incarnation of the OMBA program, I not only have a love for Penn State, but an appreciation and understanding of what it’s like for these students,” Horten said. “I can empathize with working all day and coming home to do school work, while taking care of your family – this is an opportunity for me to help these students be successful.”
With an 18-year background in the U.S. military and Department of Defense community, Opstal said he aspires to help students who were once in the same position as he was because of the impact Duck had as an instructor for the iMBA human resources course and additional residencies.
“I appreciate that students are often obtaining their degrees in challenging circumstances as do all the OMBA faculty,” said Opstal, who is currently employed as a partner engagement officer in the Department of Defense and as a reserve U.S. Air Force officer.
Opstal’s passion as a TSS reflects his love of teaching online. He enjoys being able to provide practical examples in threaded discussions and engage with students via Zoom, Penn State’s video conference platform. His leadership experience and engagement with various military and civilian audiences give him a good perspective to share with future students.
“There are always new angles to explore,” Opstal said of issues discussed in OMBA 815, Ethical and Responsible Business Leadership. “Leadership often presents classic wicked problems — there are only better or worse answers and always a shade of grey.”
Horten notes the importance of interacting with students — being able to build relationships with her students is the most rewarding part of her job. She said finds helping her students understand the content of the material to be tremendously gratifying, knowing she played a role in that success.
With mentorship at the heart of Horten’s goal to have a positive impact on students throughout their Penn State career, she views her role as a way to conceptualize information, encourage higher-order thinking, and facilitate discussion and reflection around course concepts — all in a nonthreatening, “safe space” kind of way. Additionally, she thinks having the opportunity to work with other teaching support specialists, instructors and the OMBA staff is an amazing experience.
“The physical distance between us is no hindrance to the strong team environment that we are operating in,” Horten said. “We are working together to ensure the OMBA program exceeds exceptional expectations. And I am a better person for having worked with these people.”
In order for students to be successful, though, Opstal said he thinks it’s crucial to take advantage of the support specialists. They can play a vital role in helping identify practical insights and providing perspective on the curriculum. He believes these are things students can take in their proverbial "toolkit" anywhere they go.
For this collaborative partnership, the TSS can guide students to apply classroom knowledge in modern-day business and industry. Not only does Duck know that they can inspire students, but also aspires for teaching support specialists to become the norm throughout the teaching community.
“Online education is a team sport that requires many experts working together to produce a high-quality teaching and learning environment,” Duck said. “This combined skill set provides the platform for course innovation. Ongoing peer-to-peer sharing and identifying professional development needs will be key to growing and evolving a customized student experience."