Speaking the Language
By John Helsley
Donna Lamson didn’t carry alumna status when she arrived to interview for the program director job with Oklahoma State University’s Ph.D. in Business for Executives.
Still, she spoke the language. Fluently.
“She was wearing orange and shared several OSU stories,” said Jose Sagarnaga, the former director of the Executive Ph.D. program and now director of the school’s Center for Advanced Global Leadership and Engagement (CAGLE).
Lamson’s credentials were strong as a former longtime sales executive with Xerox. She showed clear personalcare skills. And she knew and adored Oklahoma State, indoctrinated into the Cowboy Way after marrying an OSU alumnus, husband Dan.
“She was the perfect candidate for the position because of her previous experience with Xerox and also her love for OSU and the state of Oklahoma,” Sagarnaga said.
Lamson shares that love in her position, pumping personal touches and care into a degree program that places extreme demands on its students over three rigorous years. As part of the program, the students — already full-time professionals who average some 50 years of age — spend 10 weekends of residency a year on campus, augmenting heavy online requirements.
It’s this time that the students spend in Stillwater that brings out the best in Lamson.
With the students fully immersed in course work, Lamson handles the details of arranging their lodging and meals, all the way down to the specifics of the daily menus.
And that’s not all. She’s on top of birthday cards and cakes, provides items of the correct color for anyone who forgets Orange Fridays and schedules some fun for the rare spare-time opportunities, perhaps a Cowboys basketball game. She takes special requests when it comes to diets, making sure to offer vegetarian and vegan options, and even gluten-free pizza. She also preps those traveling in with logistics and the latest weather forecasts.
“Donna adds a personal touch to a professional program,” said Bryan Edwards, an associate professor in OSU’s Department of Management. “She takes personal responsibility for everyone during residencies. She learns everything about everyone so she can anticipate their needs. For example, she has special meals made for our diabetics, knows who is left-handed, remembers the names of children and what activities they are involved in.
“Nothing falls through the cracks when she is in charge.”
And Lamson does it all with the care that’s earned her the moniker of “house mom.”
“It’s a three-year death march, and she brings a personal touch to the degree,” said Toby Joplin, director of the program. “She really brings a concierge level of service to the program. She has just a great eye for detail. And that’s so important.”
It’s a level of service Lamson developed while fostering relationships with her customers at Xerox.
“I think it’s just innate with me,” she said. “I was in sales, and you just take care of customers. I was very successful, and that comes with great customer service. Some of my customers I had for 10, 15 years. So they also became close personal friends. “I respect what they are having to pay to come to this program. So to me, they deserve top-of-the-line customer service.”
And Lamson delivers.
Lamson is proud to say she works at Oklahoma State University.
“Donna’s greatest assets are that she’s incredibly conscientious, service-oriented and optimistic,” said former Oklahoma State professor Tracy Suter, who worked in the program. “Also, in the context of this program, she understands that the rigor is high, the time commitment is extensive, and the balance for the executive Ph.D. student is intense.
“Thus, she found her niche as being the breath of fresh air at the end of every long, tiring day. She gave these very accomplished students room to relax in the face of high personal and program expectations.”
Oklahoma State’s Ph.D. in Business for Executives program is among few like it in the nation, offering the opportunity to earn a doctorate while continuing a fulltime executive career. A 60 credit-hour program, it requires a major commitment of time and money, costing $120,000 over the three years.
Students from across the United States, as well as Canada, Mexico, Europe and South America have participated in the program. A limited number of students are admitted each August.
Currently, two cohorts totaling 28 students are pressing toward Ph.D. degrees, while another eight students are working on dissertations.
“The three years I was in this program, I did nothing — nothing except my day job and this Ph.D. program seven days a week for three years,” said Joplin, who was in the initial cohort. “I didn’t mow my yard; someone else did. I didn’t hang my own Christmas lights, which I always do. I didn’t go on vacation. I didn’t do anything.
“That may be a little more discipline than most students, but it’s not far off the average.”
Lamson, who lives in the Tulsa area and works on the OSU-Tulsa campus, relocates to Stillwater for the three days the students come together. It’s a working weekend, but a rewarding weekend.
“The satisfaction I get from seeing their emotions and their happiness, it’s just wonderful,” Lamson said. “They are my customers. I’m here because of them. And they’re happy people. I love taking care of them.”
Lamson declares her love for OSU, too, with an assist from Dan.
“I grew up in Kansas, but I met my husband in 1979, and he’s an OSU graduate,” she said. “And God love him, he bleeds orange.”
So did their son, a graduate who earned a master’s degree at OSU. The Lamsons enjoy boating on Skiatook Lake and relaxing by the fire on their back patio or under the fan on the front porch, depending on the season.
Still, their schedules mostly revolve around the OSU athletic schedules, “who plays what and when,” Lamson said.
Donna Lamson may not carry alumna status, but she speaks the language. Fluently.
“This is my second career and I don’t have to work,” she said. “So you have a nice little different attitude. I have a fun job. And the reason I have a fun job is the people I work for and the people I work with, my students.”