Winter 2005 - Wayne State College

WSC School of Business and Technology:Strong, Vibrant, Innovative and ConnectedAaron Hilkemann ’80, center, president of Duncan Aviation, Inc. inLincoln, participated in the WSC School of Business and Technology’sExecutive in Residence program on campus. Presenting a plaque ofappreciation to him are, left, Gerald ‘Jerry’ Conway, associateprofessor of business, and Dr. Vaughn Benson, dean of the School ofBusiness and Technology.4As the midway point of the first decade of the new millennium approaches, the Internetand other technologies continue to make the world a more dynamic and connected place.The School of Business and Technology at Wayne State College has long valued itsconnections to this technological world and to the school’s many internal and externalstakeholders, as well. With 979 current undergraduateand graduate students in programs offered by its threeacademic departments, a host of relationships withbusinesses and organizations from throughout thenation, and a strong base of seemingly countlessalumni, the school knows the importance of theserelationships.Vaughn Benson, dean of the school since itsinception and former division head for the one of theschool’s predecessor divisions, expresses pride in theaccomplishments of the school and challenges itsfaculty and staff to continue to strive for excellence inits relationships with all of the school’s stakeholders.Blending respect for the long-standing tradition ofquality with new, innovative approaches yieldspositive results that span the school’s three departmentsand impact a wide variety of current students andvarious other stakeholders within and outside of WayneState College.Examples of relationships with externalstakeholders abound. Since 1977, WSC has served asthe host site for the Nebraska Business DevelopmentCenter, an office that provides a broad range ofbusiness consulting services to a relatively largegeographic area within Nebraska. Supported andassisted by WSC’s Career Services Office, the schoolhas been very successful in the use of CooperativeEducation and internship experiences for its students. Quite often, a student will be hiredupon graduation by the employer where the student performed the experience.The school and its students benefit from relationships with major firms and otherorganizations. The school’s Executive-in Residence program has attracted some importantparticipants such as Aaron Hilkemann ‘80, president Duncan Aviation, Inc.; Mogens Bay,chairman and CEO Valmont Industries, Inc. and Dwayne Acklie, chairman Crete Carrier Corp.These individuals share their insights with students in a day-long set of presentations andquestion-and-answer sessions.Each semester, many firms come to campus for recruiting visits and most attend theannual career fair at Wayne State. Many local and regional businesses and otherorganizations provide guest speakers for class meetings in several courses taught by theschool. Each fall, the Shirtsleeve Workshop is hosted by the school and one of the school’sexcellent student organizations. In this event, WSC alumni from a variety of professionsshare their life experiences and career advice with current students. Among the alumni whohave participated in the Shirtsleeve Workshop in recent years are Mike Riedmann ‘76, NPDodge Real Estate Sales, Omaha; Mark Waddington ‘81, First National Bank of Omaha;Terry McClain ‘70, Valmont Industries, Omaha; and Bart Gotch ‘82, Siouxland NationalBank, South Sioux City.Each of the three departments within the school also enjoys mutually beneficialrelationships with many external entities. Some of the many possible examples illustrate the