SUNY Online Teaching Ambassador 2021: Farmingdale – Heather Kirkwood

Dr. Heather Kirkwood is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at SUNY-Farmingdale State College.  Dr. Kirkwood obtained her doctorate in Marketing from Cleveland State University in 2014. Prior to obtaining her doctorate, she spent fifteen years in a variety of positions within the banking industry-most recently in the role of Vice President, Community Banking Manager. She currently teaches Principles of Marketing, Principles of Selling, Sales Management, Advanced Selling and Consumer Behavior.  Her research interests include:  Fashion, Consumer Behavior, Diversity, Online Learning and Innovative Pedagogy.  

Dr. Kirkwood is passionate about the development of online and hybrid courses, having created several new offerings for her campus.  She believes that given the large percentage of students at Farmingdale State College who are employed, distance learning options provide a great amount of convenience, flexibility and a viable solution for obtaining one’s degree.  She is committed to working with her colleagues to expand the number of online courses that are offered.

As educators, we must be flexible and able to adapt to our student’s needs.  Students may not be able to attend traditional, face-to-face courses for a variety of reasons.  We must offer viable options for all students to be successful.  Distance learning provides us tools to ensure we can provide a high-quality education to all students, regardless of their chosen modality.  In today’s world, the importance of distance learning cannot be overlooked.  In my role of online teaching ambassador, I remain committed to being an advocate of online learning, a proponent of expanding online offerings, and faculty mentor.