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Success Story: Mary Ann Reeley

Dorothy Miraglia
Invest in yourself - Marry Ann

“Invest in yourself”…

That’s the advice Mary Ann Reeley wants to give other online teaching professionals and students alike. A professor at Eastern Gateway Community College, Reeley has been working in the online space since earning her MBA at Strayer University almost a decade ago. About 90% of her work toward that degree, she estimates, was completed online. It was an experience that has been invaluable to her teaching and her students.

“I can relate to my students,” she said. “I still receive so many emails from students who say ‘I have no support, my husband or my parents think this is a huge waste of time,’ and they are so grateful that someone gets them and understands that studying is a great challenge with a huge pay off. I think that understanding, and the faith in themselves that it inspires has a ripple effect on their children and on their nieces and nephews.”

In addition to understanding her students, there are few people more aware of the challenges faculty who teach online are facing. Part of an academic couple, Mary Ann Reeley is married to Professor Stan Reeley and has collaborated on much of his research into the health and mental health conditions experienced by online faculty. Their work has been widely published in peer-reviewed journals. The massive competition for jobs, the work it requires and the mental toll of searching for even short assignments, has not missed her notice.

“I talk to colleagues who tell me they’ve received over three hundred applications for a tiny little instructor-grader position,” she said in a recent online interview. “You know no one is going to read all of those applications. You know it’s all about key words and algorithms and machine reading.”

Both Mary Ann Reeley and Stan Reeley have worked with The Babb Group to support their job searches over the years.

“They helped me craft my CV and design my cover letter. The Babb Group has the ability to find my strengths and they helped me to phrase my information in a way that would draw attention to my real world experience and describe how it is relevant to a teaching environment,” Reeley said. “Whether you’ve been doing volunteer work, or working in a call center, or whatever, these are the experiences that help to expand your view and they enhance whatever you are doing now. All these things increase your ability to relate to students.”

Like many online instructors, Mary Ann Reeley brings a lot of real world and professional experience to her teaching. After earning her Bachelor’s degree in chemistry and biology, she went on to become a medical technician before joining her family in the insurance business. In both of those positions, client education was a skill she had to develop and its influence eventually led to her current career. It’s a career Mary Ann Reeley has no intention of ever retiring from.

“I see online teaching as a way to conserve our dollars, contribute to our broader community and to keep our mental health faculties sharp,” Mary Ann Reeley explained. “I have no intention of ever stopping!”

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Dorothy Miraglia

Dorothy A. Miraglia holds a PhD in Advanced Studies in Human Behavior with a focus on social media behavior from Capella University in Minneapolis, MN. Prior to completing her doctoral studies in 2014, she earned an MS in Industrial and Organizational Psychology, an MA in Interdisciplinary Studies, Sociology Research and Writing and a BS in Sociology and Music.
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