Dean Michelle Eppler Named to Head Bellevue University’s Human Capital Lab

Michelle K. Eppler, Ed.D., who has served as Dean of Bellevue University’s College of Continuing and Professional Education since 2003, has been appointed Executive Director of the University’s Human Capital Lab. The announcement was made by Bellevue University President Mary Hawkins.

Founded a decade ago, the Bellevue University Human Capital Lab was the first in the nation to study the business impact of learning. Bellevue University was the first to offer a Ph.D. program in human capital management, which is defined as the comprehensive set of practices for recruiting, managing, developing and optimizing the human resources of an organization. Since its founding, the Human Capital Lab has focused on measuring the impact of learning on productivity in the workplace – showing companies the return on investment (ROI) of investments made in the people who make up their workforces. Human Capital Lab studies and data are available free at HumanCapitalLab.org.

“The Human Capital Lab is a great example of how rigorous academic study can be used to collaborate with companies and support business productivity,” said Dr. Eppler, who also serves as Associate Vice President of the University. She added that the Lab plans to expand on the rich data repositories and case studies that it makes available to organizations and Chief Learning Officers (CLO). Dr. Eppler, whose doctorate thesis at the University of Missouri-Columbia was on the topic of educational leadership and policy analysis, also noted that the Lab’s work aligns with the University’s expertise in workforce learning and development. Bellevue University is recognized as a nationwide leader in adult learning, and currently provides talent-forward organizations with a variety of for-credit and non-credit education programs and services.