FRIDAY, DECEMBER 1ST, 2023 - DAKOTA STATE MISSION CHANGE #2

 FRIDAY, DECEMBER 1ST, 2023 - DAKOTA STATE MISSION CHANGE #5

This week, I'm writing about the Mission Change at Dakota State from 1983 to 1984. Next week, I'm going to a 40th-year event on campus.

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I was asked not to continue as Dean in the spring of 1990. I had been on a twelve-month contract and now would be on a nine-month contract. Connie insisted I get a job. I called friends at Citibank and immediately got hired as a "Summer Faculty Intern." I worked 12 summers at Citibank as a "Summer Intern." (More on that later).

By 1990, our graduates were sought after. Citibank tended to get the group's pick - for interns and full-time hires. Other employers were Schwan's Enterprises out of Marshall, Minnesota, and Federated Insurance in Owatonna, Minnesota.

In particular, Tom Farrell and Bruce White became salesmen. We went to the BIG Job Fair in Sioux Falls and talked to employers. We even helped shy students talk to employers by walking them to the employers. (or dragging them <grin>).  We hosted the employers when they were on campus - and asked what they were looking for. Some students were stronger in technical skills, and others were better analysts.  

By the middle 1990s, Tom and I drove to visit employers where our students worked. We wanted to know how to better prepare the students for work.  

We drove to Marshall to Schwan's Enterprises (much larger than the Schwan's Frozen Foods delivery trucks you might see in your neighborhood). They loved our students. Many of our graduates came from smaller South Dakota towns, and Marshall was a good location for those not wanting to work in larger communities. Jack (our Schwans recruiter) took us to Senior Professional Golf events in the Twin Cities. (I saw Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicholas, Chi-Chi Rodriges, Sam Sneed, and others on the Senior Professional Tournament play).

We drove to Owatonna to Federated Insurance - again, they loved our graduates. And to Rochester to IBM. We traveled to Omaha to Mutual of Omaha and ADS (Advanced Data Services). 

Tom and Bruce were "larger than life" at times (or maybe it was just Bruce). We wanted companies to keep hiring our students and build relationships between Dakota State and the employers.  

Our biggest deal was when we recalled our graduates' degrees!!! (WHAT???). YES!!

Cars were recalled for safety reasons, so why not get our alums together to talk about what exciting things were happening on campus - give some ideas on new technologies, and invite our alums to share what exciting things they were doing?  

We did clear it with the administration first - and we expected students getting an invitation from Tom Farrell and Bruce White - would laugh and say, "It'll be nice to be back on campus with friends for a Saturday afternoon!!!."  

A few didn't quite understand, and the President's Office handled some of those calls by asking, "And, whose names were on that invitation?" It was a reunion when they figured out it was Tom and Bruce, not any important official.

*****

We did pranks on each other. My best prank on Tom was putting a cassette tape player in the false ceiling with about 15 minutes of nothing - then a loud, bombastic piece. Tom (and others) filled my office with wadded-up newspapers - so I could barely get in - and then it took most of the day to get the paper out!!!

We went into classrooms and sang Karaoke for Christmas and St. Patrick's Day.

The entire BIS faculty dressed up for Halloween. It was definitely a fun atmosphere.

After going to an academic conference and returning in the cold, I volunteered to get my car, scrape the snow off it, and warm it up while Tom got the suitcases. After paying for the parking, I swung by the luggage door and Tom through the suitcases in the trunk. After driving home and dropping off Tom, I found that Tom had picked up the wrong bag. It had clothing items with much more lace than I was wearing then. (I had to run back to the airport - about an hour's drive away - and exchange the suitcase for me.

*****

Our students know that we will support them as they go out to work. Yes, we had fun, but yes, our students learned. Tom would put a $20 bill on his desk for the first dumb question (and, of course, there never was a dumb question). He also stamped his foot if a concept was necessary, and students would know it was vital because he stamped his foot. 

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I mentioned that I worked twelve summers at Citibank in Sioux Falls. It was a great experience. For an academic with a doctorate, I was "book smart." Working in the Information Systems industry was an eye-opener. Developers had users and were developing (or improving) applications for those users.  

In my first summer, my team got a one-page memo from users. The first paragraph said this was a good project, the second paragraph said they had some issues with the project, and the third project said it was a terrible project for them. (We got a good laugh from it and worked with the users to clarify) 

All professors should have real-life experiences like I had at Citibank. It made me a better teacher!!!

All from the mission change at Dakota State. In 2023, I can't imagine a world without computers and computing. But in 1983, without the Internet, Google, Amazon, and electronic tax filing, it was a different environment. I am proud of the students I taught and are living the American Dream.

LOVE WINS

CHANGE AND INNOVATION OCCUR

LOVE TRANSFORMS

KAREN ANNE WHITE, © DECEMBER 1, 2023