Supporting faculty and students with heart

Tracey DeFeyter joined the College of Business Administration this fall as the new administrative assistant in the Department of Business Information Systems. With years of higher education experience at the Saginaw Chippewa Tribal College, she brings a deep understanding of faculty support, student needs, and the many moving parts that make an academic department thrive.

“Working at a smaller institution gave me insight into how to keep things running smoothly,” DeFeyter said. “That experience has helped me transition quickly into my role at CMU, even as I continue learning new systems and processes.”

Her path to higher education wasn’t a straight line. Before her work at the tribal college, DeFeyter served in child welfare and later as a kinship navigator at Michigan State University. Along the way, she became a passionate advocate for foster care—both personally and professionally.

Invested in her CMU role

In BIS, DeFeyter is focused on organization, communication, and making sure students, faculty, and staff have the support they need. She sees this position as an opportunity to build stability in her own career while contributing to the success of the department.

“From the first day, I felt like this was a place where I could stay long-term,” she said. “I’m still learning, but I already feel like part of the team.”

A lifelong commitment to foster advocacy

Outside of CMU, DeFeyter continues her involvement in foster care recruitment, retention, and training as a contract worker with the Ennis Center for Children. Over the past decade, she and her husband have also fostered and adopted children themselves, shaping their large and loving family.

“For me, foster care has always been about making a difference in the life of a child, even if I can’t change the entire system,” she said. “I’ve been attached to every child we’ve cared for, and even when it was hard, the rewards outweighed the struggles.”

She continues to mentor foster families, participate in training panels, and provide respite care when her schedule allows.

Balancing foster care advocacy with BIS role

While foster care remains an important part of her life, DeFeyter emphasizes that her role at CMU is her professional home. The same values that guide her advocacy—support, resilience, and compassion—are the ones she brings into BIS each day. She sees her work in the department as another way to help people succeed, whether that’s through supporting faculty or making sure students have what they need to thrive.