{"id":9568,"date":"2018-11-29T14:25:15","date_gmt":"2018-11-29T19:25:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress.morningside.edu\/thecr\/?p=9568"},"modified":"2019-02-08T17:57:49","modified_gmt":"2019-02-08T22:57:49","slug":"dr-mickelsons-retirement-is-bittersweet-for-business-depaartment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.morningside.edu\/thecr\/archives\/9568","title":{"rendered":"Dr. Mickelson’s retirement is bittersweet for business department"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Dr. Pam Mickelson<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

by Maggie Ganley–<\/strong>The Business Department will be wishing long time faculty member, Pam Mickelson, a sad farewell this December.<\/p>\n

Pam will be retiring at the end of this semester, leaving behind 30+ years of teaching, loving colleagues, and admiring student in her wake.<\/p>\n

In the mid 1980s, Pam and her husband had a big decision to make: where to move next. They knew they were ready to leave Kansas City behind and saw two options before them. They either wanted to move closer to Pam\u2019s family, in Arkansas, or her husband\u2019s family, in Sioux City.<\/p>\n

They knew that securing employment in Iowa would probably be easiest, so Pam started scouring teaching positions in Sioux City. The ink on her Doctorate had just dried and she was ready to look into teaching and leave the aviation industry behind.<\/p>\n

She hadn\u2019t taught since grad school and wasn\u2019t sure if she wanted a full-time position while teaching, but she wanted to test the waters.<\/p>\n

When people talked to her about colleges she could teach at in Sioux City, Morningside College kept coming back at the top of the list.<\/p>\n

\u201cMorningside was highly recommended by several different people, which I thought was a good sign,\u201d Pam said.<\/p>\n

She heard good things about Briar Cliff and WIT here and there, but Morningside prevailed.<\/p>\n

When Pam applied to Morningside, a full-time position wasn\u2019t available. Instead, she was told one of the business professors was going on sabbatical soon and was offered a position as a part-time adjunct.<\/p>\n

She accepted and started in the fall of 1985.<\/p>\n

Since then Pam has taught a slew of courses, from Accounting, to Management, and Advertising. She has even held the position of head of the Business Department and founded the Creative Edge Advertising Club and Entrepreneurship Group.<\/p>\n

Students, alumni, and atmosphere are what has kept her at Morningside over the years.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe students here are so eager to learn,\u201d she says. Going on to talk about how proud she is of the students who commit to learning, growing, and becoming the best they can be.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s especially proud of her students that have been in Advertising Club and Entrepreneurship Group over the years.<\/p>\n

\u201cParticularly in these groups, I usually have some of the best students on campus\u2014most active, high GPA\u2014their peers revere them as strong students, they\u2019re probably leaders in organizations, and they\u2019re used to doing high A work,\u201d Pam said.<\/p>\n

She also loves how loyal Morningside alumni are. Alumni are the ones who recommended Morningside to her in the first place, and she can see how connected these grads are to the college.<\/p>\n

Even though her love for the Morningside is as prevalent as ever, Pam has known for a few years now that she wants to retire, and this semester seemed like the right one.<\/p>\n

She didn\u2019t feel like waiting until May was the right fit. \u201cMy husband says I like to do things differently, so I guess I did,\u201d she said with a laugh.<\/p>\n

After teaching here for so many years, it\u2019s no surprise that Pam\u2019s absence will feel like a hole in the department, to colleagues and students alike.<\/p>\n

For Dr. Marilyn Eastman, it will mean losing her partner in the Marketing field.<\/p>\n

Marilyn started at Morningside four years ago, but has known Pam since 1996. She has always admired Pam and the work that she has done. She\u2019s especially impressed by the feats Pam has been able to accomplish since being here, such as establishing the Advertising major and founding the Creative Edge Ad Club.<\/p>\n

Marilyn views Pam as her \u201cwise, experienced colleague who has seen everything and done everything.\u201d She will miss her feedback and advice in the Marketing Department and believes she\u2019s \u201ca hole that will be truly irreplaceable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Anne Power, current head of the Business Department, will miss Pam\u2019s welcoming personality and Southern charm. She sees Pam as a maternal figure to the business department, always making sure everybody\u2019s taken care of, whether that be students or fellow faculty members.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just can\u2019t say enough good things about her. She\u2019s a great friend, and excellent colleague, and she will be so sorely missed here,\u201d Anne said.<\/p>\n

The students Pam will leave behind stand behind this sentiment.<\/p>\n

For Jaclyn Arens, it will mean losing her mentor. Jaclyn, a senior majoring in Advertising and Mass Communication, has known Pam since her freshman year here.<\/p>\n

Jaclyn met Pam through Entrepreneurship Group. Pam has mentored Jaclyn not only through her academics, but has helped her as an Entrepreneurship Group officer as well. She has been amazed by Pam\u2019s dedication to her students over the years.<\/p>\n

\u201cThroughout my four years at Morningside, Pam has just been a huge support. I can always go to her for advice and she always cares about her students,\u201d Jaclyn said.<\/p>\n

Niccole Wolken, who also majors in Advertising, echoes Jaclyn\u2019s sentiment.<\/p>\n

Pam has helped push Niccole beyond what she knew she was capable of and has even helped her apply for the Fulbright Scholarship by writing her a letter of recommendation, a recommendation that almost moved her to tears.<\/p>\n

Current students aren\u2019t the only ones who have good things to say about Pam.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the things that I think is just incredible is that students will come back \u2013 colleagues, adults \u2013 that have had Pam 20 to 30 years ago and rave about the influence she had in their lives and their careers,\u201d Marilyn said.<\/p>\n

Even though many are sad to see her go, they are happy for her in her retirement.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m super sad she\u2019s leaving, but I\u2019m really excited she gets to travel and do all of the things she wants to do,\u201d Niccole said.<\/p>\n

When thinking back at her time in Sioux City over the last 33 years, Pam started to get choked up. She said her family has been a key reason for her to stay for all of these years, through all of the ups and downs they have been there. Pam said she looks forward to being able to spend more times with her family in her retirement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Maggie Ganley–The Business Department will be wishing long time faculty member, Pam Mickelson, a sad farewell this December. Pam will be retiring at the end of this semester, leaving behind 30+ years of teaching, loving colleagues, and admiring student in her wake. In the mid 1980s, Pam and her husband had a big decision…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":9569,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[203],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9568","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.morningside.edu\/thecr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9568","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.morningside.edu\/thecr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.morningside.edu\/thecr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.morningside.edu\/thecr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.morningside.edu\/thecr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9568"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.morningside.edu\/thecr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9568\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9760,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.morningside.edu\/thecr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9568\/revisions\/9760"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.morningside.edu\/thecr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9569"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.morningside.edu\/thecr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9568"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.morningside.edu\/thecr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9568"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.morningside.edu\/thecr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9568"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}