LETTER FROM THE DIRECTOR
Welcome to the 2020 edition of the Organizational Studies Newsletter. As all of you know, this year is unique, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Before anything else, we want to extend our wishes that you and your families are able to stay safe. Right now, that is our number one priority, both in Org Studies and the U-M as a whole.
All of us in OS are currently working from home, and we have been since the middle of March. Remarkably, due to the herculean efforts of our faculty, staff, and students, we have managed to keep things going. No one wanted to switch to an exclusively online format, but we made the best of it, and we received numerous expressions of thanks from our students for the beyondthe-call-of-duty commitment that our instructors exhibited in their classes. We even managed to hold a live online graduation ceremony—certainly not what our graduates and their families had hoped for, but one that I believe conveyed the pride that we have in our students’ accomplishments. Based on the live chat feed that exploded as our graduates’ names were being read, I believe that their families appreciated the ceremony as well.
Despite the obstacles, we managed to have another terrific year in OS. On the personnel front, we have hired a new tenure-track faculty member, Nicholas Camp, who comes to us as an assistant professor, having completed both his PhD and a postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University. Nick, who will join us in the fall, is a psychologist who studies relations between police and the communities they serve. Among his projects is an examination, based on actual police footage, of the extent to which officers respond differently to drivers of different races during traffic stops. Elizabeth (Beth) Popp Berman, whom we hired last year, moved seamlessly into her new role, providing several new courses as well as serving as a mentor for our younger faculty. On the staff side, we hired a new executive secretary, Tanya Moore, which gives us outstanding coverage in every one of our positions. There will be no new faculty hiring in the coming year due to the current crisis, but we continue to have in place our plan for the future expansion of the program.
We also continue to create extraordinary opportunities for our students. A highlight this year was a week-long trip to Costa Rica that our faculty member Steve Samford led, for nine students in his advanced research course. The trip, which took place during spring break (and thankfully just before the shutdown), allowed students to observe how small coffee growers in this Central American nation bring their products to the international market.
Another major highlight this year was our new plan to reconfigure our Organizational Studies Leadership Committee. Although we are still in the initial stages, our goal is to constitute a committee consisting entirely of OS alumni, one that reflects the full diversity of our graduates, in terms of career path, geographic region, financial status, and demographic characteristics. Along with this new plan for our OSLC, we are about to launch the Campaign for OS, about which we will have more to say elsewhere in this newsletter. Our goal will be to provide an endowment that will allow us to support the programs that make OS so special— from internships, to study abroad, to the Malkin Shadowing Program (which allows our students to spend a day at the workplace of one of our alumni), to the support that we provide for students experiencing unexpected financial crises. The campaign is currently on hold as we weather the crisis, but we look forward to getting it under way once the pandemic subsides.
I want to close by again thanking everyone associated with OS—our faculty, staff, and students, but also our extended OS community, including our students’ families and our alumni—for everything you do and have done to make OS the amazing program that it is. To everyone who has supported us in the past and continues to support us in the present, we appreciate everything you do. I wish all of you a safe and healthy summer. And of course, Go Blue!
MARK MIZRUCHI Director, Organizational Studies
Robert
Cooley Angell Collegiate Professor of Sociology
Barger
Family Professor of Organizational Studies
OS SILVER LININGS IN THE FACE OF COVID-19
A report on our year’s events would not be complete without mentioning the coronavirus pandemic that swept the world and had a profound impact on our campus and our OS community. As students returned from spring break on the weekend of March 6, messages related to health and safety as well as continuity of operations planning flowed from the higher levels of U-M administration. Within one week, U-M had called home hundreds of students from study abroad (including 28 OS’ers), classes were cancelled for two days, faculty and staff were encouraged to work from home, and the entire University pivoted from in-class to online learning.
Without a doubt, we were all shaken by the coronavirus and its impacts upon us, creating a profound sense of loss on many levels. Our OS study abroaders lost a significant portion of their overseas sojourn and had to find ways to salvage credit for their experience. OS juniors’ internships were cancelled and OS seniors worried about future jobs and mourned the loss of live graduation ceremonies and all those last experiences they had planned to capture with friends and family. Faculty were forced to scrap much of their teaching plans and balance family care with a new way of teaching, all while wondering how they would have time to move forward with their research agendas. Staff missed the bustle of OS new admits finding their way to Weiser to have their first advising appointment as an OS student. Many of us were consumed with seeing friends and loved ones become ill and even pass away.
But OS’ers are resilient. Despite the sadness that abounded across the campus, there were moments of great joy and inspiration. We choose to focus on those instances of laughter, innovation, remote caring and sharing, as we remember our winter semester in the life of COVID-19.
• Dean Anne Curzan took time away from her emergency planning to speak with students about leading in a time of crisis in Dr. David Sweetman’s class OS 201 Leadership.
• Our faculty collaborated regularly about pedagogical approaches in the online domain, celebrating their successes and sharing their mishaps with honesty and humor.
• Our student leadership team embraced technology to reconfigure pathway workshop sessions for newly admitted students, created a CupPong tournament to replace the March Madness bracket games, offered online cross-cohort mentoring sessions, and helped plan for a synchronous graduation event!
• Our staff learned more about one another personally via our more frequent online meetings and Google chat sidebar conversations.
• MITCH HOFFMAN – “The ability to share your perspectives of education with those who may normally not have the chance (family, friends, etc).”
• NATALIE CADOTTE – “It’s been fun to reconnect with nature.”
• ANNA TOPPING – “I have a newfound appreciation for relationships and community.”
• CHRISTIANA CROMER – “This is a psychological case study for the rest of time related to the unity in suffering.”
MELANIE MCKENNA – “I love seeing the supportive community between students and faculty.”
Winter term 2020 will surely remain one of the grimmest terms in history. OS is looking forward to a fall term that brings us to a safe and new normal, where we can apply those lessons learned during the winter to continue to enhance our students’ learning and co-curricular experiences.
SOME STUDENTS SHARED THEIR OWN PERSONAL COVID SILVER LININGS WITH US
THE STRENGTH OF OUR COMMUNITY
Organizational Studies has always prided itself on its community atmosphere. This year we strived to build stronger connections between cohorts and classes, across different interests and backgrounds, and inside as well as outside our OS community. We also believe in the role of our students as citizens of the program. As part of our commitment to our community and citizenship, we create opportunities for our students to advance their knowledge, apply their learning, and give back to the program.
With the help and dedication from this year’s Student Leadership Team we hosted many social events, including our annual Ice Cream Social and Midnight Breakfast, where students were able to connect with others in the program. In addition, we hosted multiple OS alums on campus who spoke about their experience in their current roles, and provided insight on what a day-in-the-life of an OS graduate might look like.
OS STUDENT LEADERS
As the program welcomed our new 2019-20 Student Leadership Team members at the start of the year, the students quickly showed their remarkable leadership and tenacity as they immediately began planning their individual events and tasks they wanted to accomplish.
The OS Recruitment team, Na’kia Channey and Charlotte Hoppen, assisted with our informational and invaluable recruitment events like Info Night and Festifall. Na’kia and Charlotte worked together with faculty, staff, student-led organizations and residential staff to help run these events, where they spoke with prospective students and helped to answer any questions they had.
Our Social Media Coordinator, Melanie McKenna, quickly set out to help increase our visibilty to prospective students and the larger community by growing our social media presence. Melanie connected with students and faculty to showcase all the unique opportunities OS offers and used our digital platforms to give an inside look into our program . She also worked alongside our Event Committee leads, Mitchell Hoffman and Loriann Hom, to help promote their events.
Mitch and Loriann worked tirelessly throughout the year to host both fun and educational events for their fellow students, including weekly study nights complete with snacks, a trip to a U-M basketball game, and even virtual tournaments and meet-ups after campus closed.
Christiana Cromer and Abbey Ufkes, this year’s Peer Mentors, also showed their incredible determination and leadership even through moments of uncertainty. Not only did they help lead our normal in-person OS orientation where we welcomed and met with our new admits, but in the wake of campus activities being cancelled, these two students constructed a detailed and organized virtual orientation to continue to connect and advise our newest students.
We are extremely grateful for the hard working and dedicated students in our program, and especially thankful for the 2019-2020 Student Leadership Team!
OS POSTER FAIR OS GIVING BLUEDAY
OS OUTING TO U-M BASKETBALL GAME
2019 FESTIFALL
LEARNING FROM OS ALUMNI
Despite the COVID-19 interruption, we were still able to give many of our students the invaluable experience that the Malkin Shadowing Award provides. OS is grateful to the Malkin Family Foundation for the funding that is helping our students experience what a day in the life of a thriving OS alum is like.
NATALIE CADOTTE & ALUM LEJLA BAJGORIC (‘16)
Arab American National Museum (AANM) Dearborn, MI
“I now know that if choose to pursue a career in a nonprofit similar to AANM, I’ll need to make sure that truly care about the cause am working towards. These are things that would not be able to consider if did not get some firsthand experience, so I am incredibly grateful for the Malkin Shadowing Program.”
JEAN CUTTER & ALUM ADAM COMPAIN (‘08)
ClearMetal San Francisco, CA
“Shadowing ClearMetal showed me that there is a lot of opportunity [for] growth in that particular part of business, especially in regard to sustainability of supply chains. The Malkin shadow trip allowed me to see firsthand the responsibility that comes with being a leader in an organization, and it has inspired me to seek out careers involved with sustainable supply chains.”
LORIANN HOM & ALUM AMANDA GERBER (‘13)
Clover Health Jersey City, NJ
“There are many businesses that are involved with patients’ access to care and was able to see the different parts that provided these opportunities. This trip gave me insight as to how OS can be applied to these roles and the various opportunities to help and work in the healthcare industry.”
LIZ HOORNSTRA & ALUM MEGAN ROSENBACH (‘08)
Springboard Collaborative | Philadelphia, PA
“The opportunity to job shadow Meg at Springboard Collaborative further confirmed my interest in working in nonprofit strategy. was also able to see how my skills can translate to a management position and frame the Organizational Studies degree will possess in a way that highlights specific job capabilities. “
ISABELLE JACOBS & ALUM DAVID VANECEK (‘03)
AT&T Fort Worth, TX
“This company and experience as a whole has helped me feel much more confident in my career search. I am able to pitch myself, ask the right questions, as well as field ones that come to me. This experience is something will never forget and will talk about for a long time; am grateful to have had the opportunity to go on this journey!”
KIMBERLY LAO & ALUM KATIE COOK (‘13)
Adobe New York, NY
“This experience allowed me to gain insights into several parts of a business, learn about the journey to a creative marketing career, and most importantly, define my areas of interest. Because of my shadowing day, am ready to continue the recruiting process with a better understanding of the marketing field!”
MELANIE MCKENNA & ALUM KELLIE RONG (‘15)
Google San Francisco, CA
“My time spent at Google in California was eye-opening, and this is an experience I will never forget. While riding a Google bike around the company campus, I had a huge smile on my face, as it hit me just how lucky am to be in the Organizational Studies major at the University of Michigan and to be granted such incredible professional experiences.”
CLAIRE PURDY & ALUM BRITTANI KAGAN (‘10)
Portal A Los Angeles, CA
“I am very grateful to both Brittani and the Malkin Family for giving me the chance to see first-hand how an Organizational Studies major can translate into an incredibly successful and fulfilling career.”
ALICE SHIH & ALUM AUBREY O’NEAL (‘16)
IBM Austin, TX
“I am extremely thankful for such a valuable opportunity to chat with so many amazing designers and learn about the field — can confidently say that would like to pursue a career in the design field and work at a company like IBM where positive culture is encouraged and real contributions can be made.”
NBC Universal New York, NY
“Overall, felt so lucky to have this opportunity and really gained a lot of clarity and insights from it. Thank you so much Organizational Studies!”
MARIA ULAYYET & ALUM RACHEL GOROSH (‘17)
Ivy Research Council (IRC) Washington, D.C
“I was able to both see tangible possibilities for myself postgraduation and... the plethora of paths one can take with an Organizational Studies degree. Now looking forward into the job search, there are many things can keep in mind, such as what it is like to work for a start-up company. “
BRIANNE VANDYKE & ALUM MITCH CRISPELL (‘11)
Bridge Housing | San Francisco, CA
“It is intimidating to consider changing my long-standing plan, but the Malkin shadowing opportunity has encouraged me to think critically about what want from my career and how want to contribute to the world. am grateful to have participated in this program, and equally as grateful to Mitch for taking the time to show me his career.”
HELEN YANG & ALUM ADAM RUBENFIRE (‘14)
Modern Healthcare | Chicago, IL
“After my shadowing experience I’m more confident entering the workplace as a young professional. Adam’s passion for his work and the sheer amount of fun he has doing it gives me hope that I can also find a position doing what love. I will definitely be keeping in touch with Adam! hope everyone’s Malkin experience has been as productive as mine.”
STUDY ABROAD
We had an increase in students that studied abroad this year, with over half of our Junior class heading overseas. The OS program is proud to have so many of our students taking the opportunity to travel abroad, explore, study new cultures and enhance their skills as a global citizen.
ANNA TOPPING & ALUM ALEX PAIGE (‘13)
INSIDE OUR “CLASSROOM”
The Organizational Studies program provides students with unique and inspiring educational opportunities. This year, our student had the chance to participate in international research, work beyond the bounds of the classroom, and better connect with their cohort through their concurrent fall enrollment in our foundation courses OS305 and OS310.
THE OS JUNIOR COHORT
PAIGE BADENHORST – Class of 2021
OS295 PRISONS + SOCIAL CONTROL
The United States incarcerates more people than any country in the world, yet our perceptions of prisons are largely shaped by sensationalized accounts in the media. This course, taught by OS Lecturer, Dr. Lisa Fein, provided students with an in-depth understanding of prisons as complex organizations shaped by social, historical, political, economic, and cultural forces. In addition to what was studied inside the classroom, students also had the unique opportunity to learn about life in prison and contribute to a large-scale research project by interviewing individuals who had previously been incarcerated.
“I really enjoyed the shuffling around of groups that we did this semester as it gave me an opportunity to get to know everyone in our cohort - something that no other class that I have taken has done. The connections that I made created a wonderful atmosphere in the classroom that contributed to an overall enjoyable learning experience. There is something so special about having a close cohort.
MORGAN SOLOMON - Class of 2021
“The OS program has provided me a concrete foundation to organizational behavior, interpersonal, and personal development. The group-oriented environment of OS courses have promoted collaboration, critical thinking, and writing among a successful and motivated group of students. In addition, this program has promoted a cohesive cohort as continuously interact with OS students, both within and outside of the classroom. I have deeply appreciated the contemplative reflections and real-world application assignments as I strengthen my own pathway and my OS network. It has been increasingly helpful to interact with my cohort, inspiring faculty, and the OS alumni who have found success after graduation while I explore post-graduate education and career options.”
MELANIE STAMELMAN - Class of 2021
“Thanks to OS305 and its emphasis on self-reflection, I both found my community at the University of Michigan and grew to better understand myself. By working on case studies with new groups nearly every week, we were given the platform to grow closer with our cohort and develop meaningful friendships, all while tackling challenging assignments that helped us understand the intricacies of organizations and people. The supportive environment and engaging material that OS305 offers its students is unrivaled and has truly led me to conceptualize my strengths, passions, and aspirations, which has already helped me make better decisions about my future.”
STUDENT EXPERIENCE
EMILY FURTADO - Class of 2020
“Throughout my years at the University, I have spent time trying to educate myself on mass incarceration, given that the US has the most incarcerated individuals in the world. I took OS295 to further understand the processes of the system. The course allowed me to fill in some gaps in my knowledge about the mass incarceration system, such as how mass incarceration is, in some ways, the modern Jim Crow and slavery.
As part of the class, we got to interview an ex-incarcerate. This task, which seemed to present itself as a novelty for most students, left me feeling a little helpless because there was not much I could do for the ex-incarcerate, yet I felt like I was taking advantage of him. I believe this course is ideal for those students who may not know anything about mass incarceration systems but realize it is a critical and current topic that needs more attention and conversation.”
COSTA RICA
The OS490 Research Team traveled to Costa Rica over spring break. The team, consisting of nine OS students, Professor Steve Samford and Chief Administrator Melissa Eljamal, explored this beautiful country while conducting research at Costa Rican coffee farms to learn about their cooperative systems and traceability practices.
During the semester, students examined the role of cooperative organizations of small coffee farmers in helping those growers meet demand for high-quality, origin-specific specialty coffee. Growers can earn much more for this kind of coffee than they can for undifferentiated commodity coffee. The research team partnered with the Costa Rican Institute of Coffee (ICAFE), a government agency that regulates and promotes the production, improvement, and marketing of coffee.
In country, students interviewed coffee roasters and importers and designed, deployed, and analyzed a consumer survey to gauge responses to traceability. In the end, the students produced and presented two reports to ICAFE, which the agency will employ in their initiative to increase traceability and their ongoing efforts to improve the wellbeing of small farmers.
This year’s student Social Media Coordinator, Melanie McKenna, took over the LSA Instagram account while on the trip, to document their research and give the U-M community the opportunity to see why the Organizational Studies program is so special.
You can check out the full story on the OS Instagram highlight reel: Instagram.com/michigan.os
STUDENT EXPERIENCE
BRIANNE VANDYKE – Class of 2021
“I am so grateful to have spent my spring break with some of my closest friends, discovering Costa Rica. The farms we visited, the people we met, and the good times we shared together will stay with me for a very long time!”
JORDAN SCHULER – Class of 2021
“Oftentimes, when we study organizations, they are more abstract, and we use them to analyze their decisions in the context of different theories. However, when we went to Costa Rica, we got to visit coffee farms and hear about each farmer’s experience firsthand. It made our study of the organizational structures they use in production much more personal, as we got to hear directly from those who are part of them.”
MELANIE MCKENNA – Class of 2020
“I loved the opportunity to travel to Costa Rica! We learned so much about the structure of various organizations within the coffee growing industry and the importance of traceability. Every single day was exciting- from hiking to a beautiful waterfall and talking with a local coffee farmer to sampling coffee and exploring San José, I know that I will never forget the experiences I had on this trip.”
JENNA VARCAK – Class of 2020
“My favorite part of this experience was witnessing a real-life application of the knowledge that I have gained from the Organizational Studies program. While coffee production in Costa Rica is a specific topic, learning how to engage with research in an organizational context is a skill I will carry forward with me.”
NATALIE CADOTTE – Class of 2021
“Never before have I been able to engage so directly with so many members of a global supply chain, and the conversations we had with various producers were incredibly beneficial to the research questions we’ve been exploring this semester. I’m walking away from this experience with a fuller understanding of the global economy, a stronger friendship with my OS peers and professors, and a taste for specialty coffee!”
ANITA MICHAUD – Class of 2021
“There is so much value in field work and getting to speak to those directly involved in processes you’re trying to learn more about as well. I’m so grateful for Organizational Studies and Professor Samford for giving us such an amazing and unique opportunity!”
FACULTY UPDATES
ELIZABETH POPP BERMAN
Beth just completed her first, very eventful semester teaching at OS, where she was impressed both by students’ performance inside the classroom and resilience as they unexpectedly moved online. In the fall, she’ll be leading an undergraduate research team studying how students—particularly first-generation students and those from underrepresented groups— experience the University of Michigan.
LISA FEIN
Lisa taught two new courses this year, “Organizational Wrongdoing” and “Prisons and Social Control”. Wrongdoing examined organizational characteristics that facilitate both intentional and unintentional misconduct in and by organizations. Prisons explored various aspects of mass incarceration and, through a partnership with Michigan’s Prison Creative Arts Program, provided students with an opportunity to conduct oral histories with former inmates that will become part of an archive of personal accounts of incarceration curated at the university.
ARNOLD HO
Arnold is happy to announce the forthcoming publication of a review article, in collaboration with Nour Kteily of Northwestern University and Jacqueline Chen of the University of Utah. The article, titled Introducing the Sociopolitical Motive x Intergroup Threat Model to Understand How Monoracial Perceivers’ Sociopolitical Motives Influence their Categorization of Multiracial People, will appear in Personality and Social Psychology Review.
JEREMY LEVINE
Jeremy’s popular seminar, Nonprofit Organizations, was packed with OS’s growing number of students interested in the nonprofit world. He also engaged eight students in his newest major research project on compensation for victims of crime as part of his Advanced Research Team course.
MARK MIZRUCHI
Mark, after seven straight years of teaching OS310 “Formal Organizations and Environments” (our core course in macro-organizational theory), taught a new seminar, entitled “Economy and Society”. Mark has also renewed his appointment as OS director, through June 30, 2022.
STEVE SAMFORD
Steve is proud of the work his OS490 research team did over the course of the semester. The course is related to research he is starting on small growers organizations and technology transfer that allows them to participate in global markets. The students gave him a lot to think about – particularly regarding how the structure of cooperative organizations may rely on different marketing strategies, how growers of other commodities might embrace differentiation, and how government agencies might encourage the formation of suitable grower organizations.
SARA SODERSTROM
The College has recommended that Sara Soderstrom be promoted to associate professor, with tenure, effective this fall! This is a very important development, as well as a great moment, for the future of our program.
DAVID SWEETMAN
While David is missing campus, he has been grateful for engaging conversations and learning that we’ve been able to accomplish together in classes virtually. He plans to spend the summer writing on leadership and ways we can continue to learn and grow as leaders. He looks forward to classes this fall and will be welcoming our junior OS cohort in OS305 and also teaching OS435 “Strategic Change Through Human Resource Management”.
NEW TEAM MEMBERS
NICHOLAS
CAMP –
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF ORGANIZATIONAL STUDIES & PSYCHOLOGY
Nick Camp studies the social psychology of racial inequality, focusing on where institutions and individuals come into contact. His main program of research examines the role routine police-citizen encounters play in undermining police-community trust, and how these disparities can be addressed, combining analyses of officer-worn body camera footage with community surveys. In other research, he examines the psychological consequences of racial inequities for how individuals consider people, places, and policies.
Prior to coming to Michigan, Nick was a postdoctoral scholar at Stanford University, where he received his PhD in Social Psychology in 2018. He graduated from Columbia University with a B.A. in Psychology in 2009.
OS is looking forward to having Nick with us this fall. His research is a wonderful example of the stimulating interdisciplinary opportunities the OS program offers our students.
TANYA MOOREEXECUTIVE ASSISTANT
We are excited to welcome Tanya as the new Executive Assistant for the program. With a passion and commitment to a culture of inclusion ,Tanya is focused on creating a welcoming environment to all students, staff, and faculty, as well as advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion, across the University’s culture, systems, and practices.
Outside of the office, Tanya enjoys being mom to two adult children and spending time with friends. She is an avid sports fan, animal lover, and true crime connoisseur who loves talking college football and funny stories about her two beloved dogs.
Tanya has quickly assimilated into the OS staff team, despite starting the position remotely. We are excited to have her unique talents as part of the OS family!
CLASS OF 2020 VIRTUAL GRADUATION
The OS program encourages adaptablility, and in the midst of the abrupt cancellation of in-person events, designing this year’s celebrations provided us the opportunity to re-evaluate what we could do to acknowledge this special moment. With input and help from students, faculty, and staff, we were able to host a live ceremony via video conferencing service, complete with processional music, keynote and student speeches, and a slideshow presentation of our graduates. This event provided us the opportunity to share this special moment with friends and family who normally would not have been able to join us, and let our students connect in a unique way. The event was a huge success, with over 250 guests and their co-located friends and family, attending by phone or video from all over the US and the world including Canada, Norway, Sweden, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates
OS MEMORIES
Senior Spotlights
Check out our social media pages to learn a bit more about some of our graduating seniors in our Senior Spotlight featured posts.
Special thanks to alumna Naomi Makofsky (‘10), the OS Keynote Speaker, and senior Daijha Morrow, the OS Student Speaker, for their eloquent and inspiring remarks during our ceremony!
Missed our virtual ceremony?
Click the link to watch our virtual graduation ceremony and share it with your friends and family. You can also download our program by clicking the image to the left, and follow along with the ceremony!
SPECIAL AWARDS
In addition to performing well academically, Christiana demonstrated significant leadership on campus as a member of student organizations associated with her passion for entrepreneurship. As VP of External Relations of UpRound Venture Capital, she established partnerships between that organization’s members and Ann Arbor venture capital and startup firms. She also planned a start-up career fair as Project Director for the student organization, MPowered.
Christiana also founded the Women Who Do project, a networking event for women leaders with twelve student organizations. This work prepared her for her role as President of the Organizational Studies student organization, Women in Leadership, which helps connect women leaders with our students, helping them to prepare for entering the workforce. Christiana also demonstrated leadership in the program in her regular advising sessions with prospective students as one of this year’s Peer Mentors.
Mitch was a regular presence in the OS suite early on, providing students and staff with a friendly greeting from his prime study spot in the reception area. He attended most OS social events, very often offering to help with clean-up. Together with his co-lead of the event planning team in senior year, he led study and snack nights, service projects, and a U-M basketball game outing to strengthen OS connections. By organizing class project work in Weiser, he demonstrated the value of our space for study.
After we switched to remote learning, Mitch worked hard on fostering connections online, creating a CupPong tournament to replace March Madness brackets and organizing virtual gettogethers for newly admitted students and current students. With a quiet demeanor but a firm dedication to students in the program, Mitch was a clear winner of our Spirit Award.
Ashley’s OS pathway reflects her desire to “become an agent of change in the field of post-secondary education by identifying effective strategies to assist under-resourced students in the university context.” She has been doing this work her entire time on campus. She facilitated enrichment programming to promote post-secondary learning in Latinx youth in Grand Rapids, and co-led a 4-week workshop for the Comprehensive Studies Program (CSP) Campus Connections program. She participated as a member of the OS student organization, Organizational Diversity Initiative (ODI) to recruit a more diverse pool of applicants to the program and focus on other areas of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Her leadership in community action and social change gleaned her recognition as an MLK Student Spirit award winner in addition to being honored with this year’s Jordan Harris Social Justice Award.
OS HONORS
The Organizational Studies Honors option is designed to enable advanced undergraduate students to gain experience in the design, conduct, and analysis of research on organizations and organizational behavior. The commitment, dedication, and resiliency of this years’ OS Honors students was shown through their hard work on their research and theses.
CHARLOTTE HOPPEN
The Price of Protection: How Institutional Prestige Prevents Sexual Misconduct on College Campuses
“I feel so fortunate to have had this OS honors experience, both as an academic and personally. Completing a research project in a field I am passionate about while being challenged to step outside of my comfort zone has allowed me to grow so much throughout the past year. “
“Everyone who has had the good fortune to have come into contact with Kelly during her time at U-M has taken away lessons in how to interact with others in a more accepting, thoughtful and compassionate way, whether in a leadership position or just working collaboratively with others. She has spread so much good will in our community.”
Reciprocation of Favors Between College Students as a Sample Organization
“The honors community has been such a large part of my Michigan experience, and completing an honors thesis has been one of my long-term goals. Through the thesis writing process, I experienced the strong research history at Michigan and grew in my academic abilities. Completing my thesis has left me with the knowledge that I can tackle any challenge and achieve any goal in my future!”
JENNA VARCAK
Special thanks to OS Honors Advisor, Dr. Lisa Fein
Andy and Ellyn Lansing Leader-Scholar CHRISTIANA CROMER
Each year U-M Student Life rolls out the blue carpet to recognize student leaders that are doing amazing things on campus, in Michigan, and around the world. These student leaders are nominated by their peers, faculty and staff.
Congratulations to OS Senior and U-M drum major, Kelly Bertoni, on being named Senior of the Year!
MICHIGAN DIFFERENCE STUDENT LEADERSHIP AWARD FROM A NOMINATOR
Suzanne M. Jones Spirit Award MITCHELL HOFFMAN
Jordan Harris Social Justice Award ASHLEY SOTO
NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR ALUMNI ENGAGEMENT
A RECONSTITUTED OS LEADERSHIP COMMITTEE
OS founding director, Rick Price, established the Organizational Studies Leadership Committee (OSLC) soon after the program was born. Our pioneering OSLC members were LSA alumni, including former CEO of JetBlue Airways, Dave Barger, and President and CEO of Levy Restaurants, Andy Lansing. The OSLC provided us with major financial support, internships, and expertise at our annual business meetings. As the OSLC grew, its members began advocating for the presence of our OS alumni at these meetings. Some of you may have joined us at these meetings, either as students during our lunch mentoring sessions, or later, as guests of the director.
Based on conversations over the past year with our current OSLC members and OS guests of the director, we will transform our leadership committee to consist mainly of OS alumni with the full range of our graduates’ post-OS experiences. Our current OSLC members will remain as an honorary board, serving in an informal advisory capacity.
We hope to share more news with you about the new structure of the committee later this year. If you are interested in helping us in this process, please contact us at org.studies@umich.edu.
THE CAMPAIGN FOR OS
OS is preparing to celebrate its 20th birthday in 2021!
We have grown from a program with a director and a few staff members in 2001 to a vibrant community of nine instructional faculty, 17 affiliated faculty, and over 100 students. With the support of generous LSA alumni donors, we have been able to offer multiple streams of student funding, including study abroad, internship, and research awards, the prestigious Andy and Ellyn Lansing Leader-Scholar Award, and the Opportunity Award which helps students with substantial need due to unforeseen circumstances. Funds from gifts also support co-curricular experiences, including the Malkin Shadowing Program, and social events that help create the sense of community in OS that so many of you not only remember, but actively maintain.
In anticipation of this important anniversary, we are planning to launch the Campaign for OS, to establish a $1 million endowment that will provide stable and continuous support for all of our initiatives. We already have in place a funding base that provides a solid foundation for this campaign; in fact, we have already reached 30 percent of our $1 million goal.
A group of alumni has been working with us to help us develop detailed plans for this campaign, and we expect to officially launch it as soon as the coronavirus crisis subsides.
If you would like to work with us on this project, perhaps as a representative for your class, please reach out to us at org.studies@umich.edu.
With your help, we will build a foundation to ensure that OS continues to offer these valuable experiences to its students in perpetuity.
ALUMNI UPDATES
ALLISON KERSKA (GOUIN) relocated with her company, Kelly Services, to Switzerland for two years (2013-2015) to lead training, change management and process design for the EMEA region.
REBECCA FRANK recently accepted a professorship and moved to Berlin. Rebecca is now the Einstein Centre Digital Future Assistant Professor for Information Management at the Berlin School of Library and Information Science at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.
JEANNETTE (DUPRE) GESSLER has two beautiful daughters ages 4 and 1.
2012
MAOR COHEN graduated from Columbia Business School in 2019 and co-founded n*gram health, which is developing therapeutic virtual reality experiences for seniors with cognitive and physical impairment.
CASSANDRA (MILLS) VERES recently left Amazon to join Convoy, a Seattle startup, as their Director of Learning and Development!
KATIE VAN DUSEN moved to Cleveland with partner, Robyn Trem, to start school at Case Western University. Katie is doing an independent study/fellowship on financing structures for community and economic development in Cleveland. She is also still performing music and working on her own album.
2013
AMANDA KALT graduated with her Master of Public Health (MPH) in Nutritional Sciences - Dietetics and Health Behavior & Health Education from U-M in May 2020.
JESSICA MCCLAIN graduated from the MBA program, Ross School of Business (Double wolverine!) and is starting new job at BCG in Chicago!
2014
TARA THOMAS welcomed her second child to the world, Noemi Tessa Sammut born 7/13/2019.
YUNG CHUNG had a baby girl, Willow!
MICHAEL KONWIAK married 2018, and first child (Rory 7 months old) in 2019.
ADRIENNE WALLER has been oversees for almost 4 years now. Adrienne has traveled to over 35 countries and lived on 4 continents. She was recently was invited to be a part of a women’s educational leadership symposium and she started her own website to support educators worldwide.
MEGAN MOORE recently got married in Detroit in October, 2019.
2008
KATIE SBORDON accepted a new role at Amazon! Katie and her husband relocated to Seattle about 4 months ago for his job and she is thrilled to have found a role there
LAUREN BRADY is expecting her first baby in October! 2009
ANDREW MALATESTA opened his own law firm in 2017 when he was 29. Andrew exclusively represents employees in employment law matters -helping individuals fight back when their employer violates the law.
NEIL TAMBE welcomed his second son, Myles Anil Tambe, in December, 2019.
KRISTEN REINKE was blessed with good timing in February 2020 with the sale of her brick-and-mortar retail business, and amidst the COVID-19 shutdowns she has transitioned into a growing e-commerce venture, The Gift Haus.
ADAM RUBENFIRE was named one of the Chicago Jewish United Fund’s 36 under 36 in 2019.
2015
ANNA (MALONEY) TRETTER recently got married - February 22, 2020, just before coronavirus started affecting the US!
MICHAEL SULLIVAN joined the BoD at Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art.
ZOE VAN DYKE planned to get her JD at WashULaw but decided to reapply to U-M and will be back in the fall!
MICALAH WEBSTER completed a year long Administrative Fellowship at Spectrum Health. With the conclusion of her fellowship, Micalah is now transitioning into a position within the HR department of Spectrum Health as Manager of Talent Acquisition.
GIFTS & PLEDGES TO THE PROGRAM
THANK YOU
We deeply appreciate the gifts and pledges made this year by our donors. Gifts made this year have helped to secure the existence of the Program by sustaining the Director’s Strategic Fund. Other gifts provided many internship and study abroad opportunities, made the difference in helping students in need, or honored those who have demonstrated leadership. Donations from alumni and friends of the program provide funding for numerous talks and workshops, and help to fund graduation and other community-building events between students and alumni. The Program could not offer any of these exciting opportunities for students without the generosity and support of our donors.
ANDY & ELLYN LANSING FAMILY GIFT FUND OF THE FIDELITY CHARITABLE GIFT FUND
KATE L. BALZER
BROADRIDGE FINANCIAL SOLUTIONS
BROADRIDGE FOUNDATION
RACHEL L. BRODY
DANIELLE M. WRIGHT BULGER
DELOITTE FOUNDATION
DELOITTE LLP
DOUGLAS R. DESCHUTTER
WENDI L. DESCHUTTER
AMY & WILLIAM DRUCKER
KOHLBERG KRAVIS ROBERTS & CO. LP
LAURA J. KRAY
ANDREW & ELLYN LANSING
KATHERINE Q. LARIN
LINDA LEE
AMBER N. LONG
KIMBERLY A. MCCRAW
ADAM & MICHELLE MESH
BENJAMIN & SARA MICHAELS
STEVEN G. MITCHELL
CATHERINE PHILBIN
KRISTEN M. REINKE
LAUREN RESHEF
SARA B. SODERSTROM
ANDREA P. STEINHOFF
NEIL & ROBYN TAMBE
JULIE & MARK TEICHER
ALICE & ROBERT TOPPING
SHANNON & TODD UFKES
BRIAN & JENNIFER WEICH
TIMOTHY B. WILLIAMS
LEANNE A. WINTRODE
ARIELLE & DAVID WOLMER
JEFFREY A. WOJCIK
2017
HUONG (NGUYEN) HALEY recently married and started a new job as a Communications Manager.
MELINE QUIGLEY was recently promoted (September 2019).
2018
KEVIN CORBETT recently played Kenickie in Grease at the Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire. He did motion capture/stunt work for the recent release of Call of Duty: Warzone.
SARI E. GOLDBERG
ALEX & DANA GORODETSKY
ELLEN & THOMAS HARRIS
JUSTIN & KATHRYN HEINZE
JUN-SUCK & NICOLE HEUR
GRACE K. RIDINGS
MICHAEL J. ROWAN
BARBARA & DAVE RUDINI
LAUREN A. SCHMIDT
2010
VICOOL PATEL moved to Bangkok, Thailand post-MBA (Kellogg ‘16) and is loving it!
2011
CAROLINE ROONEY SERRANO relocated to Mexico City, Mexico, where she continues to run her personal styling company between CDMX and San Francisco. Caroline also joined the board of A Moment of Magic, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing medically vulnerable children with creative programming.
ANNA ZIELINSKI was recognized in Legal 500 for 2019.
2019
RACHEL GRINGLAS received her Master’s of Public Health degree this spring and will be moving to Washington D.C.!
REBECCA LEEMAN started a new job— from IBM Summit sales program to Workforce Consulting at PwC.
LILAH KALFUS is working part-time remotely for a start-up in New York that is an incubator for social entrepreneurs and is very much connected to her focus in corporate social responsibility while in the OS program.
LINDSAY A. HISER
HEATH S. IZENSON
DAVID & ROBIN JACOBS
ERICA & JUSTIN KAPAHI
EVAN & ILYSSA SCHWARTZBERG
THOMAS A. SCHWARZ
SUZANNE & ZACHARY SHERMAN
ADAM C. SIMON
ORGANIZATIONAL STUDIES PEOPLE
FACULTY
ELIZABETH ARMSTRONG
Professor, Sociology, Organizational Studies, and Women’s Studies (OS Advisory Committee)
ELIZABETH POPP BERMAN
Associate Professor, Organizational Studies (OS Advisory Committee)
LISA FEIN
Lecturer, Organizational Studies
ARNOLD HO
Assistant Professor, Organizational Studies and Psychology
JEREMY LEVINE
Assistant Professor, Organizational Studies
MARK MIZRUCHI
Director, Organizational Studies and Professor, Sociology and Ross School of Business (OS Advisory Committee)
STEVEN SAMFORD
Assistant Professor, Organizational Studies
SARA SODERSTROM
Assistant Professor, Organizational Studies and Program in the Environment
DAVID SWEETMAN
Lecturer, Organizational Studies
AFFILIATED FACULTY
WAYNE BAKER
Professor, Ross School of Business and Sociology
MICHAEL BASTEDO
Professor, School of Education, Director, Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education
GERALD DAVIS
Professor, Ross School of Business and Sociology (OS Advisory Committee)
RICHARD GONZALEZ Professor, Psychology and Statistics
KATHRYN HEINZE
Associate Professor, Sport Management
ANDREW HOFFMAN
Professor, School of Natural Resources and Ross School of Business (OS Advisory Committee)
RAMASWAMI MAHALINGAM Professor, Psychology (OS Advisory Committee)
JASON OWEN-SMITH Professor, Sociology (OS Advisory Committee)
SHOBITA PARTHASARATHY
Associate Professor, Ford School of Public Policy and Women’s Studies
RICHARD H. PRICE Professor Emeritus, Psychology
STAFF
MELISSA ELJAMAL Chief Administrator
RACHEL MCTAVISH Student Services Coordinator
JENNIFER FENELEY / TANYA MOORE Executive Assistant
CATHERINE PHILBIN Program Advisor
CHELSEA WILLIAMS Events & Communications Coordinator
LANCE SANDELANDS Professor, Psychology and Ross School of Business
DENISE SEKAQUAPTEWA Professor, Psychology
CARL SIMON Professor, Complex Systems, Mathematics, Public Policy, and Economics
GRETCHEN SPREITZER Professor, Ross School of Business
JAMES P. WALSH
Professor, Ross School of Business (OS Advisory Committee)
OSCAR YBARRA Professor, Psychology (OS Advisory Committee)
LEADERSHIP COMMITTEE
DAVID BARGER
Operating Partner, Connor Capital SB
DAVID BLUMENFELD Vice President, Blumenfeld Development Group
DANIEL DENISON Professor Emeritus, IMD
DOUG DESCHUTTER President, Broadridge Customer Communications
FREDERIC M. FRIEDMAN CEO, w5 Creative, LLC/RTSP, LLC
JULIE ROSENFIELD FRIEDMAN Philanthropist
ROBIN JACOBS Philanthropist
ANDREW LANSING President and CEO, Levy Restaurants
BRENDAN NEDZI Managing Director, GE Capital
EVAN SCHWARTZBERG Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Odeon Capital Group LLC
UNIVERSITY REGENTS
JORDAN B. ACKER
MICHAEL J. BEHM
MARK J. BERNSTEIN
PAUL W. BROWN
SHAUNA RYDER DIGGS
DENISE ILITCH
MARK S. SCHLISSEL
RON WEISER
KATHERINE E. WHITE
