Since completing the Master of Leadership Development (MLD) program at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College (SMWC) in 2009, Jayson Boyers has had three career advancements. Most recently, Boyers was named the president of Cleary University in Michigan. Boyers became the tenth president in Cleary University’s 132-year history on October 1, 2015.
Boyers was already interested in organizational leadership when he came to The Woods. In fact, it’s the reason he chose the MLD program. But SMWC gave him the skills and knowledge that he was looking for in order to make a difference at an organization.
“I chose it at the time because I was really fascinated with leadership, and I had the long term goal of leading an organization,” states Boyers. “It gave me valuable, marketable skills because it wasn’t just about understanding business but about creating leadership capacity within an organization.”
With more than 13 years of experience in higher education, Boyers has consistently achieved ambitious goals. While attending SMWC, Boyers was regional president of the Chef’s Academy of Harrison College in Indianapolis, Ind. For his final project in the MLD program, he created a market expansion model, which Harrison College implemented to open a location in Raleigh, North Carolina. Boyers became the national division president of the Chef’s Academy and moved to North Carolina.
His next career move took him to Vermont where he was the vice president and managing director of Champlain College’s Division of Continuing Professional Studies (National Online Division). In this role, he created a new business model and implemented appropriate procedures across finance, sales, IT and academics to support a B2B development environment. His efforts successfully expanded the division’s footprint on a national level through development of an online, ecommerce model.
The trajectory of Boyers’ career appears limitless. Wherever his journey takes him, he still relies on the skills and relationships he developed at SMWC.
“I have used the competencies that I gained in the program to help me understand the journey to solve the problem not just to try to get an easy answer to the problem,” he states. “I had some really outstanding professors. Working and getting to know people in my cohort was really encouraging … Collaborating with people from very different backgrounds. The relationships that I still have today; I still keep in touch with folks that were in my class.”
In addition to his MLD degree, Boyers has a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Liberal Studies from the University of Indianapolis and is currently pursuing a Doctor of Education in Interdisciplinary Leadership from Creighton University with an expected completion in 2016.
In 2011, the Triangle Business Journal honored Boyers with the 40 Under 40 Leadership Award. He is active in a number of civic and charitable organizations, including appointments to the Champlain Chamber of Commerce, Hunger Free Vermont and the Burlington City Arts Foundation.