Instructors
Bill McConkey, Ph.D.
Dr. Bill McConkey teaches Leadership and Organizational Studies and Political
Science courses at UW Oshkosh. Dr. McConkey received his BS and MS degrees in
the Social Sciences from Illinois State University in 1964 and 1965. He received
his Ph.D. from Florida State University in 1994, at the age of 52. He has worked for several government agencies, including the Executive Office
of the President of the United States, the Florida Senate’s Committee on Higher
Education and for the Governors of Illinois and Alaska. He has owned and
operated his own communication research and consulting firm for over 30 years
and has also managed or consulted to over 150 political campaigns. Dr. McConkey has been a university instructor for over 15 years and has
published both fiction and non-fiction works. He is married and has seven
daughters and step-daughters and 10 grandchildren. He and his wife share their
home near Baileys Harbor, in Door County, with their Schipperkes. They also own
a farm in Tennessee. His favorite things to do are public speaking, cooking,
walking with his dogs, hunting, fishing and writing.
Course/Subject Areas: Organizational Administration, Political Science and
Public Administration
Brian Smith, Ph.D.
Course/Subject Area: Religious Studies Brian Smith holds advanced degrees in Political Science (Ph.D. Yale, 1979),
Religion (Master of Divinity, Woodstock College, 1970) and Ethics (Master in
Sacred Theology, Union Theological Seminary, 1971). He has done research in
Latin America, including Chile and Colombia, on religion and politics and the
role of non-governmental organizations in socioeconomic development. He has
taught briefly at Fordham University and Georgetown University and for seven
years in the Political Science Department at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology (1980 – 1987). He was a member of the Jesuit Order in the Catholic Church for 21 years and
served as a priest for nine years, including one year in Chile (1975).
Coy Sabel
Course/Subject Areas: Writing, Human Resources Management and Organizational
Behavior Coy Sabel has been teaching adult non-traditional students since 1998. She
has taught for the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh and Marian College in Fond du
Lac. Courses taught include writing, composition, research, management and
leadership. For each class, Coy attempts to address all learning styles with a
lot of hands-on activities and real-world applications.
She has spent 20
years in the business sector in various positions: Business Research Analyst,
Communications Manager and, most recently, Training & Development Manager.
When Coy is not teaching, she enjoys spending time reading and writing.
Gary Ziebell
Course/Subject Area: Project Planning & Implementation Gary Ziebell has over 20 years of management and leadership experience in service, retail, and manufacturing industries. His passion is being a change agent by challenging people with accountability, ownership, and personal growth. After receiving his MBA from UW Oshkosh in 2005, he taught management courses for two years at Milwaukee School of Engineering. His teaching philosophy is that students need to be able to take what they learn and apply it to their jobs. He is sympathetic to the demands that are put on students to be working adults and taking classes at the same time. Contact Information:
Jim Frascona
Working with nontraditional students has been one of the most rewarding work
experiences of Jim's life. The motivation and sincere interest in the course
material has been unparalleled in his 10 years of teaching, and he enjoys being
a facilitator. He learns as the students learn, and it's just a lot of fun for
him. Jim's professional experience is a combination of human resources management
and social work. He worked in the human resources field for about 12 years, then
went back to school to and obtain a Masters in Social Work. He also has an MBA
degree, and worked in the mental health field for a two years. Then, Jim found a
way to combine his backgrounds in business and the social sciences as a teacher
for CNL.
Course/Subject Areas: Occupational, Leadership, Human Resources Management
and Organizational Behavior
Kay Chitwood
Course/Subject Area: Presentations in the Virtual Workplace, Liberal Studies
and the Web Kay has been the Director of Learning Innovations since 2005. Chitwood retired from her position as director of the Wisconsin Online Resource Center at Fox Valley Technical
College, where she led statewide initiatives of the Wisconsin Online Resource
Center, a repository of more than 2,200 learning objects. Kay received her master's degree in Educational Media from the University of
Northern Colorado. Since 2001, she has presented nationwide on a variety of
topics, including developing learning objects, building online repositories,
establishing curriculum processes for faculty, identifying assessment strategies
and integrating technology.
Lee Prellwitz
Course/Subject Areas: Budgeting, Data Analysis and Project Management Lee Prellwitz attended college at the University of Wisconsin in the late 1960s and returned to school in the late 1980s and recieved a Liberal Studies degree from the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh in 1995 while working full-time at Ripon Foods, Inc. In the fall of 1996 he began the Master of business Administration program at UW Oshkosh and recieved his MBA in December of 1998. His most rewarding experience as a student was the European Study Tour he took as the final course in the MBA program. Two weeks in Germany, France and England as part of a group of forty undergraduate and graduate business students was a memorable experience. He teaches Applied Data Gathering and Analysis, Budgeting for Managers and Project Planning for the Center of New Learning. He relies heavily on his 29 years of business experience in the courses he teaches, and trys to use real world examples from his students as well. Prellwitz believes that education consists of both experience and relating it to the theories used in various disciplines. He also believes that education should be a lifelong experience and considers it his responsibility to direct his efforts to that direction. Contact Information:
Melissa McCarthy
Course/Subject Area: Collaborative Leadership Melissa (Mel) McCarthy has been with Thrivent Financial for Lutherans for 12 years, and is currently a Program Development manager. She has a Bachelor's degree in English from UW-Oshkosh, and a Master's degree in Training and Development from UW-Stout. She is a certified Master Graduate of Rapport Leadership International and enjoys leading and inspiring others. She has taught at a variety of universities, has an entrepreneurial spirit, is creative, and loves to explore new business ideas. Her favorite thing to do is help people grow and thrive. Mel loves working with and teaching adults. Adults learn by building on their previous experiences. Their rich insights, business experiences and life learnings translate into a better experience for everyone in the classroom (including the teacher). In her spare time, she is building a real estate investment business with her husband, enjoys reading, golf, DIY projects, being outdoors with her husband and two golden retrievers, and hanging out with the "little" sister she mentors through Big Brothers, Big Sisters. Contact Information:
