Adult Learning & Organizational Performance

His phone number at Drake is 515-271-3078. You can also reach him via e-mail at thomas.westbrook@drake.edu.

As faculty at the Organizational Leadership program at Wright State University, Dr. Wildermuth brought to university classes the excitement and entrepreneurial spirit of "real world" OD consulting: Her students design their own "consulting firms," develop practical projects for real clients, and engage in lively leadership simulations.

As an international OD consultant, Dr. Wildermuth has designed and facilitated leadership, team, and diversity interventions to major international organizations. She is fluent in English, Spanish, and Portuguese.

As Chief Evangelist for Linked: HR, an HR group on Linkedin with over 220,000 members, Dr. Wildermuth has focused on strengthening the experience of Group Members and enhancing the brand and quality of the Group.

Dr. Wildermuth is the author of “Diversity Training,” published by the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD), has had articles published by the Journal of Commercial and Industrial Training and the T&D Magazine, and frequently speaks at national and international conferences. She has strong expertise on the topics of employee engagement, the five factors of personality, and building leadership capacity.

 Her phone number at Drake is 515-271-4701.  You can also reach her via e-mail at cris.wildermuth@drake.edu.

You can reach her via e-mail at celeste.bremer@drake.edu

Julie now partners with clients, providing compensation and performance management consulting/program design services. She received her graduate degree from Drake University’s Adult Learning and Organizational Performance program in 2003 and is an active member of WorldatWork, SHRM, and ASTD.

You can reach her via e-mail at julie.caspar@drake.edu.

Terri also enjoys working with adult learners at several area colleges and universities, facilitating courses in training and development, organizational behavior, ethics, organizational diagnostics and interventions, human dynamics, and leadership theories. Terri received her BS in English/Secondary Education, MS in Adult & Continuing Education, and PhD in Community & Human Resource Development, all from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Terri's has recently co-authored a new book, Leading in Tough Times: The Manager's Guide to Responsibility, Trust, and Motivation (HRD Press).

You can reach her via e-mail at terri.deems@drake.edu.

He is a native of Santa Fe, NM.  Over the past 25 years he has led and worked in the following areas of college student affairs: counseling & health services; substance abuse prevention; suicide and self-harming behaviors prevention; admissions; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and ally (lgbtqa) student services; women's center; student legal services; multicultural affairs; service learning; student activities, unions and centers; assessment and retention; residence life; religious and spiritual life; learning skills; career services; orientation; judicial affairs; campus safety and crisis management; academic advising; international students; career development; outdoor programs; and financial aid.

Houston is very active regionally and nationally in NASPA (Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education) and nationally in ACPA (College Student Educators International). He is a frequently invited speaker at conferences and at schools and colleges and has taught at both UCSB and Drake University. He has been cited in numerous publications (e.g., New York Times, Chronicle of Higher education, Seattle Times, USA Today) and is published in three books: Linking Theory to Practice: Case Studies with College Students (2000), The Advocate College Guide (2006) and Maybe I Should . . . : Case Studies on Ethics for Student Affairs Professionals (2009).

Sarah is a skilled facilitator and expert instructional designer. She and her team work closely with companies to gain insight into both their opportunities and their obstacles, thereby enabling the creation of highly effective custom performance improvement solutions. SparkPoint’s curriculum includes management training, sales training, and “development of skill sets” training, such as team building, conflict resolution, and effective presentations, just to name a few. Clients recognize SparkPoint’s ability to draw out best practices within an organization and teach critical outcomes in an interesting and engaging way.

Sarah was born and raised in Des Moines. A former school teacher, she has made it her company’s mission to bring proven educational concepts into the business world for improved performance.  SparkPoint works with local Iowa companies as well as organizations across the globe to help individuals and teams grow in their jobs and reach their full potential.

Keith Greiner, Ed.D., is an independent researcher with more than 20 years of experience as an education research director and legislative liaison.  The Iowa College Student Aid Commission, recognized his work, stating that his “footprint on Iowa’s postsecondary education landscape will continue to be seen for generations to come”. 

As a state administrator, Dr. Greiner made improvements in Iowa postsecondary education.  He wrote legislation and made amendments to Administrative Rules. His testimony contributed to improvements in education policies.  He served on numerous boards related to k-12 and higher education.  

Dr. Greiner created Iowa’s first higher education conference.  His ground-breaking research on student loan debt is reported in a peer-reviewed report titled, How Much Student Loan Debt is too Much? (Journal of Student Financial Aid, volume 26, number 1, pages 7 – 16).  Dr. Greiner was research director for an Iowa financial institution, where he conducted research for the creation, pricing, distribution, and promotion of consumer products.  At an Iowa management consulting firm, he participated in the development and marketing of corporate training films.  As an analyst for a national consumer research company, he contributed to methodologies for studies that included millions of respondents.

Dr. Greiner’s research and academic interests include:

• Instructional quality,

• Education policy,

• Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods research designs,

• Advanced methods in data analysis,

• Use of government databases,

• Management and leadership,

• History and philosophy of higher education.

Lee Johnsen has held officer and management positions in Fortune 500 corporations and government agencies. His experience encompasses strategic planning, succession planning, training needs assessment, design, delivery and evaluation. He has extensive experience in instructional design and work process documentation and improvement. He holds a graduate degree and is a certified professional of Human Resources, Performance Technology, and Organizational Development. He is among the first to receive his Certified Professional of Learning and Performance (CPLP) designation from the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD). He is a published author in the book, “Real World Teambuilding Strategies That Work” (Insight Publishing).

You can reach him via e-mail at lee.johnsen@drake.edu

Alex Lemke Over the past ten years, Alex has worked with a diverse set of organizations to create innovative and attention-worthy programs designed to meet and exceed business goals.  She has held leadership roles within several Fortune 500 corporations, including leading a regional training and development department for one of the nation’s most respected insurance and financial services companies.  As an independent consultant and instructor, she continues her work helping individuals and corporations achieve growth through learning.

Alex has a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Communications from The University of Iowa and a Master’s Degree in Training and Development from Drake University.  Active in her community, Alex regularly volunteers and believes that education is the first step toward positive change.

You can reach her via e-mail at alexandra.lemke@drake.edu

In 1994, Ms. Macro returned to her native Iowa to join the legal staff of Meredith Corporation at its Des Moines, Iowa headquarters where her work in the labor, employment and benefits area continued. In addition to labor relations, litigation oversight and legal compliance, Ms. Macro also served as the primary attorney for the company’s book publishing division.

In May of 2001, Ms. Macro was named Director, Human Resources at Drake University, where she helped launch a comprehensive compensation project, performance management process and staff learning and development program.  In September, 2009, Ms. Macro was named Assistant Vice President for Business and Finance.

A resident of Des Moines, Ms. Macro also serves on the Board of Directors for Character Counts in Iowa as well as the Iowa Health Physicians Board of Directors. She is a volunteer 4-H club leader and member of the Polk County 4-H Youth Committee.

Kirk is a lifelong learner who achieved most of his education nights and weekends while working full-time and heavily involved in family activities. He is a 1997 graduate from Drake University with a Masters degree in Training and Development.

His professional activities include national and local (past president) chapter membership in the International Society of Performance Improvement (ISPI), and national membership in the American Society of Training and Development (ASTD).

Kirk lives outside of Indianola with his wife, Tina, and has two grown children.

You can reach him via e-mail at kirk.patten@drake.edu.

Michelle obtained her undergraduate degree from the University of Florida, and earned her MBA from the University of Florida in 2005.  She also holds the CPCU designation.

Michelle has been in various leadership roles throughout her past 23 years in leadership assignments.  Her experience includes "building" new concepts such as our virtual claims call center operations, "renovating" which includes migrating over 5,000 agents and 7 service centers to a new commercial platform for an ease of doing business concept and "consolidating" to address efficiency gains and decreased unit cost. 

Throughout Michelle's career she has consistently been involved with community service opportunities such as Habitat for Humanity, Boys and Girls Club of America, Board Member of the University of Florida Performing Arts Center and sponsorship of diversity initiatives.  She is currently a member of the Downtown Community Alliance Board.  She has also been very involved in the United Way and co-chairs the Events Committee for the Women's Leadership Connection and played an active role in developing a relationship with women leaders at Nationwide/Allied to serve as role models and mentors for the young women at the Scavo School.  Michelle is also a member of the Beacon of Life Board providing support for women in crisis.

Kevin has five years of experience as a student affairs professional in the area of residence life. As a result of the combination of his educational and professional experiences, Kevin looks for ways to both integrate higher education theory and practice, and to align student affairs with academic affairs.

His research interests include student affairs administration, organization and administration of international higher education, and degree attainment of low income students.

You can reach via e-mail at kevin.saunders@drake.edu.

You can reach her via e-mail at jan.snyder@drake.edu.

You can reach him via e-mail at daniel.topf@drake.edu.

You can reach him via e-mail at vincent.verlengia@drake.edu.