Jodie Dompier, assistant teaching professor of accounting information systems, knows what it’s like to forge your own career path, follow what excites you, and seize interesting opportunities. Her approach led her to a teaching career that she loves—one that has earned her the 2026 Michigan Tech College of Business (COB) Teacher of the Year Award.
“The Teacher of the Year award recipient is selected by COB students, meaning it’s definitely quite the accomplishment to earn,” said Veronica Frystak, the Business Husky who had the honor of presenting the award to Dompier this spring.
“Earning Teacher of the Year demonstrates a level of connection between a professor and their students that goes beyond expectations,” she said. “It’s an award for above-and-beyond instruction, and for making an effort to truly connect with students with kindness, patience, and advocacy. This year, Jodie has truly exemplified these traits, and her effort has been recognized by the student body.”
Some of the reasons students voted for Dompier include her welcoming class environment. “She always puts the student first,” one nominator wrote.
“The way she teaches is very interactive and easy to follow,” wrote another. “She creates stories that go along with each learning objective to apply the concepts to the real world. If you have questions, can’t read the board, or her pace isn’t right for you, she happily adjusts her teaching to make sure everyone can understand. She asks students how they are and is always happy to talk when not actively teaching. It’s easy to tell how passionate she is about her profession and it positively impacts her teaching.”
“I always felt very comfortable asking her questions,” said another student nominator.
In this College of Business Q&A, Dompier answers more questions, including what brought her to Tech and how she made the shift from information technology staff member to educator.
Q: You’re a Tech alumna who earned your master’s degree in accounting in 2019. Previously, you earned your bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Michigan. What made you decide to pursue an accounting degree—and why do it at Michigan Tech?
JD: Part of the reason I chose to work at Michigan Tech is because you can take free classes. I worked for SAIS (Student Affairs and Information Systems, which is now Information Systems and Services). My boss at that time, Karen Hall, taught night classes at Gogebic Community College. I thought that could be fun. I wasn’t sure what degree to pursue at first, and I wanted to find a way to tie it into my previous work experience.
I was considering a master’s in data science or an MBA, but then I took a class with Joel Tuoriniemi. Joel was a master at grilling students; he made me sweat every class period. I sure miss him! The next class I took was with senior lecturer in accounting Sheila Milligan, another Michigan Tech legend. I was hooked on accounting. The two of them were passionate teachers; it was really inspiring to see how happy they both were to be in the classroom every day. That was really when I started considering a full career change from IT to teaching.
Q: You’ve been at Tech more than 11 years, but you didn’t start in a teaching role. Please tell us more about how your career evolved at the University.
JD: I’ll start from the beginning: When I graduated with my English degree, I was offered a technical writing position at a start-up company. I jumped at the chance. In a small firm, it’s relatively easy to change roles, so I was able to become a consultant in financial reporting and software for local governments. I was there for 10 years before coming to Michigan Tech, where I joined the information systems team. I loved working here. Universities have a ton of data, lots of different software systems running together, and constantly changing requirements. It’s really chaotic and challenging. I started pursuing my master’s while working full-time. Upon graduation, Michigan Tech asked me to be an adjunct professor for governmental accounting in 2020. I loved it and was able to start teaching full-time in 2023. I am so grateful for the opportunity.
Q: What’s your teaching style? What’s your favorite part of teaching and what’s the most challenging?
JD: My favorite part of teaching is the students. I love to see them rise to challenges, question their assumptions, and expand their interests. My style of teaching is more hands-on; I think students are more successful when they work through lots of problems. I like to give real-world examples that make it relevant to their lives—not everyone loves accounting, and that’s OK.
Q: What do you enjoy most about our College of Business students?
JD: I love COB students! Michigan Tech attracts highly motivated, hard-working students. Many of them have unique special interests that add a lot of value to our class discussions. Some days, I really have no idea what to expect from them!
Q: When and why did you start the Excel Club at Michigan Tech—and why did Huskies join?
JD: I started Excel Club because I thought there would be a lot of students interested in Excel as an esport, and because learning Excel through gaming is much more fun than going through a certification manual. I’ve always been a big nerd about software, and this ties in pretty well with what I consider to be “fun work” instead of “work work.” Last December, I attended the Microsoft Excel World Championship as a spectator, and The Active Cell training camp, and I really felt like I found my clan with these people. I would like to have the same clan here at Michigan Tech.
The club started meeting in January 2026, and both students who competed in the Microsoft Excel Collegiate Challenge weekend online battles were able to attend the regional competition in Orlando, Florida. Rylan Feierabend came in third place and Nick LaValley came in 16th from among more than 100 students from five universities. It’s amazing that we have students succeeding at competitions already! I would attribute this to the quality of College of Business programming, internship opportunities, and the hard work of the students themselves.
Q: We heard that students surprised you with the Teacher of the Year award while you were actually teaching a course. What was that moment like? Please tell us how it feels to be honored as Teacher of the Year.
JD: I was unable to attend the annual COB Student Awards ceremony because we were in Orlando for Excel Club’s MECC regionals. They gave me the award at the beginning of my governmental accounting class. We had a guest speaker, Bill Tucker, waiting on Zoom to talk to us about the All the Queen’s Horses fraud story. I was so excited for this class that I wanted to rush them out so that we could start our session—but I am incredibly thankful for this award. It makes me feel appreciated and energized.
About the College of Business
The Michigan Tech College of Business prepares tomorrow’s business professionals through STEM-infused, AACSB-accredited degree programs and minors. The college offers nine bachelor of science programs in accounting, business analytics, construction management, economics, engineering management, finance, management, management information systems, and marketing; and four master of science programs in accounting and analytics, applied natural resource economics, engineering management, and the TechMBA®.
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