April is here and once again we look forward to commencement where we celebrate student successes and see the results of great things started here at CBA. At our annual Advisory Board Awards Luncheon last week, we were pleased to honor an amazing group of individuals who walked the same path our current graduating class is traveling.
 
We honored Carrie Tolstedt, senior executive vice president of community banking from Wells Fargo with our Lifetime Achievement Award; Jim Kroeker, vice chair of the Financial Accounting Standards Board, and Barb Schaefer, retired senior vice president of human resources from Union Pacific with our Business Leadership Award; HUDL co-founders David Graff, Brian Kaiser and John Wirtz received our Young Alumni Award; and Nelnet received the Corporate Leadership Award. We had the largest crowd ever at the luncheon – 288 people – and the atmosphere was electric. We premiered a new video about the college and the building campaign and got rave reviews. It was a great event. Throughout the day various advisory boards were meeting and providing guidance and feedback to college leaders and faculty.
 
We are proud of students in our new supply chain management major who competed in a regional case competition in March against schools such as University of Iowa, University of Missouri and Washington University among others. Our team took home FIRST PLACE and will now compete at the national competition in New Orleans later in the year. We now have almost 100 majors in the program in less than two years, and it’s another great example of how we have started something BIG at CBA. Also, we just learned we have 1,000 students who have enrolled in the business minor for non-business majors. We only started that program two years ago as well.
 
The planning for our new building is in high gear. Over the next few months, we will unveil new pictures, renderings and floor plans that will provide a closer look at the insides of the building. I can’t wait until we host events like last Friday’s awards luncheon in the new building.
 
I also want to recognize the tremendous accomplishments of five retiring faculty members who will be honored at our college awards ceremony in early May. Gordie Karels, Janice Lawrence, Warren Luckner, Manferd Peterson and Terry Sebora  are all beloved by students and colleagues alike, and I’m sure many of you have benefited directly from their genuine enthusiasm for the subjects they taught. All of them leave giant footsteps to be filled.
 
There has never been a more exciting time at CBA and our trajectory has never been more positive. Thanks to everyone for all you do. Published: April 8, 2014