The classes of Cleary Adjunct Professor Melinda Schwyn often can surpass 100 students a semester.
“There is great gratification in helping students achieve their goals,” she asserts. Her mentorship, assistance with helping students find internships and her strong belief that she can learn a lot from her students, solidify her position as a popular instructor.
“Communication is key,” she says, and this is a message that resonates with Schwyn and her students.
Even though she calls teaching the place where she belongs, her diverse career path kept her more than busy for many years before she landed in higher education.
Schwyn grew up in Manchester and went to Cleary College – its name in the 80s when she started at the Ypsilanti-located school at the age of 17.
“I knew I loved business and my mom encouraged me to choose Cleary. She was an alum.”
Schwyn remembers taking a shorthand class, thinking, “will I ever use it?” She never found out because shortly afterwards her fiancé joined the Marine Corps and the couple moved to Virginia. There, she took the civil service exam and got a job with the Marine Corps. A short time later, she applied to work for the FBI and was hired. “I remember the 13-page application and six-month extensive background check they conducted on me before I was offered a job in Washington, DC,” she notes.
She worked for the FBI for seven years and next talks about the fast forward in her life and career, which included relocating back to Michigan, starting a family (three daughters), obtaining her bachelor’s degree in business from Cleary, and moving on to remarry “a wonderful husband and friend” who encouraged her to obtain her MBA in public administration from Western Michigan University. Schwyn’s passion for the legal system and law enforcement led her to attend a reserve police academy and work in her husband’s law firm where she managed the legal office for several years.
Schwyn began her higher education teaching career in 2009 at Adrian College. “I was told if I could develop two courses and propose them to the Academic Dean for approval, I could teach them,” she reports. And Schwyn did just that – Federal Law Enforcement Careers, and Conflict Management and Community Intervention became two new courses offered at Adrian College. With her years of experience and deep connections, she was able to deliver a huge platform of guest speakers who were experts in their field.
Not long after she joined the faculty of Albion, she was asked to serve as Dean of Students, a position she held for five years.
Unfortunately, her husband passed away a year ago, and she took some time to step back and reflect – on her past, her future and what brings her happiness. “It was teaching,” she affirms.
Before her parents passed away (within four months of each other), she recalls them both telling her, “Melinda, you are doing too much; you are on the go 24/7 and you need to slow down.”
“They were right,” she admits. Even on vacation, she was answering emails and taking phone calls for work.
That’s when she returned to her alma mater, but this time, she was looking for work. “I spoke with Dean Genei (Kelly Genei, dean of undergraduate studies) and she told me I would be a great fit for Cleary.” Later that same day, she got a call from Dean Genei asking her to teach two courses. The first one filled fast – 100 students – and the numbers haven’t budged much since she started teaching at Cleary in August 2024.
Schwyn was a regular at Cleary fundraisers and alumni networking events until she said she had enough of Michigan harsh winters and moved a few months ago to Georgia. Now she teaches online courses for Cleary. “I thoroughly enjoy involvement with the students, and I support the mission of Cleary University,” she says.
“Engagement with others is so important,” she points out. “If a student falls off the radar, we need to find them. There is so much room for advancement and success today,” she reflects. “Cleary is a great foundation for this to happen. We offer specialized classes geared directly to a career path, and the faculty brings a wealth of knowledge and experience. We work to ensure classes are tailored to benefit what students want to pursue in their career. Students have a whole team supporting them with real life experiences and stories to learn from.”
“Nobody can take away your education,” she asserts. “Cleary offers the tools for students to thrive in an evolving culture.”
Schwyn says she continues to follow her parents’ advice and has slowed down. This slower pace includes teaching two classes for Cleary, finishing her PhD in Management and Organizational Leadership, and serving as Executive Director of Camp Liberty, Inc – a non-profit Michigan veterans organization that helps active and disabled veterans as well as first responders enjoy outdoor recreation and receive support services.
She is a member of the Cleary Alumni Association, the Western Michigan University Alumni Association, the National Society of Leadership and Success, and the National Society of Student Personnel Administrators. And she always makes sure there is time for family – her three daughters and three sons-in-law, all college graduates, she points out – and eight grandchildren who range from 6 months to 7 years old.
