Limed: Teaching with a Twist – Episode 9

Jon Chesky, Senior Project Manager at L.F. Jennings, Inc., teaches within their Developing Young Professionals program. Faced with the challenge of engaging adult learners in a short-form workshop session, Jon asks our panel for ideas of how to be efficient in this bite-sized context with students participating in a voluntary program. Our panel included Brooke Buffington, Director of Elon University’s Student Professional Development Center; Jen Platania, Associate Provost of Academic Affairs at Elon, and Elon alumna Andrea Sheetz ’22, who is a Workforce and Economic Development Analyst for Forsyth County, North Carolina. Panelists discuss trends in preparing graduates for the ever-changing workforce and provide ideas for how to connect with young professional as learners in short-format settings. 

This episode of Limed: Teaching with a Twist is hosted by Matt Wittstein and produced by Dhvani Toprani and Matt Wittstein in collaboration with the Center for Engaged Learning.

View a transcript of this episode.

About the Guest

Jon Chesky is a Senior Project Manager – Corporate Interiors Division at L.F. Jennings, a commercial general contractor in Falls Church, VA.  Specializing in building repositioning and amenity work, he has managed a variety of award-winning projects across Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia. He also conducts instruction within L.F. Jennings through their Developing Young Professionals program – facilitating courses on negotiations for first and second year participants. Outside of the office, Jon volunteers with the District of Columbia Building Industry Association (DCBIA) and works on their membership committee.  

About the Panel

Brooke Buffington is the Director of the Student Professional Development Center (SPDC) at Elon University. In this role, she leads the “Top 10” ranked SPDC team in providing best-in-class career services to students and alumni. She builds and maintains relationships with employers that align with Elon students’ industries and locations of interest, while working closely with administration, faculty, staff, and partners across campus to positively impact student outcomes. 

In her time away from the office, Brooke enjoys writing screenplays. She co-wrote and co-produced the independent feature film Chalk It Up with her writing partner, Maddy Curley. Chalk It Up secured distribution with Gravitas Ventures and was licensed to Netflix for both domestic and international release. Chalk It Up can now be watched on Amazon Prime. If you want to learn more about Brooke’s most recent creative endeavor, you can find it here. 

Jennifer Platania currently serves as Associate Provost for Academic Affairs and Associate Professor of Economics.  She serves on the president’s Senior Staff, the Provost Advisory Council, Academic Affairs Advisory Council, Graduate Council, and the University Curriculum Committee while also serving as Chair/co-Chair of the Experiential Education Advisory Committee and the First-Year Experience Advisory Committee. Prior to her current position, she served as Associate Dean of the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business and Chair of the Department of Economics and was instrumental in leading the development of Elon University’s first accelerated 3+1 dual-degree programs in Accounting and Business Analytics and helped develop the new Philosophy, Politics and the Economy multi-disciplinary minor. Jennifer is a committed teacher and mentor, having received the Love School of Business Dean’s Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2008, serving as a faculty mentor and advisor to campus organizations and over 30 senior economic theses.  

Andrea Sheetz works as the Workforce & Economic Development Analyst at the Forsyth County, NC government where she aligns industry, education, and community partners to build accessible talent pipelines and connect County residents with opportunities for economic mobility. Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, Andrea is a 2022 graduate from Elon University earning her bachelor’s degree in Economics and Sociology and now resides in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. She is a member of the North Carolina Economic Development Association (NCEDA) and Winston Under 40 and actively volunteers with schools and community groups. 

Learn More about Ideas Shared in the Episode

The Ultimatum Game

• A collection of peer-reviewed resources about The Ultimatum Game
• An explainer about The Ultimatum Game
• A video about The Ultimatum Game