Earn SHRM Recertification credits by watching “Talent Retention 101. Dinosaurs, Deficits, or Diversity.” with Avera Health, Marsh & McLennan, and Smithfield Foods. This video highlights the substantial diversity and inclusion initiatives leading health, financial services, and manufacturing companies have implemented to increase operational and organizational efficiencies.
This content was originally recorded from our 2020 WIN in Workforce Summit.
Watch this to appreciate how generational technical skills and abilities are enabling growth within the bio, life, and health sciences communities of Sioux Falls.
This content was originally recorded from our 2020 WIN in Workforce Summit.
“Zero to Seven. The New Recruiting Playbook,” shares turnkey talent management efficiencies involving recruiting, on-boarding, engagement, and exiting employees. Discover interesting tips and best practices from experts in the biotech, health, and manufacturing sectors.
This content was originally recorded from our 2020 WIN in Workforce Summit.
Talent Thursday with the Sioux Falls Development Foundation is a LIVE Facebook event at 3 PM Central every Thursday. During this 30-minute program, we share the career journey of Jesse Fonkert, executive director for Lincoln & Minnehaha County Economic Development Associations.
Talent Thursday with the Sioux Falls Development Foundation is a LIVE Facebook event at 3 PM Central every Thursday. During this 30-minute program, we share the career journey of Chelsea Brech.
Talent Thursday with the Sioux Falls Development Foundation is a LIVE Facebook event at 3 PM Central every Thursday. During this 30-minute program, we share the career journey of Mackenzie Haensel.
They logged in by the hundreds, from Missouri to Michigan, Ohio to Illinois – and left learning more about the career opportunities available in Sioux Falls.
This was the 2020 version of the annual Talent Draft Day, an event organized by the Sioux Falls Development Foundation to connect middle school, high school and college students with education and training paths that lead to rewarding careers.
The Sioux Falls Development Foundation was awarded a grant from the Sioux Falls Area Community Foundation to help fund the Career Connection program launching this August. This talent development initiative is targeted to help incoming high school juniors and seniors in the Sioux Falls School District that are first-generation Americans, low-income, or otherwise under-represented.
Career Connections is launching in 2020 as part of the Development Foundation’s K-12 programming initiatives, which are supported by the Forward Sioux Falls Strategic Workforce Action Agenda. Career Connections is designed to address the shortage of skilled labor within the community by focusing on developing early career talent within our K-12 system with programming that includes business mentoring, early career exposure through a series of job shadowing experiences, and alignment of post-secondary curriculum to educate and equip these students with the skills that businesses need them to have.
We have tremendous support surrounding these 60 students involved in this first year and they will just be paving the way for many others to follow over the next five years
Considering the Sioux Falls School District has 600 seniors graduating annually from our public schools who don’t pursue any form of post-secondary education, the Development Foundation is committed to reducing this number by focusing on a group of 60 highly motivated students for the Career Connections’ inaugural year. First, the program will connect students with employers who will help students to determine the right pathway for them into the workplace. Then, the Career Connections program will assist students in pursuing some form of post-secondary education, such as a certificate program, a technical degree, or an associates’ or bachelor’s degree from one of the South Dakota’s Board of Regents schools.
“We have tremendous support surrounding these 60 students involved in this first year and they will just be paving the way for many others to follow over the next five years,” says Denise Guzzetta. “The community support and business engagement within Sioux Falls continues to drive our local economy and opportunities for everyone forward.”
The Career Connection program launches this August.
“South Dakota is Open for Business.” Governor Noem has made that her battle cry since taking office and over the past several months especially. As a low tax state and a state that is uniquely positioned as one of the best fiscally managed states in the nation, we have an opportunity to capitalize on potential development. And as a result of the pandemic and our state’s reaction to it, the Governor has brought national attention to the state as a place with limited government regulations, an aggressive response to COVID without shutting down the state and working with business and industry to minimize distress on the economy.
In response, the economic development community of South Dakota including economic development leaders from Sioux Falls, Rapid City, Pierre, Mitchell, Brookings, Watertown, Aberdeen, Yankton and several smaller communities are spearheading the organization of a statewide association of professional economic developers to assist the GOED and the Governor in growing South Dakota.
We’re all trying to grow our communities, grow our state and create the most efficient, effective and productive processes we can to maximize our efforts. The EDPA and the coordinated efforts of the state will help us do that.
The Economic Development Professionals Association of South Dakota (EDPA) will work cooperatively with the Governor’s Office of Economic Development, South Dakota Chamber of Commerce, cities and counties to engage the private sector in building the economy of South Dakota. Through the coordination of lobbying efforts, marketing efforts, recruitment programs, workforce development programs and training opportunities for ED professionals, the EDPA will leverage local resources with those of the state to develop the most well-coordinated and effective programs possible resulting in more successes for South Dakota.
“The Economic Development Professionals Association of South Dakota is modeled after several successful associations in other states,” said Bob Mundt. “We’re all trying to grow our communities, grow our state and create the most efficient, effective and productive processes we can to maximize our efforts. The EDPA and the coordinated efforts of the state will help us do that.”
President/CEO
There were days as graduate students at SDSU when Ryan Burton and Valerie Bares were learning something in class and applying it that same day in the workplace.
They were two of more than a dozen participants in a unique fellowship program offered by Capital Services, a leading payment portfolio management and service company that originates, services, and manages card assets on behalf of client banks.
Burton and Bares, who earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in the SDSU department of mathematics and statistics, were selected as Capital Services fellows and have gone on to build in-demand careers with what they learned.
“We develop predictive models to help make smart business decisions,” Burton said. “So, the mathematics and statistics learned at SDSU, the applied and theoretical courses are directly applicable to our work. It was a great experience to work at Capital Services while going to school and to take the theoretical knowledge learned in classes and apply it sometimes in the same day at work through Capital Services.”
The fellowship provides tuition for the two-year graduate program as well as a stipend.
The relationship began in 2007 following a conversation between Capital Services president and CEO Chuck Hendrickson and Dr. Kurt Cogswell, head of the department of mathematics and statistics and a professor at SDSU.
The department was looking for a more focused approach to career readiness and regional relevance to the program, Cogswell said, and the support from Capital Services proved an ideal match.
“The first two fellows were extremely successful,” he said.
Those were Dr. Alfred Furth, who now serves as senior vice president of Capital Services, and Tom Brandenburger, now an assistant professor at SDSU.
Since then, other students have gone on to leadership roles at Capital Services and a wide variety of other areas businesses.
“You get really smart people that participate,” Cogswell said. “Then the financial support of Capital allows these people to focus on the task at hand rather than having to work second jobs to support their education.”
The business “provides an outstanding professional development environment for a year or two that gives them the sort of preparation you can’t obtain in a classroom,” he added. “And our faculty provide a really outstanding academic environment. So, we have got all the components put together and it is proven to be tremendous for our department, for the graduate fellows and we hope it’s been good for the region.”
Growing as graduates
For Burton, the fellowship led to a full-time job in 2012 and a promotion in 2018 to his current role as portfolio analytics and risk director.
The Yankton native had gone to SDSU knowing he liked math but not sure what major or career to pursue. After learning about the opportunities in the field and experiencing an internship at Capital Services, he found his future profession and now helps mentor other fellows.
A big part for everyone that’s involved is the mentorship, being able to talk to professors and have theoretical mentorship and talking to industry professionals,” he said.
“And growing up in Yankton, it’s nice to be close to family and Sioux Falls is a good-size city. There’s a lot of opportunity but not a lot of traffic, and the culture in the Midwest is very familiar to me so I’m happy to stick around.”
Bares, a Springfield, S.D., native, arrived at SDSU equally uncertain about what her future held. She began a graduate fellowship at Capital Services in 2009, graduated in 2011 and was hired full time. She spent two years there before returning to SDSU for her PhD, which led to her current role at Sanford Health.
After working with Sanford’s Profile program for her dissertation, she was hired in 2017 as a biostatistician and now is a senior biostatistician.
“We are a service that provides statistical help to researchers at Sanford Research and physician-initiated research throughout Sanford Health,” she said.
“It seems like it’s not really a typical path to go from the credit card industry to health care, but I really think the fellowship was great to be going through coursework and have a place to apply it sometimes in the same day. Some of what I learned at Capital applies to the health care system and some of the data we work with at Sanford. And … I’m able to bring new and innovative ideas to analyze data.”
Both graduates’ experiences meet broader goals for higher education, industry and economic development, Cogswell said.
“In the state of South Dakota, finance and health care are two very key players for our economy, and the methods Ryan and Valerie learned can apply pretty much across our economy,” he said. “You see our students taking those same methods and applying them in precision agriculture or in manufacturing or in hospitality or in transportation or sports analytics. The methods are fairly universal. The choice of career is up to the student.”
Building on success
The Capital Services fellowship program has been so successful, it is growing. The company and SDSU recently finalized a new three-year agreement that started June 22 and runs through fiscal 2023.
It will provide funding to two current faculty members and three graduate students, an increase of one student and one faculty member from what had previously been financed.
“We’ve been delighted to partner with SDSU for more than a decade in helping to develop some of the brightest minds in the Midwest. With the new agreement, we are able to increase the number of opportunities that can be provided,” said Furth, one of the original fellows now in leadership at Capital Services.
We love to see the success our Capital Services Fellows have had in their careers. The students we have funded are extremely intelligent and ambitious. The majority of their success is a result of their own hard work and dedication, but I like to think we had a small part in unlocking their talent for this discipline.
The new fellow will focus on machine learning and artificial intelligence with assistant professor Cedric Neumann, an internationally recognized expert in this area, as the named scholar.
“I think that it is a tremendous opportunity for our students and for local and regional businesses to work together on challenging problems that will have a positive impact on the economy of the region,” Neumann said.
The agreement, which kicked off June 22 to cover fiscal years 2021-23, is the type of partnership the university hopes to further develop with industry, Cogswell said.
“The beauty of the machine learning methods we’re developing and instructing students in area so applicable in so many areas of South Dakota’s economy,” he said. “It’s invaluable. Capital’s commitment to this and the effort they invested in developing graduate fellows has been remarkable. Many of these people stayed at Capital and have done tremendous work, but there is no expectation they will stay at Capital. For a company to have that altruistic approach is extremely admirable.”
But the majority of students coming through the program now stay in South Dakota rather than leaving for just elsewhere after graduation, he added.
“For me that’s the most personally satisfying part,” he said. “I love to see our graduates succeed anywhere, but I hate to see them go off to the coasts. And as of the last dozen years, two-thirds of our department’s graduates have stayed in South Dakota, which is remarkable because they have opportunities across the globe.”
Want to learn more about the Capital Services fellowship and related career opportunities? Visit SDSU’s Department of Mathematics and Statistics online https://www.sdstate.edu/mathematics-statistics
Their career paths took them into nursing but led them to new opportunities at a growing Sioux Falls health care tech company.
Meghan Bowar, Shana Hennies and Tiffany Solum have found new ways to use their nursing backgrounds, learn new skills and still help with patient care through their roles at Experity. A tech company that began as DocuTap in Sioux Falls, Experity provides technology solutions for on-demand healthcare practices and primary care clinics.
“When you are a nurse, everyone focuses on how you’re able to help people. And when you leave bedside nursing there’s part of you that still wants to hold onto that piece of nursing, and we are able to do that in a different way,” said Hennies, director of implementation.
“We provide technology, but that technology really allows frontline providers and nurses to do their jobs way better. We’re finding solutions for them.”
BY DENISE M. GUZZETTA, VICE PRESIDENT OF TALENT AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT FOR THE SIOUX FALLS DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION
It is not as easy to walk in for a job interview, start an internship or shadowing – but in some ways, the latest way Sioux Falls is connecting students with employers is just as personal.
The Sioux Falls Development Foundation has stepped up big in the last couple months, hosting and coordinating a series of virtual talent talks that are bringing college students together with employers who will have jobs for them.
“We immediately shifted into a new mode of delivering some of our most key programming,” said Denise Guzzetta, vice president of talent and workforce development.
“Especially with graduation approaching and summer internship opportunities changing, we felt it was important to connect as many area students as possible with organizations we know will have a need for their skills going forward.”
The virtual series of events kicked off with a virtual version of the Development Foundation’s workforce recruitment council meeting, focused on how to keep employees motivated and engaged despite social distances.
We were able to immediately put best practices in front of human resource leaders and executives across our business community at a time when they were needed,” Guzzetta said. “With help from Raven Industries and the Helpline Center, our recruitment council members left with information and resources they could put to work in real time.
Then came a series of virtual talent talks, beginning with a session between Morningside College nursing students and representatives from Sanford Health and the Good Samaritan Society.
“The versatility of talent programming options between in-person to virtual events with the Sioux Falls Development Foundation enables us to efficiently recruit early career talent, such as nurses, who are essential to our organization,” said Jon Runyan, a Sanford Health sourcing specialist who helps with nursing opportunities.
After leaders at Sanford Health and Good Samaritan Society shared more about their organizations and the paths students could take to nursing careers there, students could ask questions live.
“We love collaborating and building new connections,” said Alex Watters, career development specialist at Morningside. “Our students and grads were able to connect virtually with Sanford Health and Good Samaritan Society about jobs, internships and more.”
Another virtual talent talk paired students at Augustana University considering healthcare careers with representatives from Avera Health who shared the range of opportunities the organization offers.
“There is a large benefit as an undergrad to getting in front of employers and hearing their expectations and tips,” said Anna Boyens, a junior majoring in biology and Spanish.
“As a pre-med undergraduate student, I am searching for ways to gain access to the healthcare world to broaden my experiences and solidify my vocation. With so much uncertainty right now, having the opportunity to hear from Avera employers about what the future holds for undergraduate positions was extremely valuable and reassuring to me.”
The format of the presentation allowed her to gain insight from multiple angles and areas of the organization, she said.
“I left the Zoom meeting feeling motivated to do everything in my power to find a position in the healthcare field even if it wasn’t exactly what I had planned,” Boyens said. “COVID-19 has changed many plans, but by being flexible and being presented with many options, I know that it will not halt my career journey.”
For Augustana University, the virtual offerings build on a long relationship with the Development Foundation, said Billie Streufert, assistant vice provost, student success and engagement.
“The Foundation routinely creates high-quality workforce events that seamlessly connect employers, applicants, and educational institutions. These connections fuel innovation, workforce development, and career readiness that transform both the Sioux Falls community and the lives of students,” she said. “Partnerships of this nature are especially valuable during times of economic uncertainty, such as the current pandemic. It signals that, despite COVID-19, there are employers that need employees.”
The virtual programming is an effective and efficient way to pair talent and opportunity, she added.
“The virtual event ensured the safety of everyone involved and eliminated geographical barriers so Augustana students could attend wherever they were located. This was especially beneficial given our move to an online learning environment. We look forward to partnering again in the future.”
The Development Foundation also helped address the area’s need to keep highly skilled computer science graduates in Sioux Falls through a talent talk for students at Dakota State University.
They heard from CentralSquare Technologies, which provides software to the public sector, specifically municipal governments, and public safety entities.
We know the emerging generation of new graduates wants careers where they use their skills to help society,” Guzzetta said. “So, this was a way to introduce a terrific company culture with roles that allow them to do just that.
“We know the emerging generation of new graduates wants careers where they use their skills to help society,” Guzzetta said. “So, this was a way to introduce a terrific company culture with roles that allow them to do just that.”
DSU’s students showed a strong level of interest, with even incoming freshmen attending the event. Graduating senior Jordan Oberg will have a newly earned bachelor’s degree in cyber operations and is planning to start his master’s in computer science in the fall.
“I thought the meeting went well,” he said. “The structure was easy to follow along, and I gathered the information I was looking for. Being a student who is about to graduate, it is good to see all of the options out there.”While the event originally was scheduled as a face-to-face meeting, the change to a virtual event still allowed some great communication between an employer and potential workers, said Janelle Nielsen, DSU’s coordinator of employer relations and events.
“I would like to say, ‘thank you’ to Denise Guzzetta and her team at the Sioux Falls Development Foundation for organizing the talent tour for our DSU students,” she said. “It was very interesting and informative to hear about what this software provider does for the public sector. CentralSquare Technologies is an employer that will be a great fit for our students seeking internships and graduates pursuing full-time employment. We look forward to having this business become one that will actively recruit our DSU students.”
As part of its ongoing WIN content, the Development Foundation also profiled three women who have grown their careers from nursing into health care technology at homegrown startup Experity. To see their story and view a video of their experience, click here.
“Stories like this illustrate exactly what we’re trying to communicate to students,” Guzzetta said. “You can pursue a career in a field like nursing, and when you decide you want to use your skills in a different evolving field, we have the tech companies here ready and waiting for you with a fulfilling career path.”
The Development Foundation is continuing to offer virtual programming this month and going forward.
“We felt this immediate focus on healthcare and public service careers came at exactly the right time,” Guzzetta said. “But going forward, we will be making connections for students in other industries, including transportation, construction and education. Students feel very comfortable learning in virtual environments, so this is an effective way to meet them where they’re at even when we are able to transition back into more in-person events.”
The Sioux Falls Development Foundation, in partnership with the City of Sioux Falls, recently hosted two events targeting architects and engineers in the Sioux Falls area. These events were offered as part of the Development Foundation’s Business Retention and Expansion (BR&E) initiative, which focuses on local economic development opportunities.
Architectural and engineering firms work day-in and day-out to help grow our community. These professions work to design neighborhoods, business parks, buildings and so much more that contribute to Sioux Falls. One area the Development Foundation is focused on is the importance of developing relationships and strong communication between our private sector companies and public sector officials.
During a BR&E visit with an existing company in Sioux Falls, the Foundation learned about the company’s frustration with City Hall due to imposed requirements associated with their expansion project. The Development Foundation discovered there was a miscommunication between the City, the contractor, the engineering firm and the company. As it turns out, the requirements that formed the basis of the company’s frustrations were in fact not required. This resulted in financial savings for the company and a better working relationship with City Hall.
On January 22 and February 11, architecture and engineering professionals were invited to attend an Open House event with the City’s Planning and Development Services Department to learn what’s new with permitting processes and plan reviews and to interact with the individuals that work at the City on these projects. These events marked one solid step forward in cultivating strong relationships between our business sector and the City of Sioux Falls, so that when companies make investments to expand, they have a great experience.
Director of Business, Retention & Expansion
Whether they’re using dental instruments or 3D printers, doing patient simulations or digital image analysis, students at the University of South Dakota likely have health care-related jobs waiting for them when they graduate.
“We have a really powerful system of health care in South Dakota, without question, and they’re also really good jobs,” USD president Sheila Gestring said. “They’re high-demand jobs, and the employment growth projections going forward are also significant.”
The appeal and availability of those jobs is driving student interest in both USD’s School of Health Sciences and its emerging biomedical engineering program within the College of Arts & Sciences.
In many cases, students graduating with degrees from these programs will find their occupations projected to experience double-digit percentage increases.
The School of Health Sciences, founded in 2007, is the fastest-growing school at USD with 2,400 students among 13 major degree programs:
Nearly two-thirds of graduates over the last decade have remained in South Dakota.
“The long-term demand for healthcare professionals is going to continue to increase nationwide and in South Dakota,” said Haifa Abou Samra, dean of the School of Health Sciences.
“it’s expected to range anywhere between 11 to 29 percent depending on the discipline or profession.”
In-demand jobs
The dental hygiene program in the School of Health Sciences is so sought after that only about one in two applicants is accepted, and there’s steady demand for graduates.
It’s a unique program, allowing students to staff dental clinics in Sioux Falls and Vermillion serving those in need of dental care, as well as patients on reservations and in prisons.
“I became aware of the value of community involvement through my service as a student in community clinics,” said Hannah Poppens, a Brandon, S.D. native and USD graduate.
“I also benefitted through my work in those clinics, because I learned to serve a variety of patients and that helps me now as a practicing professional.”
Poppens now works in a Sioux Falls dental office, where she landed a position months before graduation.
“My practice offers patient-centered care,” she said. “That’s very important to me, and that’s something my dental hygiene professors taught us to deliver.”
USD’s unique addiction counseling and prevention program also is producing in-demand graduates.
Leon Leader Charge has an especially powerful story. The Parmelee, S.D., native and member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe earned his bachelor of addiction counseling and prevention at USD and now is working on his master’s there. He now works with an organization called Tribal Tech that works with tribes nationwide to create and implement substance abuse and mental health programs and curricula.
At USD, “I learned hands-on science,” he said. “I was taught evidence-based, prevention-based science. Because of my education and training, I am able to help people in my own community, and I’m also able to travel to tribal communities around the country and have a national impact. I am grateful for those opportunities.”
Students like Brooke Miller also know there are jobs waiting after graduation. With one year left in her nursing program, she already has one secured with Avera in her hometown of Pierre.
“It’s just been a whirlwind. Nursing’s been great,” she said, adding she loves the clinical experience students receive and the small-group settings they enjoy with professors to go over what they’re learning.
“We get to go into different hospitals, different settings and work hands-on with patients,” she said.
She will have completed two internships by the time she graduates – one last summer at the South Dakota Women’s Prison and one this coming summer in a hospital setting learning labor and delivery.
“I’m very excited about that and to get that degree,” she said. “And then I’ll be working in South Dakota and giving back to my community. I’ve always loved that small town community, and I want to give back.”
While Miller will be returning to her roots, other USD nursing graduates are recruited nationwide.
“Last year we had students who went to Arizona, Colorado, Mayo Clinic, Philadelphia, so national employers compete for our students,” Samra said.
“And we have more interested nursing students than we have the capacity to admit. We aren’t able to admit all the qualified students who apply, because of space limitations.”
To better accommodate demand for these and other health services programs, USD is hoping to replace an aging facility with a modern 45,000-square-foot building that will add contemporary classrooms, simulation and lab spaces.
“It will allow us to expand these programs, admit students who are wait-listed and fuel the workforce, because there will be more graduates available to employers,” Gestring said.
And employers definitely are interested in partnering to secure students. The School of Health Sciences leverages affiliations with more than 1,000 businesses and organizations that offer students work experience while in college.
Those public-private partnerships are becoming more and more critical, and we’re finding that sharing expertise, sharing the resources can really have a much greater impact than trying to do those sorts of things on your own,” Gestring said.
Biomedical programs take off
Education, research and industry all are coming together in Sioux Falls, where USD is growing its undergraduate and graduate programs in biomedical engineering. The department is part of the College of Arts & Sciences, and students often take courses both in Sioux Falls and Vermillion.
The growing biomedical field integrates engineering and medicine to address challenges in health care, exposing students to everything from medical device development to digital software-based analysis of medical images.
“It’s really an emerging industry in South Dakota,” Gestring said. “Our bachelor’s program is still very, very new but we do have nearly 20 students in that program. And our PhD program is full. We cannot accept very many, as it’s a very demanding curriculum.”
Sioux Falls resident Tim Hartman is one of USD’s first biomedical engineering undergraduates. He began by earning an associate’s degree in integrated science, taking courses in Sioux Falls, and decided to progress into the undergraduate program.
“I’m more of an equipment kind of person than working with patients, and this allows me to do that,” he said. “I work with high-tech microscopes and I’m working in a lab now where we’re making software for imaging and I’ve found I really like that.”
He could see himself pursuing a graduate degree and focusing on bioinformatics or computational biology – areas where he knows expertise is needed in the medical field.
“It’s a numbers field – a way to replace subjective human insight with automated computer analysis, and you can also incorporate machine learning,” Hartman said.
He had considered going to college out of state, but was impressed by USD’s vision for its Sioux Falls presence – which includes the Graduate Education and Applied Research Center, or GEAR Center, where he takes some of his classes and receives hands-on experience. The planned USD Discovery District adjacent to the property will allow for further commercialization of innovations and provide students with early career experience.
“There’s a lot of investment being made in biotech in the Sioux Falls area,” he said. “It would be awesome if this became like the Silicon Valley of biotech. That’s a vision I could latch onto.”
He’s not alone. USD anticipates more student interest as the biomedical program and its industry partnerships continue to grow.
“It’s an incredible opportunity having the GEAR Center right there on site,” Gestring said. “We have had several businesses, startups, incubate there and really get a start. And one of the future tenants of the Discovery District is currently in that building and waiting for the construction of the new facility.”
Students increasingly are remaining in the state to apply what they learn, she added.
“We’re finding our graduates stay in South Dakota,” Gestring said. “We’ve had 20 PhD graduates and 12 of them are leaders in the state right now.”
That also meets a broader goal for USD, she added: Preparing the state’s future leaders, regardless of the degree program they complete.
“It’s important for USD to always provide those community leaders,” Gestring said.
“From the state’s attorney office to the superintendents of schools to the leaders in health care and throughout the business community, many of them have gone through USD. And these also are active volunteers on nonprofit boards, school boards and city governing boards. The most important thing for USD is to continue that tradition of providing leaders to communities.”
Originally Published by SiouxFalls.Business
As the University of Sioux Falls class of 2019 received its diplomas this month, the school’s president, Brett Bradfield, knows each person could migrate out of his or her field seven or eight times during the career ahead.
Preparing students for that unpredictable future means continually honing the education provided and increasingly working closely with industry to connect and equip students for the workplace.
“It doesn’t necessarily take a complete retooling. You take majors that have always been solid, but you reconsider how they fit into the current paradigm of the employment needed in our community,” Bradfield said.
“We believe our liberal arts portion of our education ensures that many of the so-called soft skills and important dispositional attributes employers are looking for beyond specific job skills are present in our students.”
The approach was a success for 2016 graduate Teagan Molden and Howalt+McDowell Insurance, a Marsh & McLennan Agency LLC company, thanks to an internship after Molden’s junior year.
“I wouldn’t have even known about Howalt if not for USF and the staff there,” said Molden, who came to the university from Minnesota and was a standout on the NSIC championship basketball team.
She gained hands-on experience at the firm, going out on client calls and organizing a LinkedIn training for the entire office.
When she returned to USF her senior year, she continued working part time.
Bradfield knew a bond had been built between student and employer when he walked into a basketball game and saw the Howalt+McDowell executive team there cheering on Molden.
“They had been so pleased with her in their office; they told me that evening their intent was to hire her.”
Molden now has spent three years at the firm as an adviser in the client employee health and benefits department.
I think the business school helped me a lot in developing my core competencies and helping me get the internship and preparing me for my career,” she said.
USF has a strong record of similar success.
Of the students in the class of 2018 who responded to a survey, 99 percent had found full- or part-time work or went to graduate school.
Many come from USF’s undergraduate and graduate business programs, which include degrees in finance and accounting; its three nursing programs, which include an MBA in health care management; and its education program, which offers undergraduate and graduate degrees.
“Most of our nursing students will already have job offers before they graduate,” Bradfield said. “We have great success, and we consider it an honor to support the city, state and region that supports us.”
USF began the 2018-19 school year with record enrollment, counting about 1,550 students among undergraduate, graduate and adult learning programs.
New offerings include a concentration within the media studies major in social media marketing, as well as a certificate program designed for those already working.
“There’s a very large market for that, and we’re in that with both feet as a university,” Bradfield said.
The school also weaves in what he calls “the hidden curriculum.” It’s an emphasis on skills especially valuable in the workplace.
It’s how we talk about the importance of work ethic, responsibility, team play, collaboration, entrepreneurial spirit in the sense that you’re a problem-solver. So it’s not necessarily trying to start your own business but being a problem-solver who can bring new ideas into the business climate.
Originally Published by SiouxFalls.Business
USF is trying to become even more connected in the business community, leading to the sorts of opportunities that matched students like Molden with employers such as Howalt+McDowell.
“We see a real benefit in that because it allows our students to take the theoretical constructs they learn in the classroom and add experiential learning,” Bradfield said. “And the business community is finding there’s a real advantage to this, and they take on students and work with them and find those that are promising.”
At Howalt+McDowell, the firm has worked with its partners in higher education, and it has honed its recruitment strategy.
That includes speaking to college students on campus, offering firm tours and structuring its internship program so students receive broad exposure to jobs at the firm and can choose which areas interest them.
“USF is a great school. There’s no question about that,” Howalt’s chief innovation officer Kira Kimball said. “We’ve worked with USF for our internship program in others ways, and I think the liberal arts education is a great background. You learn a lot of critical thinking skills, good reading and writing skills. That’s pretty foundational. We can train on all the technical expertise, but that sets a really firm foundation.”
And while USF has a 135-year legacy in the city, Bradfield realizes that preparing students for a changing workplace is what will sustain the school for future learners.
“As the city has grown and the economy has grown, we have grown with it,” he said. “We see that as a great blessing for us because honestly in the state of higher education across the nation … with complete respect to other parts of the nation, I’m certainly glad we’re in Sioux Falls.”
