Professor Steve Ellis, MBA, CPCU, AIC has been teaching at The University of Olivet since 2017, and he previously earned his Master of Business Administration in Insurance from the College. In his professional role, he serves as the assistant vice president and claims field manager for auto physical damage claims at Liberty Mutual Insurance.
“Teaching has always been a passion. I call myself a lifelong learner,” Professor Ellis said. “I continue to learn with every class I teach and that fits into my philosophy. I thrive in an environment where I can share perspectives and collaborate, interact with other people, hear their perspectives, engage in dialogue and then upload assignments based on that collaboration. I start every class by asking each student the number of years they’ve been in the industry. Then I add them together and say there is a lot to learn from one another.
“I teach Quantitative Analysis and Decision Making for Management, Ethics and Leadership, Managing a Diverse Workforce and Advanced Spreadsheets and Databases.
“The Quantitative Analysis and Decision Making for Management is especially important because I believe you can’t understand something until you can describe it with numbers. I teach it from a theoretical perspective. As a manager, I’ve never been asked to perform quantitative analysis myself, but I have been asked to make decisions based on the analysis presented to me. If I don’t understand that, I might make the wrong decision. I teach students the background to derive data and help them become more confident in decision making.
“Managing a Diverse Workforce is another important class as a diverse workforce is an intellectually smart workforce. I believe as irons sharpen irons, our differences sharpen each other. We are better with diverse viewpoints and perceptions, and ultimately make stronger decisions.
“I always aim real-life examples around academic lessons. Hopefully I give students a perspective of how certain topics manifest themselves in the real world after reading about it theoretically. Secondly, I always encourage students to get connected and stay connected. I love that this role allows me to connect with and stay in touch with so many industry professionals across the nation, and I get most excited when former students reach back out after they graduate to share how the program impacted them.
“I want students considering OC’s MBA program to know that continuous education is the key to improving yourself. Many professionals are anxious about the time investment. You’ll be surprised about what you can accomplish if you just start.”
The University of Olivet believes anyone desiring to earn a master’s degree should have that opportunity. The College is committed to fair and objective admission policies to ensure an inclusive and diverse student body. The University of Olivet believes that educated, high-level industry professionals enrich communities across the country and society as a whole.
Contact Mike Lazusky, director of adult professional and graduate admissions, at 269-749-6612 or mlazusky@uolivet.edu to learn more about OC’s MBA program.
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