Meet Academic Advisor Marianne Neal-Joyce!

By Grace Keller and Gabriella Grondalski

Marianne grew up in Central Massachusetts and went to Bryn Mawr College located in Pennsylvania. When she started school, she was uncertain about what she wanted to major in but ended up discovering an interest in Sociology. “Sociology is similar to communication because it’s a social science and you get to ask questions about a lot of different things. There are lots of different methods and theories and it gives you the chance to think about questions you have about society, how people interact, equality, and you can do so much with it.” 

After graduating and receiving her degree, she moved to Washington D.C. and lived there for a few years. For the majority of her time in D.C., she was a research assistant studying families with kids where one of the parents was going through unemployment. She worked a couple of other jobs before she decided to go to UMass Amherst for a Master’s degree in Sociology, where she is currently working towards her Ph.D.

While she pursued her Master’s, she got a job as an advising assistant for a Sociology class. She really enjoyed getting to know the students and helping them. She then had the opportunity to be a temporary advisor in the Communication Department while another advisor was on leave. She had the same opportunity in the Journalism Department. With these experiences, she realized that advising was a good fit for her and she wanted to do it more long term. “I had done a bunch of teaching and liked it, and advising is similar in some ways. You get to interact more with individual students instead of with a big group. You also get to help connect people with resources and work through concrete problems.” 

Advising this semester has been very different from previous semesters. “We are all going through a lot, and I’m lucky that we are able to do advising from home. It can be really hard talking to some students because there are many that don’t have a great place to live, a great internet connection, families crowding them out, or they know people that have gotten sick. It’s really hard on our students and I think we all need to keep that in mind.” 

Some common questions Marianne receives as an Academic Advisor have to do with the bureaucracy of UMass and she enjoys helping and giving answers to those questions. She also often receives the question, “What can I do with my Communication degree?” Her response is “You can do lots of different things and you can pursue your interests. We have many students working in media, film, social media, marketing, advertising, fashion, non-profit work, and education. There are so many different things to pursue. This can be exciting but also really scary when you’re in the middle of it. I try to talk to people about the options they have and the doors that are open to them if they can take advantage of them.”

Her advice to Communication students is “ to not be afraid to try new things. It can be scary, but you should try a new class or join a club. This is a really good time to try new things because you are never going to be around so many people who have so many things in common with you. They are around your age, studying new things, and going through similar experiences.” Marianne is a friendly face in the Communication Department and we are very lucky to have her as an Academic Advisor.