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