Category: Faculty insight

Image: Professor Colleen Forsgren

Colleen Forsgren is a professor of computer information systems at SC4 and serves as the department head of the Business & Information Technologies Division, bringing a wealth of expertise and knowledge to her role. 

Colleen has always enjoyed being a student. She started her higher education journey at Kettering University and took community college courses from various institutions as she traveled across the United States. She holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Upper Iowa University and a master’s degree in education concentrating on Information Science from the University of Missouri.

Colleen worked for TMG, Inc. in Charlotte, North Carolina and Houston, Texas, for seven years before she transitioned to workforce development at San Jacinto College in Houston. Her career also included training and employee development for leadership positions in banking. In 2000, she began as a workforce development instructor for SC4 and added instruction in credit classes soon after. She became a full-time faculty member in 2006 and has been the department chair for the Business & Information Technologies Division since 2021.

Colleen highlighted the dedication and expertise of her team, who use their experience in the workplace to provide a high-quality education for SC4 students.  

“Working with our faculty is so much fun because they love their topic and want to share it with their students. I enjoy walking around our hallways during class times. You can’t walk past too many doors without seeing and hearing students experiencing their teacher’s excitement for their topic.”

Colleen is also passionate about getting her students workplace-ready and empowering them to take ownership of their work.

“We do a lot of project-based learning in occupational classes. Sometimes, that means a lot of back and forth until something is perfect because that is the expectation in the workplace. One of my favorite things as an instructor is seeing a student’s transformation from being frustrated at having to continue to tweak a project to being so proud of their accomplishments when the project meets the goal.”

Colleen lives with her husband, Brent, a professor of political science for SC4, and they have five adult children. Outside of their work at the college, Colleen and Brent enjoy ballroom and swing dancing and traveling, especially to Europe and South Africa.

For media inquiries, please contact Sarah Rutallie, Chief of Staff / Senior Vice President, at srutallie@sc4.edu

Dr. Michael Belleman is a professor of Economics at SC4 and has taught at the college since 2010. He was recently appointed to serve as president of the SC4 faculty association and has also served as treasurer and vice president. 

Mike holds a bachelor’s degree in business from Marygrove College, two master’s degrees in taxation and economics from Walsh College and a doctorate in accounting, which he earned while teaching full-time at SC4. He also has extensive experience in corporate finance, taxes relating to health care, and patient cost modeling. He has also worked with Medicare auditors and the IRS and actively consults for businesses. 

When talking about his experience teaching, Mike recounted that he was terrified the first time he taught a college course. He recalled shaking behind his podium and giving his first lecture as an adjunct professor at Henry Ford Community College in 2002. However, he soon became comfortable in the classroom and grew to love the in-person interactions and “feeding off of the energy of his students,” as he puts it. 

The Socratic method is foundational to Mike’s teaching style. This method uses focused questions to guide students to think through issues and go deeper than surface-level answers. Using this technique, students actively participate in classroom conversations by developing their thoughts, and the fear of presenting the “correct answer” is mitigated.

Mike explains this process further by saying, “You can be wrong in the classroom. I want [students] to be able to fail. That’s the best teacher…. Our learning is a practice that we continue to develop throughout our lives.”   

In addition to academic content, Mike’s classes are aimed to help students develop soft skills, such as conversational skills and multitasking. This approach ensures students are occupation or transfer-ready at the completion of the program. 

Mike and his wife, Melanie, have two daughters who work in special education and speech pathology, three grandchildren, and a two-month-old puppy. In his free time, Mike enjoys playing golf and reading, especially about economics, history and current affairs.

For media inquiries, please contact Sarah Rutallie, Chief of Staff/Senior Vice President, at srutallie@sc4.edu

Pictured from left to right: Instructors Vinson, Johnson, Tindall, Bernard, Bullock and Platzer

As a new academic school year begins, SC4 is delighted to welcome back students and faculty. This semester, SC4 is thrilled to introduce six new full-time faculty members. SC4 proudly welcomes the following:

Belinda Bernard, instructor of English with extensive teaching experience, including instructing at Mississippi State University, Macomb Community College and twelve years as an adjunct faculty member at SC4.

Danyel Bullock, an SC4 alumni and clinical instructor for the SC4 Associate Degree Nursing program with twelve years of registered nursing experience and two years of teaching experience as an adjunct faculty member at SC4.

Ryan Johnson, instructor of history with experience assisting with political campaigns and twelve years of teaching experience as an adjunct faculty member at SC4. Ryan was a temporary full-time faculty member for the 2023–2024 academic year and recently accepted a permanent full-time position.

Joseph Platzer, instructor of criminal justice with thirty-six years of law enforcement experience, including as Chief of Police for the Port Huron Police Department and nineteen years of teaching experience as an adjunct faculty member at SC4.

Kathleen Tindall, instructor of business with twenty-seven years of advertising experience, including for companies such as Ford, Jeep, Lincoln, McDonald’s, Little Caesars, Hungry Howie’s and Henry Ford Health and has thirteen years of experience teaching at Macomb Community College.

Jacob Vinson, instructor of art with twenty years of experience working with ceramics and four years of teaching experience as an adjunct faculty member at SC4.

“We welcome our new full-time faculty as a continuation of our strong legacy of academic excellence. SC4 has outstanding faculty who provide high-quality higher education in our community,” said Kirk Kramer, President of SC4.

The Fall 2024 semester has started for SC4, but interested students can still register to take classes this semester. Any student looking to register for traditional 16-week courses may do so up until Friday, August 23. If a student is not able to register or start on this date, SC4 also offers twelve and eight-week courses with delayed starts. These classes are perfect for students who have a restrictive schedule or are looking to quickly complete a class. Those interested in taking classes at SC4 can view a complete list of offered courses at sc4.edu/schedule.

For media inquiries, please contact Sarah Rutallie, Chief of Staff, at srutallie@sc4.edu

Professor Steve Gura has been an instructor at SC4 for over six years, using his extensive experience to prepare students for a career in nursing.

Growing up, Steve moved around a lot. His family lived in Chicago and Vermont before moving to West Bloomfield, Michigan, when Steve was in high school. Steve’s interest in medicine developed during his freshman year of college after a close friend was diagnosed with Leukemia. In between classes, Steve would visit with his friend, which stirred him to enter to pursue a career in nursing.

After graduating from Oakland University with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, Steve took a position at St. Joseph Mercy Oakland in Pontiac. He later transitioned to McLaren Port Huron Hospital, where he worked as the only male nurse on the pediatric floor for nineteen years.

Much of Steve’s career has been rooted in women’s and children’s health. He described his field by saying, “You’re not just taking care of the child, but the family. It isn’t just focusing on the medical care of the patient but caring for the entire family structure, and the sickness of a child disrupts that family structure. It is working with the family and teaching them how to take care of their baby. It’s also helping families understand the life changes that occur with maturation.”

Steve’s relationship with SC4 began when a college faculty member recognized his knack for helping visiting nursing students on his floor. Soon after this, Steve continued his studies while working at McLaren, earning his Master of Science in Nursing Education. Shortly after, Steve was hired as an adjunct professor at SC4. After two years of teaching, he was hired as a full-time faculty for the Practical Nursing Program in 2018 and was recently elected as the department chair for Health and Human Services.

“It’s the best job or career choice I’ve ever made in my life, and I mean that whole-heartedly. The creativity that is allowed as faculty and the exchange of ideas with other departments in your division and other departments at the college is amazing.”

Steve and his wife, Michele, have been married for twenty-six years and have two children, Ben and Sam. Ben is a recent high school graduate and will be attending SC4 in the Fall 2024 semester. In his free time, Steve enjoys hunting, reading, especially fantasy novels, and participating in wildlife rehabilitation of raptors. He takes great joy in helping prepare recovered birds to reenter the wild and currently has six screech owls that are ready for release.

For media inquiries, please contact Sarah Rutallie, Chief of Staff, at srutallie@sc4.edu