Dr. Ferketish is an Associate Professor in the Department of Administrative and Policy Studies at the University of Pittsburgh where she teaches courses in the leadership and management of institutions of higher education. She has more than 30 years of experience working with organizations to improve performance and strengthen culture in academia, industry, service sector and healthcare. By simultaneously focusing on both the people and process sides of the organization, she has improved service and product quality, teamwork, and employee engagement. She teaches masters and doctoral students four graduate programs and trains other consultants in leadership, human resources and organization development as well as strategic planning.
Prior to joining the faculty fulltime, Dr. Ferketish served as the Secretary of the Board of Trustees and Assistant Chancellor for the University of Pittsburgh for 14 years. She was an elected officer of the University and directed the office that provided professional support to the Chairman of the Board, the 84 members of the Board and its 15 standing committees. She also led a variety of projects requiring the ability to build consensus across constituency groups, affect the image of the University and provide advice on sensitive and complex situations.
In 1995, Dr. Ferketish joined the University and introduced the first organization development methods with the goal of improving service quality and cost-effectiveness. While in this role, she directed more than 50 organization improvement projects within University units including: process redesign, culture change, competency-based systems alignment, training, and team structures. She trained others to facilitate the methods and customized approaches as needed to serve diverse populations and goals in 44 Responsibility Centers.
Before joining Pitt, Dr. Ferketish was a consultant for Development Dimensions International (DDI), a Pittsburgh-based human resources firm with over $190 million in revenue. While at DDI, she implemented major organization culture change strategies such as self-directed teams, TQM, and patient-centered care. She worked with clients as diverse as University of Cincinnati Medical Center, Dreyor’s/Edy’s Grand Ice Cream, Buick, and Alcoa. Dr. Ferketish created many of DDI’s organizational change models and processes and is co-author of the book, Organization Change that Works: How to Merge Culture and Business Strategies for Maximum Results. She is a recipient of DDI’s Presidential Award. Dr. Ferketish spent the first 10 years of her career at Westinghouse where she directed efforts in Total Quality Management, Organization Development, training and internal communications at multiple locations.
Dr. Ferketish teaches courses in Leadership, Organization Culture and Change, Strategic Planning and Human Resources. She holds a Ph.D. and MBA from the University of Pittsburgh and a BA from Duquesne University. Dr. Ferketish is a frequent presenter at conferences, a facilitator of retreats, a consultant on change initiatives and an executive and cultural coach.