July marks another milestone at the College of Business Administration as we complete our fifth year in the Big Ten. When I look back at how we have grown in the last five years, I could not be more proud of our students, faculty, staff and alumni. Of course, the new building is rising quickly on the corner of 14^th and Vine, and the dark blue glass on the west side literally shines during these long summer afternoons. However, what the building really represents is the Start Something attitude all of you have brought to everything you do for our college. The new building is really an extension of every one of you. 

If you haven’t checked out our Executive Education program, now is the time to do it. We continue to add curriculum ranging from multiple-day certificate programs to afternoon power lunches in the Lincoln and Omaha areas. The certificate in finance and accounting for non-financial professionals is our next event, which runs from July 20-22 in Omaha. Dr. Emre Unlu teaches the program designed to improve your understanding of key finance and accounting concepts, and how they apply to your business. You will also learn to analyze financial statements in order to make better strategic business decisions, and understand best practices. I had the privilege of teaching a one day program – Women as Leaders and Negotiators – on the UNL campus in May, and will be presenting it again this fall in Omaha on October 6. You can review all our current programs on our Executive Education webpage. 

We are currently hosting our fifth annual DREAMBIG Academy here on campus this week. The five-day program provides diverse high school seniors the chance to learn about potential careers in business, while emphasizing leadership and networking skills. A key to the success of DREAMBIG is the opportunity for students to interact with local businesses, non-profits, CBA faculty and staff and successful CBA alumni at a networking reception. This program continues to change lives and offer opportunities to students who otherwise would not have come to UNL.

Finally, I want to take a moment to recognize just one of our outstanding researchers at CBA, Dr. Yijia Lin, N.Z. Snell Life Insurance Professor. Yijia recently received the Early Career Scholarly Achievement Award from the American Risk and Insurance Association. The award recognizes distinguished achievement of a risk management and insurance scholar within ten years of receiving their Ph.D. Her publications in top tier insurance journals are nearly unprecedented in such a short amount of time. Read more about Yijia’s research in this issue of Inside CBA.

One of the best ways to stay up to date with activities at CBA is to follow us on social media. You can connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn. You can also connect with me through my @DeanPlowmanCBA Twitter account. Please consider joining us and let us know what you are doing to Start Something this summer by using the hashtag #UNLCBA.  Published: July 12, 2016