Leadership, Collaboration & Service

Leadership

I have been the Director of the Management Studies program for the last three years and, as a result of our 2021 self-study, have implemented curricular changes that will:

• More effectively scaffold a student’s progression through the concentration;
• Improve our ability to assess the program;
• Promote diversity, equity and inclusion. 

Collaborations

I have been fortunate to have had many opportunities to collaborate and serve with a variety of talented staff and faculty at St. Olaf from all over campus to develop new interdisciplinary connections and program. Here is a brief summary of some of those collaborations:

• 2013: Innovation in the Liberal Arts: Creative Problem Solving from an Interdisciplinary Perspective theme year in collaboration with Maggie Broner, Irve Dell, Branden Grimmett, Tim Howe, Gary Muir, John Schade and Mary Titus
• 2016: ACM SAIL seminar on Innovation in Silicon Valley with Irve Dell and Paul Jackson
• 2016: co-taught a Directed Undergraduate Research course “The Soul of Stuff” with Tim Howe and Jennifer Kwon Dobbs
• 2019: ACM FaCE grant, Making the Most of Immersion workshop (2019)
• 2019: Alden Adolph and I provided three design thinking workshops for our classes: Introduction to Engineering Design course and Design Thinking class
• 2020: in response to COVID isolation I organized a virtual Coffee/Happy Hour panel on best practices for remote learning. I then subsequently co-presented a CILA workshop on “Building Community in an Online Environment”
• 2021: Critical Global Learning Community of Practice organized by the Smith Center for Global Engagement 

Collaborative Undergraduate Research and Inquiry (CURI)

CURI projects have allowed me to delve deeper into topics of with my students and collaborate with peers and community members. Here is a list of those projects:

• 2009-10: “Best practices in arts event management” in collaboration with Paul Neimisto with Katie Truax ’11 and Carly Hedlin ’11.
• 2011-12: “Economic Impact of the Arts in Northfield” with Bob Kelly ’12 and Ally Lynne ’12. I subsequently presented a poster “Economic Impact of the Arts in Northfield” at the Imagining America National conference: Linked Fates and Futures: Communities and Campuses as Equitable Partners? Oct. ’12
• 2015-16:  “Ecotourism in Japan” in collaboration with Katherine Tegtmeyer Pak with support from the Luce/LIASE grant with Iris Burbank ’18, Anders Cologne ’17,  Caitlin Connell ’17, Robby Hanson ’18 and Chenchen Xu ’17. A Marketing Plan was shared with our Japanese community partners.
• 2017-2020: “Developing entrepreneurial skills in students to enhance study abroad and internship experiences” with Morgan May ’19 and Tanya Samiliv ’20. The findings can be found on the “expertise” pages of this website.

Service

My leadership at the college and my collaborations demonstrate the investment and role I play in the college’s future. As a result, I have regularly asked to present workshops for our faculty through our CILA program. The topics have included community-based research, infusing creativity in the classroom, organizational storytelling, and design thinking.

Finally, I have served on a wide variety of campus committees: Faculty Life Committee, Media Studies Advisory Committee, Academic Civic Engagement Advisory Committee, Marketing and Communications Editorial Advisory Board, the Institute for Freedom and Community Director’s Council, and the Curriculum Committee