Emmy-nominated news anchor joins Comm. Department

Heather Gerber, an adjunct faculty member for the communications department, is starting her first semester at Elizabethtown College.
Gerber, a 1998 telecommunications graduate of Kutztown University, has had plenty of experience working in the communications field and was an Emmy-nominated news anchor for WPMT Fox43.
Despite her extensive resume, she has had little experience speaking to students directly. “I would be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous … I have spoken to classes before as a guest lecturer and have spoken in front of crowds of thousands … but this was going to be a bit different. So far, it’s been great, and I have no doubt it will only get better as I settle into this new role,” Gerber stated.
As an adjunct faculty member, she works on campus part-time and teaches only one class. Staff members in this position at the College have the same responsibilities as full-time professors, but in smaller amounts.
This fall, Gerber is teaching the Public Performance and Presentation class and is happy to have changed her career goals to include working at Etown. “I have been interested in teaching at a college level for some time,” she said. “It wasn’t until recently that I made the decision to shift my career in this direction.”
To get this position, Gerber turned to one of Etown’s own. She and Associate Professor and Chair of the communications, Kirsten Johnson, first overlapped career paths while working at WGAL news; Gerber was a field reporter and Johnson worked as a producer. Gerber credits their business relationship with why she decided to start teaching at the college level. “I called her one afternoon and asked her a bunch of questions about her career change and how she liked her new position,” she stated. “After speaking with her, I felt confident that this was the direction I wanted to go. After several other conversations with Dr. Johnson, I learned of an opening for an adjunct faculty member and applied. I got the job and have been enjoying it very much.”
Gerber first learned the news of her employment at the start of the summer vacation and immediately started preparing for her new position. “When I heard that I would be getting the job, I was thrilled. I knew this was the direction I wanted to go and I have heard such wonderful things about the program at Etown,” she said.
Despite her recent career shift, Gerber is also working as a graduate assistant in the marketing and communications department at Shippensburg University while enrolled in graduate courses as well.
Although it was difficult to make the transition from being in a newsroom to a classroom, Gerber is excited to have the opportunity to teach aspiring journalists. “Every day that I am in the classroom, I look forward to watching my students grow,” she said. “I see so much energy and potential in the group of students I am working with, and I am thrilled to be able to help them become better presenters in life and, if it’s their desire, on air. I enjoy talking with my students and sharing with them experiences I’ve had in the business.”
She admits that her family has a heavy influence on her future goals and that she has started making moves toward becoming a full-time professor. “This is something I’ve really thought about doing for some time now and the timing just seemed right,” she said. “My children will soon be in school and I want to be around to see them grow up. Working in the news business can be difficult at times with the long and crazy hours, and with my children entering school soon, I wanted to position myself so that I would be around more for them.”

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Issuu is a digital publishing platform that makes it simple to publish magazines, catalogs, newspapers, books, and more online. Easily share your publications and get them in front of Issuu's millions of monthly readers. Title: Senior Edition, Author: The Etownian, Name: Senior Edition, Length: 10 pages, Page: 1, Published: 2020-04-30