The award is an annual recognition of superior classroom teaching. Each Missouri institution is invited to select one faculty member for the award who demonstrates a commitment to student learning and excellence in the classroom.
Dr. Dana Schwieger is a dedicated teacher, mentor, advisor, and has impacted countless students during her 21 years at Southeast. She has done a tremendous job of ensuring her students success both in and outside the classroom, said Dr. Carlos Vargas, president of Southeast Missouri State University. I was pleased to be able to share in the presentation of the Governors Award for Excellence in Education to Dr. Schwieger, along with Department of Higher Education Commissioner Zora Mulligan, and it was a true honor to celebrate this achievement with Dr. Schwieger and her mom, Carolyn.
Schwieger also was honored with Southeasts 2016 PRIDE Award during commencement exercises last December. The Provosts Research, Instruction and Development for Excellence (PRIDE) Award recognizes a faculty member who has demonstrated excellence as a teacher, an extraordinary level of scholarship and service and whose overall accomplishments are especially noteworthy.
I am very honored to receive this award and to work with the students, faculty, staff and community who support Southeast, Schwieger said.
A member of the Department of Accounting faculty, Schwieger played an instrumental role in the development of the Management Information Systems program at Southeast, where she is dedicated to her students success both in and out of the classroom. Schwieger serves as an advisor to Southeasts Chapter of Phi Beta Lambda, taking students to state and national conferences the past five years, and was the founding advisor for the Southeast chapter of the Association of Information Technology Professionals. She has chaperoned a study abroad program to Paris and London, and has supervised MIS internships and numerous graduate papers.
She has been honored with the Outstanding MBA Teaching Award, SoTL Award, Harrison College of Business Copper Dome Research Award, Harrison College of Business Copper Dome Teaching Award, Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce Teacher of the Year Award nominee, Missouri State Phi Beta Lambda Advisor of the Year twice and has won best paper and best overall paper awards at six national conferences. She is a member of Phi Kappa Phi honor society and is a recipient of the Success in Scholarship, Sports, and Service Award.
Outside of Southeast, Schwieger has served as a paper reviewer for the Accounting Educators Journal and the Journal of Information Systems Education and as a Higher Learning Commission AQIP Project Reviewer since 2013, helping colleges and universities maintain their accreditation, enhance their campuses and improve their action projects.
While her work has been published extensively in books and journals, she also has shared her knowledge with the worldwide community with service work in Haiti. There, she has assisted with a medical mission trip and provided information technology assistance to Real Hope for Haiti, a nonprofit orphanage/medical clinic/Cholera house. Schwieger also has worked extensively with Respire Haiti, assisting with their website design and development, and serving as their website administrator. She has advised and helped bring online schooling and textbooks to the school. She also has participated in the Wenzao Taiwan School of Language summer program and the Boeing Welliver Faculty Fellowship Program.
I would like to thank God for the skills and opportunities he has provided me throughout my life including the working at Southeast and with Respire Haiti, Schwieger said.
In her local community, Schwieger has served Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau as an EPIC trainer; has assisted more than 20 organizations; provided technical support for the Persecuted Church Prayer Ministry at La Croix Church; and helped to organize the local Missionfest event.
Schwieger holds a doctoral degree in Management Information Systems, a Master of Business Administration and a Bachelor of Science in marketing and finance, all from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, and Bachelor of Science in computer science and a Bachelor of Science in accounting, both from Southeast Missouri State University.
Before coming to Southeast in 1996, Schwieger served as an information technology computer lab manager at Southern Illinois University. She started at Southeast as a computer services lab manager and became an instructor in the Department of Accounting and Management Information Systems in 2000.
An Olive Branch, Illinois native, Schwieger is the daughter of Carolyn Schwieger and the late Cecil Schwieger. She is currently a resident of Cape Girardeau, Missouri.
Photo Caption: From left are Dr. Carlos Vargas, president of Southeast Missouri State University; Dr. Dana Schwieger, Southeast professor of management information systems; and Zora Mulligan, Missouri commissioner of higher education.