SC4 Faculty Spotlight—Dr. Michael Belleman

Dr. Michael Belleman is a professor of Economics at SC4 and has taught at the college since 2010. He was recently appointed to serve as president of the SC4 faculty association and has also served as treasurer and vice president.

Mike holds a bachelor's degree in business from Marygrove College, two master's degrees in taxation and economics from Walsh College and a doctorate in accounting, which he earned while teaching full-time at SC4. He also has extensive experience in corporate finance, taxes relating to health care, and patient cost modeling. He has also worked with Medicare auditors and the IRS and actively consults for businesses.

When talking about his experience teaching, Mike recounted that he was terrified the first time he taught a college course. He recalled shaking behind his podium and giving his first lecture as an adjunct professor at Henry Ford Community College in 2002. However, he soon became comfortable in the classroom and grew to love the in-person interactions and "feeding off of the energy of his students," as he puts it.

The Socratic method is foundational to Mike's teaching style. This method uses focused questions to guide students to think through issues and go deeper than surface-level answers. Using this technique, students actively participate in classroom conversations by developing their thoughts, and the fear of presenting the "correct answer" is mitigated.

Mike explains this process further by saying, "You can be wrong in the classroom. I want [students] to be able to fail. That's the best teacher…. Our learning is a practice that we continue to develop throughout our lives."

In addition to academic content, Mike's classes are aimed to help students develop soft skills, such as conversational skills and multitasking. This approach ensures students are occupation or transfer-ready at the completion of the program.

Mike and his wife, Melanie, have two daughters who work in special education and speech pathology, three grandchildren, and a two-month-old puppy. In his free time, Mike enjoys playing golf and reading, especially about economics, history and current affairs.

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