Orion Twp. resident to share research at MI Works! conference Oct. 14

John F. Fruner, D.B.A., a Baker College graduate and instructor, will present the findings of his doctoral dissertation research about late-career employability and reemployment in a challenging labor market at the annual Michigan Works! Association Conference, 8:30-9:45 a.m., Tuesday, Oct. 14. The conference will be at the Soaring Eagle Resort and Casino, Mount Pleasant.

Susan Fleming will co-lead the workshop, entitled “Late Career Reemployment: Summary of a Michigan Case Study.” Fleming consulted on Fruner’s research. She is a career coach, employment instructor and business services professional for Michigan Works! in Kent and Allegan counties.

Fruner earned a doctorate in business administration at the Baker Center for Graduate Studies in 2013 after successfully defending his dissertation, “Late-Career Reemployment Transitions: How Unemployed Older Knowledge Workers Rejoin the Labor Force.” He studied how ten late-career Michigan knowledge workers navigated career transitions to become productively reemployed during the recession of 2007-2009.

He won the 2013 Distinguished Paper award in Human Services Management from the North American Management Society at the MBAA Conference in Chicago last year for a research paper based on his dissertation.

“I plan to share information about the experiences of participants who made successful, late-career transitions and discuss how this research can help career counselors who work with clients in similar situations,” Fruner said. “The conference is an ideal platform to inform human resources and workforce development professionals about the findings of my ongoing study and Baker College’s support of practice-oriented research in the area of multigenerational career development. I look forward to cultivating new relationships with expert practitioners at this venue because we share a mutual interest in continuing this type of research.”

Fruner is an automotive manufacturing strategy consultant and business educator. He holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Kettering University and an MBA from Michigan State University.

For more information about the annual Michigan Works! Association Conference or to register, visit www.michiganworksconference.org.

For more information about Baker College’s graduate studies programs, contact Chuck Gurden in the admissions office at 810.766.4390 or adm-ol@baker.edu, or visit www.baker.edu.

Baker College Online and the Baker College Center for Graduate Studies are part of Baker College, the largest private college in Michigan. Both are accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. The Center for Graduate Studies MBA program is also accredited by the International Assembly for Collegiate Business Education (IACBE). The Baker Online MBA program is nationally recognized by U.S. News & World Report’s usnews.com “E-Learning Online Graduate Programs: Business-Regionally Accredited Programs” and has been ranked as one of the first-established, largest and best-value online MBA programs in the nation. Baker College is a not-for-profit higher education institution, serving more than 28,000 students on 12 campuses and in three satellite locations. Baker grants certificates and associate, bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business, health sciences, education and human services, and various technical fields, as well as a doctorate of business administration. For more information, please visit the Baker College website at www.baker.edu.