Accelerated Academic Degree Programs

Susan Lapine
Academic Program Manager, MBA

Biography

Academic Background:

M.S. in Human Resources from the University of Michigan

Fellow in the Educational Policy Fellowship Program at George Washington University.

Professional Intern, Planned Change Internship Program, with Dr. Ronald Lippitt and Kathleen Dannemiller, leaders in the field of organizational development.

Teaching Background:

Post University adjunct instructor in the MBA Program.

University of Michigan instructor in the interdisciplinary professional certification program at the Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations.

University of Michigan-Dearborn guest lecturer in the areas of organizational development, consulting, partnering, and grantsmanship.

Corporate offsite and onsite training/consulting series in areas including  leadership development, strategy planning, change management, organizational learning, coaching, group process and consulting skills.

Wayne County (MI) Regional Education Service Agency, planning and grantsmanship consultant/ trainer.

U.S. Department of Labor trainer in employment and training programs for five state region.

Professional Background:

Susan has been practicing in the field of organizational development since the 1980’s. Her consulting clients range from small organizations to Fortune 500 companies, in public, for-profit and non-profit sectors. Her work includes designing and implementing efforts in small- and large-scale cultural change, leadership and team development, strategy planning, organizational learning, executive and managerial coaching, group process, and consulting skills.  She also has extensive experience as a grant writer/consultant. 

Susan also served as director and instructor for an interdisciplinary certification program in the Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations at the University of Michigan.

Teaching Philosophy:

Susan is inspired to create an environment for collaborative learning, between instructor and student (a two-way path!), and between students to exhibit critical thinking and exchange.  Student learning should be stimulated and generated by a wide variety of inputs , including peer conversations, audiolectures, videos, texts, articles, assessment instruments, team learning, etc.  She strives to create an intimate classroom experience within an online format, fostering each student to participate from “the front row.”  It is her belief that adult students learn out of their own context of self, life, and work experience; therefore she seeks to enable learners to expand their experience through self reflection as well as research assignments.  Her students ground their learning in their organizational experience, to enable them to transform their course learnings into their management and leadership practice.

Personal Background:

Susan enjoys outdoor activities such as running, sailing, kayaking, beachwalking and cycling; indoor activities such as reading, concerts and dining; and traveling.  She loves a Great Conversation, with eclectic participants and interests.  Love of water has taken her from Michigan to Nantucket Island, MA, to currently conversing with students online while overlooking Long Island Sound, in Milford, CT.  She and her husband previously restored an historic property in which they operated a bed & breakfast inn. 

Academic Interests:

Leadership, change, organizational culture, adult learning

Professional Memberships:

Organizational Development Network
MidWest Society for Organizational Learning