Page Wolf

Page Wolf (BS '93, Media Studies)
Faculty Development Chair, College of Lake County

What is one of your favorite memories as a student in media studies, cinema studies, or media & cinema studies? (It could be a memorable class, professor, event, organization, etc.)
As Media Studies majors, we were told all along that we were most likely going to need to go to graduate school to specialize in an area and find employment. I had no idea what I wanted to do as I entered my senior year in 1992-1993. BUT at that very moment at U of I, Mosaic was being developed and the World Wide Web was coming into being. My final semester, I had a class (I want to say Photojournalism with the amazing professor Brian Johnson), and we were shown Time magazine on the computer where we could click through links and see articles, and our minds were blown! That class will always stick with me. And it prompted me to apply for Graduate School in an Instructional Technology program.

What are some of your career highlights so far?
After my media studies/communications degree, I got a M.S. Ed in Instructional Technology from NIU, and I believe the degrees paired very well with the new communication medium that was now the World Wide Web. I entered the world of higher education and was integral in helping develop the very first online courses at Western Illinois University (my first job out of grad school). I have been working as a full-time faculty member doing faculty development in higher education since 1995, and I love this field!

What advice do you have for current students in media & cinema studies?
Be prepared for jobs that you have no idea will exist. As a communications/media studies major, I didn't know that instructional design/instructional technology/faculty development was a thing. I was just fortunate to be at the right place at the right time as the World Wide Web was coming into being. Now we live in a time when technology is changing so incredibly fast you may end up in a job that doesn't even exist today.