Jane Teel does not consider her job to be just a paycheck or occupational title. She has been on staff with Auburn University for 12 years, and is grateful for all the opportunities she has had at Auburn. Teel is a professor and adviser for the Department of Communication and Journalism.

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Teel started out at the university teaching communication classes. “The opportunity to teach a class gives me that time in the classroom environment enabling me to relate to students on a different level. It also keeps me linked with other faculty that I otherwise would not be in contact with,” says Teel.

Merilyn Hand, a senior in communication, said of Teel, “She always makes those around her feel as comfortable as possible at all times.”

Teel has now also been advising for five and a half years. In October, Teel will be promoted to Adviser III, the highest level for advisers.

Advising, especially around registration times, is extremely time-consuming. Teel juggles many different people and situations, yet still makes each student feel like she has plenty of time to focus on him/her.

Organization is the key to her efficiency. “I definitely work well with structure. I like to know the plan,” says Teel.

Students tend to forget that while registering seems stressful to them, the advisers are meeting with students, answering hundreds of E-mails and perfecting countless schedules for students. Teel is the perfect example of an adviser who goes over and beyond the basic job description of an adviser. When students come to her for advising, she takes the time to go through the pros and cons of different class routes they could possibly take. She is knowledgeable and honesty about the work loads, wanting the students to be well-informed.

Teel also has a list of other responsibilities in the communication and journalism department including but not limited to: enrollment management, orientation for new people in all four majors of the department, meeting prospective and transfer students, representative on Talons Day, managing the on-line wish lists, publicity needs for the department, and organizing the graduation day reception.

Most importantly, above all of these responsibilities, Teel is a wife and a mother to two children. She is also an Auburn graduate, as well has her husband, children and most all of her extended family.

After graduating from Auburn, Teel worked as a speech therapist in public schools in the Auburn/Opelika area for seven years. Teel’s family then moved to Birmingham where she was a stay-at-home-mom and worked part time teaching communication classes at The University of Alabama at Birmingham.

After completing that chapter in their life, Teel’s family moved back to The Plains to begin a new one.
Along with teaching and advising, she is also working on her doctorate in education, and hoping to complete it by next spring.

Teel clearly has a full plate. Despite that, she does her job, and she does her job well.