Please call (785) 532-6085 to get in connect with any of our faculty and staff.
| Tamara Bauer | Instructor | tamara@k-state.edu |
Top 5 Strenghts: Learner; Achiever; Includer; Strategic; Woo Favorite Quote: "Leadership is taking responsibility for enabling others to achieve shared purpose in the face of uncertainty" – Marshall Ganz EducationB.S. Kansas State University | ||
| Gov. John Carlin | Visiting Professor, Executive-in-Residence | jwcarlin@k-state.edu |
Read More John enjoys working with students and helping prepare them to be the change agents that the world needs. "I'm thrilled to be a part of this program, particularly at a time with so much need for leadership and opportunities to succeed." Top 5 Strengths: Learner; Achiever; Arranger; Responsibility; Connectedness. Favorite Quote: "Citizens must understand the possibilities and limitations of leadership. We must know how we can strengthen and support good leaders; and we must be able to see through the leaders who are exploiting us, playing on our hatred and prejudice, or taking us down dangerous paths." —John W. Gardner EducationB.S. Kansas State University | ||
| Lori LaVezzi | Administrative Officer | lori29@k-state.edu |
Read More Lori retired from the Air Force after 25 years and is thrilled to be back at Kansas State and part of the Staley School team. She hopes that sharing her leadership experiences will help students develop into caring, passionate leaders. Her favorite color is purple, and she loves college football. Go 'Cats! Top 5 Strengths: Relator; Individualization; Responsibility; Learner; Positivity. Favorite Quote: "The day the soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help them or concluded that you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership." — Colin Powell EducationB.S. Kansas State University | ||
| Mike Finnegan | Assistant Professor, Academic Advisor | mikefinn@k-state.edu |
Read More Mike's passion for leadership education stems from his own involvement with sports teams and learning communities throughout high school and college. As he navigated his career in higher education, Mike learned the value of building relationships during his time as an Admissions Representative, Assistant Director of New Students Services, and now as a faculty member with the Staley School of Leadership Studies. Mike has always been interested in how students transition in, through, and out of college. Mike believes engagement is central to our overall well-being and work purposefully to encourage others to keep their mind where there feet are. Mike loves coming to work every day because he works with his best friends. Collectively, the faculty teach a values based curriculum aimed at enhancing student's ability to exercise leadership to make progress on community identified needs. The work is collaborative in nature and Mike feels at his best when developing and delivering leadership curriculum for students, community partners, and working professionals. He is a Snyder Fellow Coach, Strengths Advocate, and a High-Five guy. If you have not met Mike yet, he looks forward to meeting you and learning more about your story. Top 5 Strengths: Woo; Communication; Maximizer; Adaptability; Positivity. Favorite Quote: "Comfort zones are beautiful places, but nothing ever grows there." unknown EducationB.S. Kansas State University | ||
| Trisha Gott | Assistant Director, Instructor | tcgott@k-state.edu |
Read More Top 5 Strengths: Connectedness; Strategic; Ideation; Empathy; Intellection. Favorite Quote: "The daughters of lions are lions, too." — Swahili Proverb EducationB.S. Kansas State University M.S. Kansas State University Ph.D Kansas State University | ||
| Jackie Harmon | Budget Fiscal Coordinator | jharmon@k-state.edu |
Read More Jackie believes a better world begins by developing the relationships with the people around us. We must be open to new ideas, embrace change, and respect our differences. Top 5 Strengths: Relator; Empathy; Consistency; Responsibility; Adaptability. Favorite Quote: "To laugh often and much, to win the respect of intelligent people and affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child a garden patch or redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded." —Ralph Waldo Emerson Education:B.S. Office Adminstration | ||
| Marcia Hornung | Coordinator of Partnerships | hornung@k-state.edu |
Marcia Hornung coordinates partnership initiatives for the Staley School, both across campus and in the community. Currently, she coordinates communications initiatives for the School, directs the Snyder Leadership Legacy Fellows Program, and facilitates the Leadership Manhattan program, a partnership with the Manhattan Area Chamber of Commerce. Read More Top 5 Strengths: Learner; Adaptability; Ideation; Input; Deliberative. Favorite quote: "How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because someday in your life you will have been all of these." —George Washington Carver EducationB.A. Kansas State University | ||
| Brandon W. Kliewer | Assistant Professor of Civic Leadership | bkliewer@k-state.edu |
Brandon Kliewer, specializes in understanding change through the lens of leadership coaching, complexity, systems, and deliberation. His teaching and research is often done with organizations and community attempting to exercise leadership for change. Read More Brandon is an assistant professor of civic leadership in the Mary Lynn and Warren Staley School of Leadership Studies at Kansas State University. Brandon studies civic leadership through the lens of leadership coaching, deliberative civic engagement, democratic theory, and systems change. He is currently working on a series of manuscripts that report the results of civic leadership development programs, deliberative civic engagement forums, and community engagement theories and practices. His scholarship often involves undergraduate & graduate students, community members, and working professionals in ways that create the conditions to mobilize new knowledge for systems and organizational change. Brandon holds a Ph.D. from The University of Georgia in political science and a Master's degree in political science from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. View my curriculum vitae. Top 5 Strengths: Strategic; Achiever; Learner; Input; Individualization Favorite Quote: "To be free is not merely to cast off ones chains but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others." Nelson Mandela EducationB.A. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University | ||
| Amanda Lee | Program Coordinator | amandajb@ksu.edu |
Read More The Academic Mentoring program focuses on the academic and overall success of youth in the greater Manhattan area. K-State students eligible for Federal Work Study financial aid, are placed in school and community-based programs to promote and support academic skills, family literacy, social and emotional success, and positive youth development. Cargill Fellows is a new program designed to help undergraduate students succeed in the workplace after college. Working in partnership with Cargill, the program offers students with a unique and innovative experience that focuses on developing their capacity to exercise leadership by collaborating well on teams, working with global and inclusive perspectives, and thinking critically through tough challenges – all things required to have a successful launch into a career. Top 5 Strengths: Empathy, Relator, Responsibility, Harmony, Maximizer Favorite Quote: "Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way." – Viktor Frankl EducationB.A. Kansas State University M.A. University of Denver | ||
| Chance Lee | Assistant Professor | chance@k-state.edu |
Read More In addition, Dr. Chance Lee directs the Nonprofit Leadership Focus of the Leadership minor, overseeing advising, internships, professional development events, and curriculum for the program. His research interests include cross-cultural and global leadership, nonprofit leadership, and university immersive programs, both abroad and domestic. Top 5 Strengths: Individualization; Developer; Harmony; Arranger; Adaptability. Favorite Quote: "Perceptions are portraits, not photographs, and their form reveals the artist's hand every bit as much as it reflects the things portrayed." —Daniel Gilbert EducationB.S. Kansas State University | ||
| Kaitlin Long | Program Administrator | kaitlinl@ksu.edu |
Read More Top 5 Strengths: Maximizer, Empathy, Relator, Developer, Connectedness Favorite Quote: "There is no passion to be found in playing small – in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living." - Nelson Mandela EducationB.S. Kansas State University | ||
| Irma O'Dell | Associate Professor | irmao@ksu.edu |
Read More Irma joined the Staley School faculty in July of 2005. As a faculty member, she eagerly embraces the opportunities she encounters in her charges of teaching, program assessment, and scholarship. She encourages her students to be their authentic self, help create a learning community, and engage in critical thinking.
Irma's scholarship interests include but are not limited to: civic engagement, identity, social identity, relational leadership, curriculum/program assessment, stereotype threat, and leisure across the lifespan. Top 5 Strengths: Learner; Harmony; Deliberative; Analytical; Individualization. Favorite Quotes: "It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences. -Audre Lorde. "We have to talk about liberating minds as well as liberating society." -Angela Davis EducationB.S. George Williams College | ||
| Kerry Priest | Associate Professor | kerryp@k-state.edu |
Read More Kerry joined the Staley School faculty team in Fall 2012. As a teacher, she has worked to integrate critical perspectives and engaged methods/pedagogies of practice in courses that create the conditions for students to exercise leadership, as well as contribute to scholarship that advances the field of leadership education. Kerry's research agenda explores the intersections of leadership development and community-engaged teaching and learning in higher education, specifically through lines of inquiry around leadership identity, leadership educator identity, and pedagogies of practice for leadership education. These lines intend to expand interpretative, collective frameworks of leadership for the purpose of social justice and social change. Kerry's professional service goals are integrated with scholarship in two ways: 1) Advancing leadership educator communities of practice and 2) Building capacity of individuals, institutions, and communities to exercise leadership for change. Locally, she engages in activity that supports the Staley School's mission and benefits the students (undergraduate and graduate), faculty and staff, and community. As a member of the International Leadership Association and Association of Leadership Educators, Kerry has participated in activities that help to advance the network of relationships, scholarly priorities, and professional best-practices for leadership educators in higher education. Prior to her time in higher education, Kerry worked in the areas of leadership training and development, curriculum design, and program/project management for youth, corporate, and non-profit organizations. Top 5 Strengths: Individualization; Connectedness; Input; Learner; Intellection. Favorite Quote: "There is no power for change greater than a community discovering what it cares about." —Margaret Wheatly EducationB.S. Kansas State University | ||
| Mary Kay Siefers | Senior Associate Director, Assistant Professor | marykay@k-state.edu |
Read More Mary Kay is passionate about her work with the 1000 plus students in the leadership program in creating knowledgeable, ethical, caring, inclusive leaders for a diverse and changing world. As an instructor, Mary Kay is committed to designing transformational learning experiences that result in significant enough changes in students that both they and others recognize. One of Mary Kay's goals as a professor is to create a learning community that values each member's experiences and life stories so that students can discuss pertinent leadership issues and learn from one another. Mary Kay is also a certified leadership coach with the Kansas Leadership Center. In her coaching she partners with her clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential. Top 5 Strengths: Empathy; Adaptability; Positivity; Woo; Includer. Favorite Quote: "It is not our differences that divide us; it's our judgments about each other that do." —Margaret Wheatley EducationB.S. Kansas State University | ||
| Mary Hale Tolar | Director, Associate Professor | mtolar@k-state.edu |
As Director of the Staley School of Leadership Studies, Mary Hale Tolar, Ed.D., works with faculty and staff to provide learning experiences aligned with the mission of "developing knowledgeable, ethical, caring, inclusive leaders for a diverse and changing world." Read More Mary has taught multiple leadership studies courses, with an emphasis on ethical dimensions of leadership. She serves as a member of the Provost Staff, affiliate faculty in Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies, and associate with K-State's Institute for Civic Discourse and Democracy. Mary is a Rhodes Scholar, Truman Scholar, founding member of the National Association of Fellowships Advisors, and co-author/editor of The Lucky Few and the Worthy Many: Scholarships and the World's Future Leaders (2004). Research interests focus on the art and practice of civic leadership development, women's pathways to public service leadership, and undergraduate leadership development through applied learning. Mary considers developing students as scholars and citizens the civic purpose of higher education and essential to a vital democracy and a healthy society. "The major challenges we face today are not simple matters of resources. They are not technical problems, but rather challenges that require new ways of thinking, marshalling resources in new ways to adapt to changing circumstances—challenges that call each of us to exercise leadership." Top 5 Strengths: Ideation; Strategic; Context; Learner; Input. Favorite Quote: "A community is like a ship; everyone ought to be prepared to take the helm." —Henrik Ibsen EducationB.A. Kansas State University | ||
| Andy Wefald | Associate Professor, Academic Advisor | wefald@k-state.edu |
Read More Andrew conducts research broadly around the topic of leadership. Current projects include research examining self-authored leadership projects, coaching & coachability, and political skill. Research interests are mostly around leadership and psychology with a focus on quantitative data research methods. Specific interests include developing meaningful leadership projects for students and creating coaching cultures in the classroom and in the workplace. Top 5 Strengths: Deliberative; Input; Context; Learner; Discipline. Favorite Quote: “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” Eleanor Roosevelt EducationB.A. Iowa State University | ||
Tamara Bauer teaches several leadership studies classes ranging from 20 to 150 students: LEAD 212: Introduction to Leadership Concepts, LEAD 312: Peer Leader Practicum, LEAD 405: Leadership in Practice and LEAD 195: First in the Family CAT Community. Tamara is passionate about creating experiential learning opportunities with her students to actively learn and apply leadership concepts to their lives. She coordinates the Class Leader program where she prepares ~60 undergraduate students annually to serve as peer-teachers in LEAD 212: Introduction to Leadership Concepts. She also teaches a first-year connection course specifically for first-generation students to college.
Former Governor John Carlin teaches a master's-level leadership seminar course and an undergraduate course in practical politics. Both courses focus on the practical, rather than theoretical, aspects of leadership.
Mike Finnegan, Ph.D. focuses his energy on helping students develop their confidence and capacity to exercise leadership. He primarily teaches LEAD 212 Introduction to Leadership Concepts, LEAD 405 Leadership in Practice, and LEAD 450 Senior Seminar.
Trisha Gott, Ed.D., is specifically involved with Alternative Breaks program, the Coffman Leadership Institute, and the Mandela Washington Fellowship Civic Leadership Institute. Trish teaches select courses in the leadership minor, supports service-learning initiatives, and serves as the assistant director for the Staley School.
Jakie Harmon is the Staley School’s fiscal manager and supports day-to-day operations through the Administrative Support Center.
Chance Lee, Ph.D., teaches core and elective courses at the Staley School including: LEAD 212: Introduction to Leadership Concepts, LEAD 350: Culture and Context of Leadership, LEAD 420: Theories of Nonprofit Leadership, and LEAD 450: Senior Seminar.
Kaitlin works with several of the student-led programs at the Staley School including International Service Teams and HandsOn K-State. She also advises the Staley School Ambassadors, works with enrollment management, and teaches LEAD 405: Leadership in Practice.
Irma O'Dell, Ph.D., teaches LEAD 212: Introduction to Leadership Concepts, LEAD 450: Senior Seminar in Leadership Studies. Other courses taught: LEAD 405 Leadership in Practice.
Kerry Priest, Ph.D., teaches LEAD 801: Foundations of Leadership (Online), LEAD 820: Contemporary Perspectives on Leadership Theory & Practice LEAD 405: Leadership in Practice. Other courses taught: LEAD 212: Intro to Leadership
Mary Kay Siefers, Ph.D., teaches LEAD 350: Culture and Context of Leadership and LEAD 450: Senior Seminar in Leadership Studies. During her tenure with the Staley School, she has taught all of the core courses as well as an elective course, Women and Leadership. Mary Kay also serves as the director for the secondary major in Global Food Systems Leadership where she teaches LEAD/GENAG 225: Fundamentals of Global Food Systems Leadership and LEAD/GENAG 325: Exploring Uncertainty in Global Food Systems Leadership.
Andy Wefald, Ph.D., teaches Affiliated Faculty and Staff
| Patti H. Clayton | Visiting Scholar |
Patti H. Clayton, Ph.D., is an independent consultant for PHC Ventures with over 15 years of experience as a practitioner-scholar and educational developer in community-campus engagement and experiential education. She assists the Staley School with the Certificate in Community-Engaged Leadership, the Ph.D. in Leadership Communication, and collaborates with faculty on community-engaged scholarship and programming. Read More She serves as a senior scholar with the Center for Service and Learning at Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis and with the Institute for Community and Economic Engagement at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She facilitates institution-wide visioning and planning processes for community-campus engagement, supports campuses in applying for and leveraging the Carnegie Community Engagement Classification, guides inter-disciplinary and inter-institutional scholarly collaborations, and facilitates professional development across all partners in community-campus engagement. Patti co-developed the DEAL Model for Critical Reflection and the SOFAR partnership model and co-produced student and instructor versions of the tutorial Learning through Critical Reflection. She was co-editor with Bringle and Hatcher of the 2-volume set Research on Service Learning: Conceptual Frameworks and Assessment and co-authored the Democratic Engagement White Paper with Saltmarsh and Hartley. Patti’s current scholarship interests include civic learning, place-engaged community engagement, institutional transformation for and through engagement, and the dynamics of ‘‘with-ness’’ in democratic partnerships that position all partners as co-educators, co-learners, and co-generators of knowledge. She is currently co-facilitating the international Service-Learning and Community Engagement Future Directions Project with Stanlick, Zlotkowski, and Howard; this multi-year, multi-venue, multi-voice project invites anyone interested in service-learning and community engagement to share and critique ideas for the future of this work. | |
Retired Faculty and Staff
| Lynda Bachelor | ||
Lynda Bachelor directs HandsOn Kansas State, a student-led volunteer action center that promotes civic learning and leadership through service and service-learning activities. Read More Lynda promotes leadership through community involvement. Her non-profit and for-profit experience brings a practitioner's view to the Staley School's classes and programs. Involving students and community members in meaningful service through coursework, trainings, group activities and volunteer opportunities benefits the community and helps students develop the civic leadership skills they need to become community leaders. Top 5 Strengths: Ideation; Adaptability; Woo; Communication; Positivity. Favorite Quote: "When I give, I give myself." —Walt Whitman EducationB.S. Kansas State University | ||
| Olivia Collins | ||
Olivia Collins, Ph.D., earned her doctorate in human ecology from K-State in 1990. She has served as a member of the K-State faculty since 1988 and, in 2003, as an instructor with the Staley School of Leadership Studies, helped establish the nonprofit leadership minor. Olivia also served as director of the American Humanics program from 2006 to 2014. She is an Assistant Professor Emerita at the Staley School of Leadership Studies. Read More Olivia earned a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Texas at Austin in 1969 and a master's in human development and the family from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln in 1984. She has been recognized with many leadership and service awards, including the Outstanding Faculty/Staff Award in 2010 and the 2014 Susan M. Scott Community Leadership Award in recognition of her lifelong mission to inspire others to carry out their call to action. | ||
| Candi Hironaka | ||
Candi Hironaka began her work at K-State in 1996 as a Learning Skills Specialist with the Academic Assistance Center. In June of 2000, she moved to the Staley School of Leadership Studies, where she served as Senior Associate Director and Instructor Read More Outside of the Staley School of Leadership Studies, Candi has been a co-chair of Cultural Community Harmony Week with Spanish Professor Doug Benson since 1999. Hironaka has also served as faculty advisor for the Mortar Board Senior Honorary. Candi taught kindergarten, first, second and third grade for 22 years before she and her husband, Bernard Pitts, moved to Kansas. She was selected for the Commerce Bank Presidential Faculty/Staff Award for Distinguished Service to Minority Students in 2004. | ||
| Susan Scott | ||
Susan Scott, Ph.D., served as the founding Director of the Staley School of Leadership Studies until January 1, 2009. Prior to this position she held the lead position in the Dean of Student Life office and served as a counselor in University Counseling Services. Susan is an Associate Professor Emerita at Kansas State University. Read More Susan developed and taught three of the four core courses for the minor. Additionally, she has published in the area of credibility and co-authored a book entitled, Leadership Lessons from Bill Snyder. Susan led the effort to secure 11 million dollars to build a home for the Staley School of Leadership Studies, and she oversaw the 36,000 square foot building project. | ||
| Bob Shoop | ||
According to Bob Shoop, Ph.D., co-founder of the Staley School of Leadership Studies and former Director of the Cargill Center for Ethical Leadership at K-State, "Society needs a large pool of highly qualified individuals prepared to lead. The leadership studies program was developed to provide students with the experiences and training to allow them to become ethical, knowledgeable, caring, inclusive leaders for a diverse and changing world." Bob is a Professor Emeritus at Kansas State University Read More Bob's primary teaching responsibility was in the area of ethics and leadership. He is a nationally recognized expert in the area of leadership and school law. His research areas are leadership, equity, sexual harassment and abuse prevention. Recognized for his commitment to creating a positive learning environment, Bob has received both K-State's Outstanding Graduate Professor and Outstanding Undergraduate Professor Awards. He has served as a testifying forensic expert in over 100 court cases and serves as a consultant to school districts, universities, and corporations in the area of standards of care and harassment and abuse prevention. Bob is the author or co-author of 21 books and over 100 journal articles, monographs and book chapters, and has produced six educational video programs receiving national and international recognition. He is a frequent guest on national radio and television talk shows including: NPR's Talk of the Nation, The Today Show, CNN, and Outside the Lines with Bob Ley. His work has been featured in numerous newspapers and popular magazines worldwide including the London Times, New York Times, USA Today, Education Week, Reader's Digest, Rolling Stone, and Oprah's O magazine. | ||
