Preparing tomorrow’s business leaders for career success is part of the Fisher experience. From world-class faculty, to an entrepreneurially focused curriculum, to dedicated resources available from an award-winning Office of Career Management (OCM), students enjoy a culture rich with opportunities for personal and professional development.

In the classroom, Fisher faculty are finding innovative and impactful ways to foster students’ career readiness. And one such faculty member has been recognized for that dedication.

Ty Shepfer (BSBA ’07, MS ’09), director of Fisher’s Honors Cohort program and a senior lecturer in the Department of Management and Human Resources, was awarded the 2018 University Career Services Award from the University Career Services Committee (UCSC).

The award recognizes faculty and staff from across the university who exceed their job duties in support of student career development and career services programming. UCSC is an organization composed of university professionals who are committed to responding to the career-development needs of Ohio State students.

Upon learning that he’d won the award, Shepfer said he felt humbled and surprised because of the many great things taking place with career-management initiatives across the university.

He attributes his student-focused dedication to the connection he feels as a double Buckeye.

“It wasn’t too long ago that I was a student trying to figure things out,” he said. “I believe that the college years are some of the most important in making career decisions that have a lasting impact on your life. Anything I can do to help students is the most rewarding part of my role.

“The students are our customers, and we are here to serve them.”

And that customer-service mindset isn’t lost on the students who’ve been impacted by Shepfer’s dedication and who were compelled to nominate him.

Joseph Kline, a 2018 Fisher graduate and a former member of the Honors Cohort program, said Shepfer has had a profound impact on his career development by encouraging him to seek out his true passion in life, much like how Shepfer has found in his role at Fisher after working in human resources at Royal Dutch Shell.

“Ty is a unique candidate for this award because he is somehow able to balance the incredible workload on his plate, all while maintaining deep personal connections with his students,” Kline said. “He is a one-of-a-kind teacher at Fisher.”

In her nomination of Shepfer, Honors Cohort member and marketing major Hannah Sagel expressed gratitude for Shepfer’s commitment to the Honors Cohort program. She also credits him as the main reason she landed her dream internship during summer 2018.

“He goes above and beyond to make time for each student, even if it means meeting at 10 p.m. one night and at 6 a.m. the next morning,” she said. “His passion for helping his students shines through with every new idea he has to enrich our cohort experience.”

Under Shepfer’s leadership, the Honors Cohort Program has evolved to provide an MBA-like experience for a select group of 30 Fisher students during their junior and senior year.

The program focuses on action-based learning by partnering with world-class organizations to help them solve current problems. It also features two domestic trips to Chicago and San Francisco, and one international trip to Brazil, where students have the opportunity to learn about different career paths while improving their overall business acumen.

An additional component of the program is the Honors Cohort Impact Challenge, a year-long service project that builds awareness and sensitivity to different challenges in the community.

As a Fisher alumnus, Shepfer is in the unique position of having benefitted personally from OCM’s resources. Drawing from his academic degrees and work experience, he’s able to pay forward while giving back to the college by working closely with his students and encouraging their career preparedness.

“The Office of Career Management is world-class,” he said. “They not only keep up with trends, they stay ahead of them so that students are as prepared as possible for the career-search process.”

Shepfer credits his time at Ohio State — both as a student and as a faculty member — with positively changing his life’s path and influencing his interactions with Fisher students.

“Ohio State opened up my world,” he said. “Anything that I can do to help others have the same amazing experience I did is something I’m more than happy to do in my role at Fisher.”