Melissa
Morriss-Olson
, PhD
Dean of Graduate Programs and Distributed Learning; Professor of Nonprofit Management and Philanthropy
Department:
Nonprofit Management and Philanthropy
Location:
Elliott House
208
Degrees
B.S., Bemidji State University; M.A., Northeastern Illinois University; Ph.D., Loyola University of Chicago
Contact
Phone: 413.565.1010
Fax: 413.565.1116
Email: mmolson@baypath.edu
Profile
Melissa Morriss-Olson, Ph.D., serves as Dean of the Graduate School and Professor of Nonprofit Management and Philanthropy at Bay Path College. She is the founding director of Bay Path’s highly enrolled graduate programs in nonprofit management and strategic fundraising and philanthropy. Her previous higher education experience includes serving as the founding director and professor at the Axelson Center for nonprofit management at North Park University in Chicago, IL. In this role, she developed and implemented graduate degree programs in nonprofit administration that now enroll more than 200 students annually. While at North Park, she created the nationally recognized annual “Symposium for Nonprofit Professionals” event which attracted over 700 nonprofit leaders.
As a professor, she instructs such courses as Advanced Management Seminar, Strategic Fundraising Principles for Nonprofit Organizations, Capital Campaign Fundraising, Principles of Management, Organizational Behavior and Ethics, Women and Leadership, Leadership Principles and Practices, Foundations of Marketing, and Organizational Development and Change. Dr. Morriss-Olson obtained her Master’s degree from Northeastern Illinois University in Counselor Education and her doctorate degree from Loyola University (Chicago, IL) in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies.
A frequent presenter at numerous conferences throughout the United States, Dr. Morriss-Olson lectures on such topics as, “High Impact Philanthropy,” “Program Sustainability in Tough Times,” “Welcome to the World of Nonprofit Management,” “Essentials of Good Governance,” and “High Impact Management in Turbulent Times.” She is a member of several prestigious organizations including the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), the National Society of Fund Raising Executives (AFP), the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA), and the American Association of University Women (AAUW) and serves on a number of nonprofit boards.
Dr. Morriss-Olson resides in West Hartford, Connecticut with her husband, Glenn, and two daughters who are adopted from China.
