Interview with Professor Jerry Mitchell

December 13, 2010

Jerry Mitchell is the Lead Business Instructor at IMBC, where he works with students ages 17-60. A technology and operations enthusiast himself, he enjoys helping students gain exposure to the 21^st-century tools making the workplace more efficient and effective.

Mr. Mitchell describes his teaching style as “pretty laid back.” He believes students work really well inside a group dynamic, feeding off each other’s ideas; most of the work on his syllabi takes place inside the classroom.

 Students as IMBC, according to Mr. Mitchell, also benefit from a great faculty-to-student ratio which provides them with plenty of personal attention. He believes one can never underestimate the importance of having an instructor walk you through a lesson -- patiently and privately.   

Transcript | Jerry Mitchell, Lead Business Instructor at IBMC

My name is Jerry Mitchell, and I'm the lead business instructor at IBMC. My background is primarily in social work and business -- a strong operations background. I enjoy technology and what it can do in the workplace to make things more efficient for employees. My typical [student in my] classroom could be anywhere from 17 years old to close to 60 years old. What I do as my job is to make sure the students are comfortable and also willing to work together. I try to create an environment where the 17-year-old feels comfortable helping anyone who is 50 or 60 years old that has not had an opportunity to have the exposure to the technology that our youth today have.

My teaching style is pretty laid back. I do like engagement. I like all the students to be involved with what's going on inside the classroom in every single way. I like to have my students work in groups where they can definitely feed off of one another concerning the material they're going to be covering. Since they're hands-on, I do try to get the majority of the work done inside the classroom because I want to see the progress that the students make.

Definitely, as a selling point, let students know the one-on-one [attention] that they receive. The class size is conducive to the one-on-one, where the instructors sit with you and talk you through your subject or talk you through assignments, helping you understand the hands-on piece.

I think when you look at bigger schools, or bigger universities, for example, there could be a disconnect between the student and the instructor. But here at IBMC, we encourage attendance, we encourage students to understand how to work as a group and what that means when you go into the workplace in your careers.

Coming to IBMC is an experience not like any other college you could possibly come to or go to. Because, again, you look at the ratio between the students and instructors. Because we really care about our students based on our mission statement and our slogan: "Caring individuals… changing lives."