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Dr. Michael Hepner, Southwestern Michigan College’s new Dean of Advanced Technology and Industry Engagement, started Aug. 17.

“This dean position is about connecting SMC and our students to regional employers and industries, and Dr. Hepner has a proven record of doing exactly that,” said Chief Academic and Assurance Officer Dr. Jeff Freels. “Under his leadership, our students will see increased access to work-based learning, more industry partnerships and more clear paths from the classroom to careers. He'll also be looking at where our advanced technology programs can grow to meet the needs of the region's workforce. We're glad to have him on the team.”

Hepner, 48, who taught criminal justice as an adjunct instructor at SMC for seven years, from 2017-2024, brings a strong combination of academic leadership, teaching experience, accreditation expertise and commitment to career and technical education (CTE).

He previously served as Dean of Arts and Science at Danville Area Community College in Illinois. Prior to that, he spent nearly eight years as Assistant Dean of Instruction at Vincennes University Early College, where much of his work focused on career and technical education.

He has also served as a Criminal Justice Program Coordinator and Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice at St. Louis Community College in Missouri.

Hepner holds an Ed.D. in Instructional Leadership and Higher Education Administration, an M.A. in Management and Leadership, an M.S. in Criminology and a B.A. in English.

He has served as a Higher Learning Commission peer reviewer since 2022 and has experience with multiple programmatic accrediting agencies. His scholarly work has focused on critical thinking in undergraduate education, assessment, the community college adjunct experience and the value of general education.

Hepner grew up in Bishop Hill in northwestern Illinois wanting to be a police officer, which he has pursued part-time in Osceola.

While assistant dean for Vincennes for eight years in Elkhart, Hepner began refocusing from law enforcement to career and technical education.

“I tell people I went to graduate school to try to become a policeman with a master’s degree in criminology. I spent three years at St. Louis Community College, a year in Iowa at the University of Dubuque, then returned to St. Louis for three more years,” Hepner said.

“My wife is from Bremen, Ind., and she wanted to be home. The position in Elkhart at the Area Career Center opened up with Vincennes as assistant dean, so I took that, managing all the advanced technology programs — welding, engineering, precision machining.”

“Right out of high school I went to Southern Illinois University in Carbondale with no plan at all,” Hepner said. “I wasn’t the best student.” After roofing houses one grueling summer and fall, he begged the dean to return to college right before Christmas 1998.

“I’ll get a 4.0 in the spring,” he assured the skeptical official. “And I did, finishing strong. From there I went to grad school for my master’s degree in criminology at Indiana State University. As program coordinator at St. Louis Community College, I got into accreditation, which I really liked. I had applied to two doctoral programs, criminology at the University of Missouri-St. Louis and the Ph.D. program in higher ed administration at St. Louis University. Another wrench got thrown in my plans when Lindenwood University hired the faculty member I was going to work under for my dissertation. I moved over to Lindenwood real quick and finished there. Later, I completed a master’s in management and leadership at Webster University in St. Louis.”

“My wife (of 16 years, Katie, a neonatal ICU nurse at Memorial Hospital) didn’t want to marry a cop,” Hepner said. “That solidified I was going to stay in higher education.” They live in Lakeville and have six children, ages 2-15.