Accelerated Academic Degree Programs

Sheila Schmitz, Ph.D.
Adjunct Faculty

Biography

Academic Background:

Dr. Schmitz received a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from George Williams College in 1980. In 1990 she graduated, with honors, from the University of Illinois in Chicago with a Masters degree in Social Work. In 2004 she was awarded by Ph. D. in Business. Her dissertation topic was on the Relationship between Emotional Intelligence and Leadership Practices in Non Profit Executives.

Teaching Background:

Dr. Schmitz currently teaches at Post as an adjunct faculty member in the MBA Online program.

She has extensive online teaching experience dating back to 2005.  She has taught at both a graduate and undergraduate level and has served on numerous dissertation committees.  She has developed courses for online programs in Sociology, Psychology and Business. 

Professional Background:

Dr. Schmitz began her career working for an organization where she taught life skills to developmentally delayed adults in a community living facility. She left this organization to spend seven years as a houseparent and supervisor of a group home for teen aged girls. She was promoted several times during her employment with this organization and eventually became Vice President of Programs overseeing the organization’s child welfare programs. After 13 years of service she was recruited away to become the Chief Executive Officer for a multi-service organization in a suburb of Chicago. She has been employed there since 1996. In addition to this work she teaches for several Universities and is a partner in a LLC for a company that provides water and waste water controls for municipalities. She provides consultation to profit and not for profit organizations.

Teaching Philosophy:

A good teacher becomes an excellent teacher when they are able to facilitate learning as well as grow and learn from the teaching experience.  Dr. Schmitz’s role is to provide her students with facts, theories and information and guide them into real life application of what they are leaning.  In the process of doing so new ideas should be presented and explored, thus becoming a learning experience for both the student and the teacher.

Of equal importance is the ability to instill a passion for learning in a student.  This comes with the ability to make learning interesting and fun.  A good teacher becomes an excellent teacher when they recognize that not all students are the same.  The diverse backgrounds and learning styles student present provide an opportunity for an instructor to alter teaching styles and techniques, presenting information in many different ways in order for students to gain the most from the information.

In Dr. Schmitz’s classroom, it is her goal to create a community of learners. She expects students to take responsibility for their own learning and encourages them to see themselves and their classmates as one of their best resources. When students feel that their concerns and ideas are the center of a class, their energy intensifies, and they begin to experience the real rewards----and responsibilities of scholarship. Classrooms function best as reflective communities. Classrooms in which students take center stage require students to think how much and more importantly how they are learning.

Personal Background:

Dr. Schmitz is married with three adult children.  She is an avid reader and technology junkie.  She also spends a great deal of her spare time dancing (ballroom and Latin dance).

Professional Memberships:

Organizational Leadership and Organizational behavior

Professional Memberships:

Certified Peer Reviewer through Quality Matters since 2009
Certified Emotional Intelligence Mentor through EQ mentor since 2009
Certified Child Welfare Specialist for state of IL  since 2005
Board of Commissioners with Council on Accreditation since 2006
Certified online educator through Northcentral University since 2005
Council on Accreditation Certified Peer Reviewer since 1999, Team Leader since 2000
Member NASW since 1988
Licensed Social Worker since 1990

Publications/Presentations:

Dr. Schmitz has provided numerous presentations on leadership, organizational behavior and management issues to organizations in both the Chicago metropolitan area and across the country.  She has led several organizations through a strategic planning process.  She plans, in the future, to write a textbook on nonprofit leadership.