EIU Faculty Laureate to Pass Along Father's Message for Learning to Students
Aug-04-2004
Nancy Marlow's inspiration to be a life-long learner came from her father.
"He seeks out information and knowledge just because he enjoys it," she says. "I'm lucky. Both of my parents strongly encouraged my education."
Marlow - now a professor of marketing by trade - follows in her father's footsteps. And her passion for learning is what led to her selection as Eastern Illinois University 's 2004-2005 Faculty Laureate.
As such, she will spend the coming year as the university's official spokesperson on the importance of a general/liberal education, and intends to share her father's message with students of all ages and from all areas of study. Her first formal opportunity will come at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 31, when she delivers the keynote address at this year's Fall Convocation, a welcoming ceremony for new students.
The event, set to take place in the University Union's Grand Ballroom, is open to the public.
"I want to challenge students to take a course they're interested in and not worry if it satisfies their degree requirements or not," Marlow said. "And I want them to make friends with someone who is their complete opposite. Students can learn without being in a formal classroom."
She knows that by experience.
Having grown up in Illinois , Marlow looked at several of the state's universities before deciding where she would attend school. All of her friends decided to attend the University of Illinois ; therefore, she chose to attend Eastern.
"I knew if I followed them there, we would continue our high school roles and I would never try anything new," she said.
Her initial goal was a bachelor's degree in English, thinking she might like to teach. That or nursing were the primary career choices open to women in the mid-1960s, Marlow recalled.
Even then, however, the ever-burning desire to learn and experience new things beckoned. She tried fencing, as well as other miscellaneous physical education classes. And her roommate - a stranger before they moved in together - suggested she try out for Eastern's pompon squad, a.k.a., the Pink Panthers. She did so and was successful, not realizing that years later, she would return to her alma mater as a teacher and advisor to the very dance team she once joined as a student at EIU.
Since her own background was in the liberal arts, Marlow was concerned about her lack of a business degree as she contemplated pursuing a doctoral degree in marketing. One of her professors calmed her fears, assuring her that Marlow really had an advantage. "He told me that my background in liberal arts provided a strong sense of logic and order that many of my classmates would lack," she said. "He was correct."
Marlow's studies eventually allowed her to combine a degree in business education with her liberal arts background; in 1985, she returned to Eastern in order to join the staff and the university's School of Business . She continues to combine the two areas of study as she prepares her students for their graduation - whether they like it or not.
"In the classroom, I emphasize the importance of the general education mission," she said. "For example, my International Marketing' students learn how important it is for multinational businesses to be responsible global citizens. Students examine the cultures of other countries with the goal of understanding and appreciating the diversity of the global market place.
"This course is a writing intensive course, and the students also participate in oral presentation."
Students do sometimes complain, Marlow admitted, citing the example of one young man who protested, "This isn't an English course."
"He didn't realize that his writing ability was a reflection of himself," Marlow said.
According to Jane Wayland, chair of Eastern's School of Business, the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International - the school's accreditation body - requires that all business students take half (60 hours) of their requirements for graduation outside of the School of Business.
"Dr. Marlow has and continues to do more than oversee this requirement," Wayland said. "She advocates for general education for all our students stressing communication skills, particularly writing, as well as knowledge from the arts and sciences."
Marlow explained her thinking: "Very simply, general education is the foundation of a college education. Without general education, our students are merely job training.'
"And students are coming for more than just job training," Marlow declared. "They are coming for a superior education."
