14 | INNOVISION MAGAZINE PROFESSOR NEWS RETIRING FACULTY Elizabeth Rogol, Professor of Marketing and Sport Management for Kutztown University’s College of Business, talks with one of her students as I wait outside the office for our interview. (Professor Rogol keeps an open-door policy for students and faculty to feel welcome). Her voice carries out the door and into the hallway and her words are direct, yet calm and kind as she addresses the student’s questions. After a few minutes, the eased student thanks her, and Rogol responds, “email me with any questions that come up.” As I entered Rogol’s softly lit office, I was greeted by her warm salutation, the combination bringing a sense of calm. With the vintage backdrop of Old Main (the oldest building on campus, built in 1866), Rogol’s composed voice echoes gently off the ivory walls as she graciously compliments the comfortable style of my shoes. Welcoming me with her relatable conversation, we chat briefly about the woes of high heels. Rogol has been teaching in Kutztown University’s College of Business for thirty-nine years, starting as a temporary adjunct and eventually becoming Associate Professor of marketing. Rogol found the position shortly after graduating with an MBA in business from Shippensburg University and working briefly at a company in the advertising department. She didn’t know at the time that this position would lead to a life-long career. “I grew up professionally here,” she stated soberly. Directing the attention off herself, she said, “I learned from really good, hard-working people who were selfless whether it be for students or fellow colleagues.” Although not being a part of an official mentoring program, she described how colleagues mentored her anyway, because that was the kind of character they had. At the time of this interview, Rogol had been called back from retirement— having only a typical summer off—to help teach several marketing classes.“Never in a million years would I have seen myself teaching marketing again after so many years,” Rogol stated with a smile. “It’s been a good ride,” Rogol said with a bobbing nod that conveyed both admiration and fatigue. There have been challenges along the way, such as when the department was restructured and Rogol had to reinvent herself from teaching marketing to sport management, “but there were a lot of good things that came out of that.” Rogol remembered starting over as a professor of twenty-nine years and having to prove herself to a new department to find a home among “a group of hard-working people that really worked as a team.” Prior to this, pressure was put on professors with masters to earn their doctorate, bringing Rogol back to school to earn a second graduate degree in Organizational Leadership from Mansfield University. She then used this degree to design a new Leadership minor for Kutztown University before transitioning into Sport Management. Serving as chair of four different departments during her career at Kutztown University, ELIZABETH ROGOL
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