Every successful student organization needs the combined teamwork of two key contributors to run smoothly and meet self-set high standards. One part of this team is the members, or in the case of Her Campus Drexel, our staff. The 20+ staff members of Her Campus Drexel University attend several meetings a week to publish several articles each week and in the past year alone, have become one of the top 50 Her Campus chapters in the nation. But none of this would have been possible without the continued guidance and dedication of one of our most important team members, our faculty advisor, Jodi Cataline.
Jodi, a LeBow College of Business alumnae herself, teaches as an Associate Clinical Professor in LeBow today. One of Jodi’s students, our very own Campus Correspondent Lindsey Thompson, originally approached Jodi about the possibility of taking on the role of faculty advisor for Her Campus. But it wasn’t just the desire to help out a former student that drove Jodi to accept the role; it was also her passionate support for women’s organizations on campus.
“When I was a student here, Drexel’s male to female [student] ratio was 4:1 so there were not many, if any, women specific organizations outside of Greek Life to join,” says Jodi. Furthermore, she firmly believes in the power of Her Campus as a tool to engage and empower Drexel’s female population through their university years and beyond.
“What makes the position rewarding is being part of something that has a positive influence on others,” says Jodi. In fact, that’s part of the reason she became a professor! After graduating from Drexel, Jodi made her debut working in finance on Wall Street with big dreams and big ideas. While she found success in the fast-paced business world, she realized she had a natural propensity to helping others and mentoring. After a few whirlwind years as a financier, Jodi decided on a career change to the teaching world. Since then, she’s never looked back!
“[The] exciting part of this job is that it is dynamic, there are always new classes and new students to teach. It wasn’t quite so dynamic in a corporate environment where change is not as frequent,” she says. The constant changes that LeBow, Drexel, and Philadelphia as a whole undergo are perhaps Jodi’s favorite part about teaching. Each fall, she anticipates the arrival of the new class of freshmen on campus and their eagerness to learn and pursue a fulfilling career. According to Jodi, this is one facet of Drexel’s culture that has never changed; students here have always pursued more than just the “college experience”.
In addition to being as dedicated and passionate about Her Campus as we are, Jodi is also a brilliant professor and mentor. She provides her students with insight into the corporate world and takes extra care to guide them toward rewarding opportunities within LeBow and the greater Philadelphia business network. Without her support we absolutely could not deliver this caliber of content or events. Thank you, Jodi!