Student Stories: Elizabeth Boone

Elizabeth Boone


Major: Travel and Tourism

Elizabeth Boone, Ed.D., MSPSYC, was facilitating a professional development training seminar when she met Jean Woodcock Ford, a faculty member heading College of DuPage’s Travel and Tourism program.

“She invited me to COD, and I ended up attending while teaching as an adjunct in the Travel and Tourism program,” Boone said.

Adult Student Admissions at COD

The experience began a life-long career in education for Boone. After completing an Associate in Applied Science in Travel and Tourism, she earned three additional degrees, including a doctorate from Benedictine University. Her dissertation emphasized the importance of peer mentoring among faculty as a mechanism for successful teaching.  

She worked for 10 years at Benedictine, first as assistant dean of Academic Development/Curriculum Redesign and then as director of the Center for Lifelong Learning.

“While holding these positions, I have coached, mentored and guided successful higher education professionals who now hold leadership roles at colleges and universities across the United States,” she said. “My legacy and value proposition during my tenure as assistant dean was that I developed and led professional development workshops to enhance the value of the adjunct and helped to define their roles in academia.”

Boone currently teaches in the Organizational Leadership program at Roosevelt University’s Heller Business College, where she serves as a member of the Senate, an online course designer and business adjunct faculty. She recently completed the Ministerial Transformational Coaching Certification from the Catholic Theological Union and facilitates high school students as they design and develop the DuPage County NAACP Newsletter. Her commitment to teaching youth a sense of history serves as a source of motivation and constantly inspires her to evolve.

She also offers coaching services to support personal and professional growth, including life coaching, career coaching and guidance in academic and college readiness.

As for COD, Boone is happy that she met Woodcock Ford. She hopes other students have the same transformative experience that she had.

“My advice for students is to not quit and to listen to follow your own journey on your path to your personal greatness,” she said. 

Learn more about the Travel and Tourism program at College of DuPage