CMU Off-Campus Success Stories
For Steven Locke a successful day at work is one in which co-workers
forget he’s around.
Steven, who graduated from CMU with a Master of Science in Administration
degree with a concentration in General Administration, is a Cardiology
Informatics Manager. It is his job to oversee the technology that physicians
and staff at Spectrum Health in Grand Rapids use on a daily basis. He
strives to make sure medical personnel can focus on the quality and care of
their patients and not have to concern themselves with the technology that
makes their systems work.
“I deal with the technology clinicians use such as the computers, databases
and other related things,” Steven said, “but I’m not the ‘IT guy.’ What I am
is a hybrid of the clinical side and the technology support to maintain the
day to day operation of the cardiology operating systems.”
Steven started taking classes early in 2000 at the Grand Rapids Center and
took a few classes at neighboring CMU locations in Kalamazoo and Lansing and
online.
“Having the convenience of going to other centers and taking the online
class was great,” Steven said. “I especially liked the online marketing
class I took.”
Steven realized from the start that the program was applicable to his
day-to-day work environment. “When I first started taking classes, I could
see where it was going to be helpful,” he said. “It provided me the
opportunity to learn more about business planning and that carried over into
my job immediately.”
Steven said he believes one of the best aspects of the program is the
diversity of careers of his classmates. Some were in health care and some
were not and he said that type of diversity brought many different
perspectives to the general administration concentration. He added that the
MSA 685 capstone project really brought into focus how many different
aspects of all the classes could be tied together.
“The (MSA 685) project allowed us to see the inter-relatedness of the
program,” Steven said. “It challenged students to go over the entire program
and consolidate what was learned. It really tied everything together. Once
you complete the project you realize how all the classes fit into the
concentration.”
Steven, who earned his undergraduate degree from CMU, is married and has
twin six-year-old sons. He said he felt the program was challenging and well
worth the investment.
Written by Amber Crago, CMU Journalism Intern
