Dr. Wollan joined Eastern Illinois University's faculty in Fall 2005 teaching Human Resource Management and Organizational Behavior. She is a graduate of the University of Nebraska (PhD, 2002), Gonzaga University (MBA, 1997), and Central Washington University (BSBA, 1993). She maintains her certification as a Professional in Human Resources (PHR), was President of the Institute of Behavioral and Applied Management (IBAM, 2005-2007), and served as co-adviser of the EIU Chapter of SHRM.
Her Background
Melody previously taught at University of Nebraska (1997-1999), Clemson University (2000-2002), and Touro University International (2003-2005). She has chaired dissertations of three graduated PhD students and served on dissertation committees of four other graduated PhD students. She is a three-time award recipient in Who's Who Among America's Teachers, was recognized for her Contributions to Students by the Parents Association and Teacher's Council at the University of Nebraska, shared the 2006 Outstanding Teaching Award for the School of Business (EIU), shared the 2006 Excellence in the Use of Technology Award, Lumpkin College of Business and Applied Sciences (EIU), received the OASIS faculty award in 2007 for Excellent Service to Nontraditional Students, and was recognized by Eastern Illinois University with an Achievement and Contribution Award for Service and the School of Business with the 2007 Outstanding Service Award. Her non-academic work experience spans three states (WA, ID, NE), from serving as Business Manager for a state political party and an internet start-up venture, and to credit finance experience at two major financial institutions.
Her Research
Dr. Wollan's research interests lie with individual level behavior in work environments. Specifically, she has a goal of developing practical and theoretically supported processes for organizational exits and managing the exit process effectively. Her dissertation focused on the effects expressed by coworkers when a colleague exits, or the "snowball effect" of turnover as it is more widely known. Related, she has been researching organizational ceremonial activities for different types of exits (e.g., voluntary, involuntary, retirements, downsizing), and how employees engage in information and feedback seeking behavior to attain workplace knowledge. She has presented research at Academy of Management multiple years, the Institute of Behavioral and Applied Management annually since 1998 (including the 2007 IBAM Best Paper in HR Division Award that she cowrote with former student, Dr. Sharon Kendrick), European Group for Organizational Studies (EGOS), Western Academy of Management and Eastern Academy of Management. Recent publications are "Recall of autobiographical memory: A longitudinal analysis of franchisee experts" that appears in the International Entrepreneurship & Management Journal, and "Motives for helping: Exploring cultural influences on extra-role behavior" will be forthcoming in the Multinational Business Review. She serves on the Editoral Review Board of the Journal of Behavioral and Applied Management (JBAM) and Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies, and regularly reviews for Journal of Managerial Issues, Journal of Small Business Management, and Career Development International.