Professor Brings Many Skills to the Table
Stephanie McClaskey
March 10, 2022
Last semester, Professor Willam “Bill” Poorman joined the Illinois Central College (ICC) family when he taught an online MCOMM course. Poorman was also invited to advise on Harbinger Student Media which he accepted. This semester Poorman is instructing the Audio Production Course while still maintaining his role as advisor on Harbinger Student Media. Poorman began his experience as an educator while living in Singapore, where he began privately teaching English as a second language (ESL). Poorman continues to teach ESL outside of his roles here at ICC.
While Poorman has enjoyed sharing his knowledge with others, he did not begin his journey into adulthood with plans of becoming a teacher. In fact, Poorman studied to become a musician as an undergraduate at Kent State University in Ohio. However passionate about music, Poorman did not find the long hours of practicing to be appealing to him.
“Once I got to the end of my degree program I said this was not for me, I don’t want to sit in a room alone for that many hours a day. I took a look around and decided to switch gears into Journalism.” Poorman said.
This led Poorman to the University of Illinois of Urbana-Champaign where he achieved a Master of Journalism and a Master of Business Administration. Poorman was not drawn to Journalism by chance, his father was a journalist throughout his childhood.
“Journalism came quite naturally to me, I’ve been exposed to the issues my entire life,” Poorman said.
Following his education, Poorman states his key professional experience includes being a radio news reporter, on-air host, and news director. Regarding his education in Business Administration, Poorman admits this was an “icing on the cake” situation which would be useful in helping him to stand out in comparison if he were to ever pursue a manager position.
Since joining the family here at ICC, Poorman shares that the staff and faculty have all been very welcoming and supportive. He says they always make themselves available to help him to achieve his mission to guide his students to success.
Poorman says his favorite thing about getting into a more traditional style of teaching, as opposed to his previous private client-based teaching career, is that he learns from the students as much as they learn from him. His time at ICC has forced him to take a step back and appreciate his levels of knowledge and examine how he can share that knowledge with his students so they are fully prepared for their next step in life.
Poorman also mentions it is a possibility that he may be planning to plant some roots here at ICC and see what other doors open here for him in the future.