Dakota State University

Center of Excellence Symposium

Friday, September 24, 2010

Tunheim Classroom Building

Straatmeyer Auditorium

A Brand New Day

 9:00 AM               Welcome and opening comments

                                                    Doug Knowlton – President

Cecelia Wittmayer – Vice President for Academic Affairs

Judy Payne - Vice President for University Advancement

 

9:30 AM             Andrew Zimmer – (BS 2003) – Life as a Developer for Microsoft Dynamics CRM - The Rapid Development Platform

 10:00 AM          Mike Reiprich – (BS 2005) – Involvement is Key

 10:30 AM          Chad Knutson (BS 2004, MS, 2006) – Leveraging the DSU Experience

11:00 AM           Brooke Fitts (BS 2005) – Ecesis: Becoming established in a new habitat

 11:30 AM          Josh Tirrel (DSU 1998 – 2001) – My Amazing Journey from DSU into the Future

12:00 PM            Lunch with the DSU Foundation Board of Trustees

 1:00 PM             Bookstore trip

1:30 PM              Wayne Pauli (MS 2001) – The New CIS curriculum and the 4 + 1 program

2:00 PM              Sarah Linneman (BS 2004) – You want to change WHAT? Changing Tech in the Real World

 2:30 PM             Tara Falor (MS 2005) - IT Environment following the change in the economy and the Dodd Financial Reform Bill 

3:00 PM              Miles Rausch (BS 2006) - The Bluth Company and Software Development

3:30 PM              Shane Thomas (BS 2009) – Live Your Passion

4:00 PM              (Eric) Buzz Hillestad (BS 2002) – How to Become the Director of IT by Age 25

4:30 PM              Closing Comments – announcements – Perhaps our illustrious Alumni Director or Foundation Board President…

 5:00 pm               Alumni Event

 

Andrew Zimmer

NAME:  Andrew Zimmer

YEARS ATTENDED DSU: 1999-2003

DEGREE CONFERRED:  BS Information Systems, Minor in Business Administration and Center of Excellence

CITY OF RESIDENCE:  Shakopee, MN

PRESENT EMPLOYER:  Inetium, LLC

JOB TITLE:  Senior Consultant

JOB DUTIES:   Andrew Zimmer works as a software development consultant for a Microsoft partner in the Twin Cities.  He works for their CRM practice which implements Microsoft Dynamics CRM for clients throughout the United States.  He has been working with .NET technologies for 8 years, during which time he has earned his Microsoft MCSD and MCPD certifications.

TITLE OF PRESENTATION:  Life as a Developer for Microsoft Dynamics CRM - The Rapid Development Platform

SYNOPSIS OF PRESENTATION:

Andrew, a 2003, graduate of Dakota State will be speaking about his experiences at DSU and how it has brought him to his current position.  He currently works for Inetium, a Microsoft CRM partner in Bloomington, Minnesota. Andrew will talk about what CRM is as well has how it can be leveraged as a rapid development platform.  He will also talk about what he does in his application development role and how he leverages technology to provide additional value to his clients.

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(Mike's Picture to come) 

NAME: Mike Reiprich

YEARS ATTENDED DSU: 2000 - 2005

DEGREE CONFERRED: Bachelors of Science in Computer Science

CITY OF RESIDENCE: Rapid City, SD

PRESENT EMPLOYER: South Dakota Army National Guard

JOB TITLE: IT Specialist

JOB DUTIES: Windows server administration, group policy management, tactical communications and networks, IT Ninja.

TITLE OF PRESENTATION: Something about getting involved

SYNOPSIS OF PRESENTATION: Mike, a 2005 graduate of Dakota State University will be speaking about how getting involved on campus as a student can lead to vast learning opportunities and forge friendships and working relationships that will keep you coming back for more.

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Chad Knutson

NAME: Chad Knutson

YEARS ATTENDED DSU: 1999 – 2004 (CIS) 2004 – 2006 (MSIA)

DEGREE CONFERRED: B.S. Computer Information Systems (minors in Networking and Computer and Network Security), Masters Information Assurance (emphasis on banking / finance security)

CITY OF RESIDENCE: Madison, SD

PRESENT EMPLOYER: Secure Banking Solutions, LLC

JOB TITLE: VP Special Projects

JOB DUTIES: Senior Information Security Consultant working with strategic accounts and a subject matter expert on new business opportunities for Secure Banking Solutions.

TITLE OF PRESENTATION: Leveraging  DSU

SYNOPSIS OF PRESENTATION: Chad, a 2004 undergraduate and a 2006 Masters degree in Information Assurance graduate will present on why a student should utilize their time at DSU to develop their expertise, explore new ideas, build relationships, and pursue their future. I came to Dakota State University for a degree and left with much more. What did you come to DSU for?

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 Brooke Fitts

NAME: Brooke Fitts

YEARS ATTENDED DSU: 2001 - 2006

DEGREE CONFERRED: Bachelor of Science Multimedia Web Development

CITY OF RESIDENCE: Brandon, SD

PRESENT EMPLOYER: Insight Credit Solutions

JOB TITLE: Marketing Manager

JOB DUTIES: Manage the production of Insight marketing strategies.­ Tasks include: Brand & Product development, web site UI development, web site acquisition and advertising strategies.

TITLE OF PRESENTATION:  Ecesis

SYNOPSIS OF PRESENTATION: Ecesis is the process by which we become established in a new habitat. This process is happening now. We can see it in the world of business, careers, in our products and services, education and social outlets. It has become necessary to establish our business strategies, careers and networks in the emerging technologies, OUR NEW HABITAT. The DSU advantage provides graduates the edge to survive through the stages of ecesis. I am one of those graduates and will be presenting on how these changes have affected my life and work in the last 5 years.

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 Josh Tirrel

NAME: Josh Tirrel              

YEARS ATTENDED DSU: 2000-2003

DEGREE CONFERRED: Business Management

CITY OF RESIDENCE: Sioux Falls, SD

PRESENT EMPLOYER: Northwestern Mutual

JOB TITLE: Field Director/ Financial Representative

JOB DUTIES: As a Northwestern Mutual Financial Network Representative, my mission is to help you achieve financial security for your family or business. I will work with you to help identify your financial goals, suggest a solution to help you reach those goals, and show you ways to implement them.

TITLE OF PRESENTATION: My Journeys

SYNOPSIS OF PRESENTATION: My journey from DSU to my amazing future.

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NAME: Wayne E. Pauli  

YEARS ATTENDED DSU: 1998 - 2001

DEGREE CONFERRED:  MSIS

CITY OF RESIDENCE: Madison, SD

PRESENT EMPLOYER: Dakota State University, Madison, SD

JOB TITLE: Associate Dean of the College of BIS, Director of the Center of Excellence in CIS, Associate Professor of Information Systems

JOB DUTIES: Administering academic programs and teaching at the undergraduate and graduate levels at DSU

TITLE OF PRESENTATION:  A Brand New Day

SYNOPSIS OF PRESENTATION: Dr. Pauli will introduce exciting new changes in the Information Systems undergraduate curriculum as well as discuss the fast track program 4 + 1 which allows DSU students to secure an undergraduate degree and a Masters degree in five years.

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(Sarah's Picture to come)

NAME: Sarah Linneman  

YEARS ATTENDED DSU: 2000-2004

DEGREE CONFERRED:  Management Information Systems, minors in CIS, CEX

CITY OF RESIDENCE: Sioux Falls, SD

PRESENT EMPLOYER: Deloitte Touchι Tohmatsu (Deloitte Consulting LLP) Minneapolis, MN Office

JOB TITLE: Consultant

JOB DUTIES: Client facing project work focusing mainly around Software Training, Change Management, and Communications

TITLE OF PRESENTATION:  You wanna change WHAT? Changing Tech in the Real World

SYNOPSIS OF PRESENTATION: What happens in the real world when companies relocate servers thousands of miles or they implement large scale ERP systems? Change can be difficult, but with a little consideration of the users’ needs it can be a smooth process. 

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Tara Falor

NAME:  Tara Falor

YEARS ATTENDED DSU:  2002 - 2005

DEGREE CONFERRED:  MSIS – Masters of Science in Information Systems

CITY OF RESIDENCE:          Sioux Falls

PRESENT EMPLOYER:        Citibank

JOB TITLE:     Apps Development Lead Programmer Analyst

JOB DUTIES: Research/Design/Program various business-sponsored projects for CitiCards Accounts Receivable system

TITLE OF PRESENTATION:  IT Environment following the change in the economy and the Dodd Financial Reform Bill 

SYNOPSIS OF PRESENTATION:  I will discuss the changes in the IT environment from a financial institution perspective during the change of the economy in 4th quarter 2008 through today.  Highlighted will be discussions around change management and workload as a result of the Dodd Financial Reform Bill

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Miles Rausch

NAME:  Miles Rausch

YEARS ATTENDED DSU:  2001 - 2006

DEGREE CONFERRED:  B.S. in Computer Science; B.S. in Mathematics for Information Systems

CITY OF RESIDENCE:  Sioux Falls, SD

PRESENT EMPLOYER:  Lawrence & Schiller

JOB TITLE:  Interactive Programmer

JOB DUTIES:  Website Development

TITLE OF PRESENTATION: The Bluth Company and Software Development

SYNOPSIS OF PRESENTATION:  Learning to build model homes can make you a more flexible, powerful, and good looking software developer. Okay, maybe not that last one.

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Shane Thomas

NAME:  Shane Thomas

YEARS ATTENDED DSU:  2005 - 2009

DEGREE CONFERRED:  B.S. in Computer Information Systems

CITY OF RESIDENCE:  Sioux Falls, SD

PRESENT EMPLOYER:  Kalliki Software, LLC

JOB TITLE:  Chief Executive Officer

JOB DUTIES:  company strategy, project management, website development, employee management, sales

TITLE OF PRESENTATION: Living your Passion

SYNOPSIS OF PRESENTATION:  Despite the down economy there has never been a better time to dream big. Life is too short to be doing something you are not passionate about. In this presentation I will tell you a little about me and what I am passionate about. I will also provide insight on how you can start living your passion.
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Buzz Hillestad

NAME:  Eric "Buzz" Hillestad

YEARS ATTENDED DSU: 1998-2002

DEGREE CONFERRED: Bachelors of Science for Information Systems; and Associates in Application Programming

CITY OF RESIDENCE: Pierre, SD

PRESENT EMPLOYER: Avera Healthcare

JOB TITLE: Director of Information Technology for Avera Medical Group - Pierre

JOB DUTIES: Overseeing all IT aspects for all business operations into and out of the clinic.

TITLE OF PRESENTATION: Career Paths (it may change)

SYNOPSIS OF PRESENTATION: I will share my story of how I became an IT director by the age of 25, what skills were necessary for the job, how to look for great opportunities, and how to never be satisfied with where you are in your career.

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