Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership
Graduate Program
At St. Kate’s, Karen Wendt often discovers new things about herself. She unearthed her flair for marketing during an assignment involving iced tea. Her newfound talent for writing grew out of encouragement from St. Catherine’s faculty. “The St. Kate’s faculty are the best I’ve ever been taught by,” says Wendt, who has a bachelor’s degree in nursing and psychology and years of experience working with persons with mental illness.
Wendt also has learned about leadership. “I’ve always known that I have the talent to be a leader,” she says. “But, I didn’t know how to put it all together or how to do it in healthcare.” It all came together when she began her MAOL degree as part of a St. Catherine’s program offered on-site at the hospital where she works. “It was exactly what I had been looking for.”
She quickly began using her new skills on the job. Learning to focus on things that are going well, as well as those that are not, helped her begin to make changes in her workplace. Eventually, her efforts led to a promotion that was a step toward realizing her goal of implementing major changes in psychiatric nursing in Minnesota. Wendt hopes to keep discovering new things about herself as she reaches for her ultimate career goal — to teach at St. Kate’s.