Professor Emeritus Dr. Claudia Santin has, over the last 25 years, established a reputation as a pragmatic change agent and effective team builder.

Upon joining Concordia-Chicago's faculty in 2008, Dr. Santin served in varying leadership positions including eight years as the Dean of the College of Business. She led a series of initiatives designed to provide high-quality programs for business and leadership students including expanding the university's graduate online and international presence. Under her leadership, the college achieved ACBSP accreditation for the MBA program and HLC approval for the Doctorate in Business Administration program. She established the college's first Business Advisory; initiated a strategic planning and total quality improvement process aligned with ACBSP criteria, and increased international, online, and domestic enrollments. She serves as a peer-reviewer for the UNM Mentoring Institute and is a certified trainer in systems thinking, mapping, and leadership.

Degrees

  • EdD, Higher Education Leadership - Nova Southeastern University; Fort Lauderdale-Davie, FL
  • MBA Certificate, Marketing Management - Nova Southeastern University; Fort Lauderdale-Davie, FL
  • Graduate Certificate, Distance Learning - Nova Southeastern University; Fort Lauderdale-Davie, FL
  • Certificate, Corporate Strategy - University of Chicago; Chicago, IL
  • MA, Counseling and Personal Services - College of New Jersey; Ewing, NJ
  • BA, Psychology - College of New Jersey; Ewing, NJ
  • Certificate, Learning Design & Technology - University of Colorado; Denver, CO.
  • Certified in Systems Thinking, Mapping, and Leadership - Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.

Academic and Professional Highlights

Prior Positions

Dr. Santin's extensive higher education experience encompasses serving as a university president and provost. While president at Northcentral University (NCU), the School of Business received ACBSP accreditation-the first 100% online university to achieve this designation. At Nova Southeastern University (NSU), Dr. Santin held a series of progressively demanding positions. She led corporate, domestic, and international program expansion efforts, starting the first corporate MBA in Shanghai, PRC. She served as the Dean of Leadership Studies of the Fischler College, an associate dean of the H. Wayne Huzienga School of Business and Entrepreneurship, and an assistant dean of recruitment and enrollment. Her consulting practice assisted small and mid-sized universities increase their program portfolio and online presence.

Awards and Honors

  • Chi Sigma Iota
  • Delta Mu Delta
  • Sigma Beta Delta
  • Concordia University Chicago Commencement Speaker
  • MBA Faculty of the Year
  • Business in the Tri-City Excellence Award, 2007
  • Leadership America Woman Innovator
  • Woman on the Move in Education, 2001
  • Excellence in Business Award, 2000 & 1998
  • Distinguished Dissertation, 1994
  • American Society of Training and Development Leadership Award, 1990
  • Graduate Class Salutatorian, 1987
  • Certification received in Systems Thinking, Mapping, and Leadership at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, June 2019

Areas of Research

  • Strategic Leadership
  • Mentoring
  • Knowledge Management
  • Systems Thinking

Publications:

  • Santin, C. presented "Intentional Mentoring as a Strategic Initiative: Developing Future Knowledge Leaders for Organizational Learning and Sustainability” at the 23rd International Conference on Knowledge, Culture, and Change in Organizations, within the Special Theme: Organizations as Knowledge Makers on January 19, 2023, at the University of Auckland, NZ.

  • Santin, C. (2022, October). “The Importance of Mentoring Millennial Women and Minorities in Higher Education,” with Dr. K. Hollywood was published in Connect, a publication of the International Mentoring Association.

  • Santin, C. (2022). The paper, "Technology Application to eMentoring to Assist Diverse Doctoral Student Populations in Completing the Dissertation," was published in the proceedings of 29th International Conference on Learning, Focus:  Intercultural Learning in Plurilingual Contexts, July 13-15, 2022, University of Valencia, Spain.

  • Santin, C. (2022). The paper “The Leader’s Imperative” was published in the conference proceedings of the 22nd International Conference on Knowledge, Culture, and Change in Organizations, Organization Memetics: Nature-Centered Perspectives on Organizations proceedings in Auckland, NZ.

  • Santin, C. (2020). The paper, "Mentoring Millennial Women in Academia" with Blaess, Bloom, and Hollywood, was published in the Journal of Education and Culture Studies, 4(3).

  • Santin, C. (2019). The paper, “Cultivating Ethical Business Leaders: Building on the Lutheran Liberal Arts Tradition” was published in the Lutheran Education Journal 155(2).

  • Santin, C. (2018,). The paper, “Optimizing the Development of Practitioners into Educators in Chiropractic College Settings: An Integrative Literature Review” with Bloom, Blaess, & Hollywood,” in the World Federation of Chiropractic/Association of Chiropractic College Education Conference Proceedings, London, England. (2018) Journal of Chiropractic Education, 32(2), 160-162.

  • Santin, C. (2017, October). The paper, “Strategies, Stages, and Opportunities for Maximizing Mentoring Relationships,” was published and presented (with L. Bloom, K. Hollywood, & D. Blaess), in the proceedings of the 10th Annual International Conference, A Decade of Cultivating an Inclusive Mentoring Community: Developmental Networks for Innovation, Achievement, and Transformation, at the University New Mexico, in Albuquerque, NM.

  • Santin, C. (2017). The paper, "A Framework and Model for Doctoral Mentor and Student Success” was presented and published in the proceedings of 23rd European Mentoring and Coaching Conference in Edinburgh, Scotland.

  • “Holistic Mentoring and Coaching to Sustain Organizational Change and Innovation” (with Blaess, Hollywood, & Bloom). (2016, May). Creighton Journal of Interdisciplinary Leadership, 2(1). pp. 32-46.

Presentations:

  • Santin, C. presented, "eMentoring for Doctoral Student Success: Framework and Strategies," Special Theme: Technologies in Learning, at the 29th International Conference on Learning, at the University of Valencia and the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV), Spain on July 13-15, 2022.

  • Santin, C. presented "Mentoring for Knowledge Transfer and Organizational Sustainability" at the 22nd International Conference on Knowledge, Culture, and Change in Organizations, Special Theme: Organizations as Knowledge Makers, at the University of Auckland, NZ, January 15, 2022.

  • Santin, C. presented "Mentoring Millennials: Preparing the Fourth Industrial Revolution Workforce through Knowledge Transfer," at the 21st International Conference on Knowledge, Culture, and Change in Organizations, Preparing Organizations for New Digital Futures [New rules of Engagement for the Fourth Industrial Revolution] on January 15, 2021 at the University of Auckland, NZ.

  • Santin, C., The paper, "Maximizing Mentor Effectiveness to Address Generational Challenges by Millennial Women Faculty," [with Blaess, Bloom, & Hollywood] was accepted for presentation at New York State ACE Higher Education Leadership Conference, [2020], Cooperstown, NY.

  • Santin, C. presented “Cougar Tank: Enhancing Student Learning Through Student-Led Programming,” (with D. Sendziol), at the ACBSP Conference 2019-The Art of Developing Entrepreneurial Leaders, In Houston, Texas, in June 2019.

  • Santin, C. presented “Developing Leader Behavior to Effectively Balance Exploration and Exploitation and Create Organizational Capacity: Critical Factors to the Innovation Process,” (with J. Groh) at The 19thInternational Conference on Knowledge, Culture, and Change in Organizations, at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC. In February 2019.

  • Santin, C. presented, "Pragmatic Energy for Change Leadership: How Leaders Address Innovation Uncertainty,” (with J. Groh) at the 18th International Conference on Knowledge, Culture, and Change in Organizations, at the University of Konstanz. Konstanz, Germany, in March 2018.

  • Santin, C. presented “Innovative International Partnerships in Higher Education,” on September 2017, at The Global Leadership Forum, at Google Headquarters. New York, NY.

  • Santin, C. presented, “Infusing Diversity in Business Management Education through Strategic and Innovative International Partnerships.” [Virtual Presentation], April 2017, at the 17th International Conference on Knowledge, Culture, and Change in Organizations, at Charles Darwin University in Darwin, Australia.

  • Santin, C. presented the lecture, “Creativity as a Catalyst for Innovation,” to students enrolled in the CUC/HUEB cooperative program at Hebei University of Economics and Business (HUEB) in Shijiazhuang, China on May 15,  2016.