Greetings from the Dean
It has been an extraordinary year for the School, and I could not be prouder of what we have accomplished together. It has been deeply energizing to lead a community of outstanding faculty and students, engage with our remarkable alumni, and connect closely with campus leadership.
Looking ahead, we are committed to growing our footprint. This year, we created a new position – Assistant Director for Student Recruitment and Strategic Outreach – to help cultivate new relationships and increase the pipeline of students into our academic programs. We also welcomed a new Director for Online Graduate Programs, who has experience in online education and will help us expand our partnerships and extend our global presence.
Exciting new initiatives are already underway. We continue to work with campus partners to launch an undergraduate HR certificate, building on the momentum of our popular Introduction to HR course and adding a new HR Career Management course this spring. At the graduate level, we are nearing university approval for our HR data analytics concentration within our master’s program – an essential step in preparing students for the evolving demands of the workplace.
We believe that these initiatives will position LER to grow and thrive in an increasingly competitive market. And with your continued support, I am confident we will reach even greater heights.
I hope you enjoy reflecting on our 2025 story, and I know that, together with our graduates, we will make 2026 our best year yet.
Teachers Ranked Excellent
Our faculty is the backbone of our program, and every semester they continue to show why. Let’s kick things off with the 2024-2025 LER list of Teachers Ranked as Excellent by their Students.
Fall 2024
Andrew Bartlow, LER 533 Fundamentals of Business Management
Richard Benton, LER 523 Organizational Fundamentals for HR
Teresa Cardador, LER 591 Employment Relations Systems
Stephen Franklin, LER 330 Comparative Labor Relations
Kwon Hee Han, TA, LER 593 Quantitative Methods in LER
Brad Harris, LER 533 Fundamentals of Business Management
Yeaseul Hur, TA, LER 593 Quantitative Methods in LER
Johnnie Kallas, LER 543 Workplace Dispute Resolution
Amit Kramer, LER 591 Employment Relations Systems, LER 595 Managing Diversity Globally
Michael LeRoy, LER 199 Introduction to Labor Studies, LER 522 Employment Law for HR Managers: Discrimination, Compensation & Privacy
Grisel Lopez-Alvarez, TA, LER 593 Quantitative Methods in LER
Brian Neighbors, LER 199 Introduction to Labor Studies
Dan Newman, LER 590 HR Analytics: Methods & Data Driven Predictions
Brian Ogolsky, LER 593 Quantitative Methods in LER
YoungAh Park, LER 537 Employee Stress, Well-Being, & Safety
Christine Riordan, LER 542 Collective Bargaining, LER 556 Industrial Relations Theory (Ph.D.)
Andrew Weaver, LER 568 Firm Performance in HR Management
Tingting Zhang, LER 561 Compensation Systems, LER 567 Negotiation in HR Decisions
Spring 2025
Richard Benton, LER 558 Faculty-Student Workshop (PhD Seminar), LER 569 Power & Influence in Human Resource Management, LER 572 Social Networks in Human Resource Management
Teresa Cardador, LER 535 Negotiation Principles in HR Context, LER 567 Negotiation in HR Decisions
Eliza Forsythe, LER 545 Economics of Human Resources
Gentzy Franz, LER 597 Employee Motivation and Performance
Jiwook Jung, LER 566 International HR Management
Johnnie Kallas, LER 543 Workplace Dispute Resolution, LER 590 Current Issues in Labor and Employment Relations
Amit Kramer, LER 591 Employment Relations Systems, LER 595 Managing Diversity Globally
Michael LeRoy, LER 521 Employment Law for HR Managers: Separations, Worker’s Compensations & Safety, LER 590 Collective Bargaining in Sports & Entertainment
Brian Neighbors, LER 199 Introduction to Labor Studies
Dan Newman, LER 590 HR Analytics: Methods Data Driven Predictions
YoungAh Park, LER 537 Employee Stress, Well-Being, & Safety
Andrew Weaver, LER 558 Faculty-Student Workshop (PhD Seminar)
Shinaje Won, LER 598 Implementing High Involvement Work Systems
Bo Zhang, LER 593 Quantitative Methods in LER
Tingting Zhang, LER 561 Compensation Systems
Summer 2025
Andrew Bartlow, LER 533 Fundamentals of Business Management
Dan Gilbert, LER 999 Thesis Research (PhD)
Brad Harris, LER 533 Fundamentals of Business Management
Michael LeRoy, LER 522 Employment Law for HR Managers: Discrimination, Compensation & Privacy
Yuanyuan Sun, LER 545 Economics of Human Resources
Michael Walsh, LER 531 Workforce Analytics
2025 LER Stories
Say Hello to New Faces at LER
Jason Boys
Jason is the new Director of Online Graduate Programs at the School of Labor and Employment Relations. In this role, he oversees recruitment, enrollment pipelines, student services, and strategic partnerships for the School’s online MHRIR and certificate programs.
He brings over a decade of experience in higher education, workforce development, and employer engagement. Most recently, he served as a Senior Partnership Operations Specialist at Herzing University, where he managed enrollment and student services for over 300 students annually across multiple online and hybrid programs, while also leading custom workforce training initiatives in collaboration with healthcare providers, school districts, and community organizations.
Jason is no stranger to LER, having earlier served as Associate Director of Career and Student Services. In that role, he supported the on-campus MHRIR program across an array of career services, student recruitment, and employer engagement functions.
Madison Wilson
Madison joined the School in August 2025 as the Assistant Director, Student Recruitment and Strategic Outreach. In this role, she leads recruitment strategy and outreach efforts to engage prospective students and grow awareness of LER’s academic programs. She works closely with campus partners, prospective applicants, and alumni to ensure a positive and personalized recruitment experience.
Before joining LER, she worked as a Student Success Coach and later as a Student Recruiter in the corporate sector, supporting individuals through career development, academic planning, and personal growth. She also brings two years of teaching experience in communication, further strengthening her ability to connect with students and communicate the value of graduate education.
Kay Emmert
Kay is a Lecturer in the Labor Education Program at the School of Labor & Employment Relations, where she teaches labor law, grievance processing, arbitration, collective bargaining, communication, and leadership skills to union members, unrepresented workers, and university undergraduates. With over a decade of experience as a union organizer, negotiator, and educator, she has played a key role in shaping labor policy and contract enforcement. As Lead Negotiator and bargaining advisor for the Non-Tenure Faculty Coalition at U. of I., she successfully negotiated multiple contracts, securing significant gains in wages, job security, and benefits. In addition to her union leadership, she has designed and led intensive labor education programs for organizations such as the Illinois Federation of Teachers, the United Steelworkers Summer Institute, and the AFSCME Summer Leadership Institute.
Ashley Lewsader
Ashley joined the school in April 2025. Before coming to LER, she worked as a Teaching Assistant at Mahomet Schools.
She serves as the Office Specialist for the School of Labor and Employment Relations. She provides support for the Director of Development and Alumni Relations, Cory Hatfield. She assists with areas including alumni affairs and activities, individual, corporate, and foundation fundraising, as well as publications originating from the Development office.
Listen and LERn: The LER Podcast
Following its creation in 2023, the Listen and LERn podcast has continued to thrive with different student cohosts each year.
The podcast is informative for alumni as well as current/prospective students, as it highlights a number of milestones and activities for the School, along with hot topics for the employment relations function.
More episodes are available on Spotify.