Faculty Profiles

Dr. Debra Heintz

It’s all about applicability

Dr. Debra Heintz -- a business manager at Ben & Jerry’s Homemade and faculty member in the Champlain MBA -- puts the benefits of the program into perspective in two succinct sentences.

“In business we find that many MBA students come out of MBA Programs with lots of academic background, but a limited ability to apply what they have learned. The Champlain MBA really works with students to ensure that they can apply what they are learning successfully and add value to an organization by doing this.”

Heintz details the three goals she has established for her students. “The first is to learn about the disciplines and functional areas I’m teaching,” she says. “The second is to be able to apply what they have learned with confidence. And the last is to enjoy the learning process and feel challenged and excited about the courses.”For Heintz, the Champlain MBA is unique because “its goals are focused on the success of each individual student.”

She enjoys online teaching. “The flexibility is wonderful. It enables me to spend more time with the students. This is because I can allocate the time based on my schedule to really focus on each student. In addition, the student never feels rushed; we can take all the time necessary and communicate back and forth as much information as is needed.”

Champlain’s tradition of delivering market-based education to its students continues in this program.

“An employer would see in a Champlain MBA graduate a person who can access a problem fully, create multiple solutions and then be able to successfully implement a solution,” Heintz says.

Heintz has 15 years’ experience in materials management in various industries, including food manufacturing, high technology, and heavy machining; her manufacturing management experience includes supervisory, industrial engineering and production control management; her information technology management experience includes software, hardware and client services; and her health systems management experience includes serving on numerous medical boards as a licensed Oriental Medical Doctor (OMD).

She holds a BA in Business Administration from the University of Connecticut; an MS in Systems Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; an MBA from the University of Vermont; and a Ph.D. in Health Science from Union University.

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