Going the distance: Platteville instructor returns to teach online

Wendy Brooke

A college education, like many things worth pursuing, isn’t always easy—especially when life’s other responsibilities start to get in the way. With the advent of online learning, however, juggling coursework and life’s duties has become more manageable for students and teachers alike, and perhaps no one knows this better than Wendy Brooke.

Brooke is an instructor for UW-Platteville’s School of Business who retired in 2017. Starting this semester, however, Brooke returned to the Platteville community to teach exclusively online, dividing time between the virtual classroom and her consulting work down in Florida, where she helps various supply chain warehouses improve their processes.

“I feel that I really never left,” said Brooke on returning to teaching. “It’s more like I’ve been on a hiatus for a couple years. I love teaching both online and in-person, but the fact that I could continue working with UW-Platteville online while doing other work has been especially beneficial.”

Brooke channels this enthusiasm into her two classes for the semester, BUSADMIN 3530 Organizational Behavior and ISCM 7610 Outsourcing. As one is an undergraduate course and the other a graduate, Brooke appreciates the different structure each offers in terms of content for her and her students.

“I enjoy undergraduate courses because the students are just getting their foot in the door, and are getting that first exposure to the depth of the discipline,” said Brooke. “While on the graduate level the discussions tend to be more in-depth and lively.”

No matter what level she’s teaching, Brooke tries to make each of her courses as enjoyable and engaging as possible. While this can be more challenging in online courses, the format provides many benefits as well.

“The greatest strength of the online format is flexibility,” said Brooke. “The fact that I can travel and consult and still teach is wonderful—for both myself and my students. For example, I’ll be traveling to Japan in a couple months and the students won’t even miss a beat.”

When she’s not consulting or teaching online, Brooke can be found cheering on the Platteville Pioneers during basketball season. It’s a pastime she may even love more than teaching, for Brooke never misses a game.