Career Center
Metropolitan Advantage Helps Students Land Jobs
Boise State’s soon-to-be spring graduates are nearing the end of their academic careers, and they are finding success in the Treasure Valley job market despite negative national trends.
That has a lot to do with Boise State’s metropolitan location, says Career Center Director Debbie Kaylor. While fear of a recession and high unemployment dominate national business news, Kaylor hasn’t seen these negative factors at play in the local job market. And the university’s close proximity to the business community means more than a third of Boise State’s graduates will have completed formal internships by the time they graduate. These relevant, on-the-job experiences are their ticket to landing jobs, she says.
Boise State has one of the largest internship programs in the Northwest, facilitating about 1,300 per year. Internships give students a chance to try different fields and find what interests them, while they give companies a chance to “try before they buy” when it comes to employees.
“I can’t think of a degree that we offer where a student couldn’t do an internship right here in Boise,” Kaylor said, adding that about a third of the students who complete internships get jobs with their internship company, or make contacts that lead to job offers.
Another unique Boise State attribute is that about 85 percent of the university’s graduates stay in the Treasure Valley, and another 5 percent find jobs elsewhere in Idaho.
“Universities across the country talk about ‘brain drain,’ about educating their students and then losing that talent to other states,” Kaylor says. “That’s just not a problem here.”
The hottest job markets continue to be in fields like computer science, engineering and construction management. Many of Boise State’s graduating students with these majors receive several good job offers. Fields such as accounting and nursing also offer many prospects, according to Kaylor. And anything “green,” from environmental health to land management, is a new area to explore.
EXECUTIVE MBA
Program Holds Final Informational Open House for Prospective Students
The Executive MBA program at Boise State will hold its final informational open house for prospective students from 5:30-7:30 p.m. April 30. Those interested are invited to drop in anytime during the two-hour session in the Allen Noble Hall of Fame adjacent to Bronco Stadium.
Enrollment is currently under way with class size limited to the first 35 qualified applicants.
The inaugural group of students will graduate from Idaho’s first Executive MBA program in May. Classes for the second run of the program begin in September 2008. The program is designed specifically for middle- to senior-level professionals who wish to obtain a master’s in business administration on a schedule that minimizes disruption of work and personal pursuits.
The program runs at the level required by professionals seeking broader responsibility in their organizations, and the curriculum will provide participants with relevant, real-world challenges and applications. Students will earn an MBA degree in two academic years of part-time class attendance.
PRESIDENT’S OFFICE
‘Food for Thought’ to Feature Education’s Brendefur
Please join President Bob Kustra for the next ‘Food for Thought’ brown bag luncheon at noon April 22 in the Lookout Room of the Student Union. Aramark will be on hand with brown bag lunches for purchase for around $6.
The guest speaker is Jonathan Brendefur, associate professor of mathematics education in the Department of Curriculum, Instruction, and Foundational Studies and director of the Initiative for Developing Mathematical Thinking. Dr. Brendefur’s scientific work has been published in journals such as the Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education, the Kappan, and the Proceedings of the Psychology of Mathematics Education. His research focuses on creating and sustaining mathematics professional development programs for teachers and has been supported by grants from the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Education, the Albertson Foundation and the Micron Foundation. He is in his eighth year at Boise State.
His talk is titled “Improving Mathematics Teaching by Developing Mathematical Thinking.” The DMT model has been shown to be effective locally and is the driving force behind the newly funded mathematics initiative in Idaho.
MFA READING SERIES
Reading by ‘Four Seasons in Rome’ Author
The Boise State MFA Reading Series will present a reading by author Anthony Doerr at 7:30 p.m. April 18 in the Student Union Lookout Room. The reading is free and open to the public. Free parking will be available in Parking Structure #2 on the corner of Lincoln Street and University Avenue.
Doerr is the author of three books. His collection of short stories, “The Shell Collector,” won the Barnes and Noble Discover Prize, two O. Henry Prizes, the Rome Prize and the Ohioana Book Award. It was selected as a New York Times notable book and as an American Library Association book of the year.
“About Grace,” his first novel, was named one the best books of 2004 by the Washington Post, again won the Ohioana book award and was a finalist for the PEN USA fiction award. His memoir “Four Seasons in Rome,” which described his move to Rome with his wife and six-month-old twin boys, was published in 2007 by Scribner.
Doerr’s fiction has appeared in numerous publications, including the “O. Henry Prize Stories,” “Paris Review,” “Atlantic Monthly,” “Zoetrope: All Story,” “Tin House,” “The Best American Short Stories,” “The Anchor Book of New American Short Stories” and “The Scribner Anthology of Contemporary Fiction.” In 2007, the British literary magazine Granta placed Doerr on its list of the 21 best young American novelists.
Doerr lives in Boise with his wife and two sons. He is the current distinguished visiting writer for Boise State’s MFA program and is the writer-in-residence for the state of Idaho until 2010.
The MFA Reading Series brings nationally renowned authors and poets to the Boise State campus. Past speakers include Rick Bass, Chris Offutt, Rae Armantrout, Alice Notley, Michael Palmer, Joy Williams, Denis Johnson, Richard Bausch and Nathaniel Mackey.
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH
14th Biannual Conference on Language April 22, 24
Gail Shuck, associate professor of English, and students from English 123 have organized the 14th biannual Conference on Language April 22 and 24. The event is open to faculty, staff, and students with no registration required. The theme is “Finding Our Way Through the Language Forest: Our Struggles and Achievements.”
The Tuesday program is 10:40 a.m.-noon in the Bishop Barnwell Room of the Student Union Building with a panel presentation on “Which is Harder: Struggling with Language or with People?” The Thursday program is 10:40 a.m.-noon in the Farnsworth Room at the SUB on the topics of “What Makes Us Confident and Extraordinary” and “Dancing Between Cultures.”
For more information, contact Shuck at ext. 6-1189 orgshuck@boisestate.edu.
COLLEGE OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS
Graduate Students Bring Home Prize Money from Business Plan Competition
Boise State’s graduate student business plan team, MotiFleet, bested the University of Chicago and University of Arkansas at the New Venture Championship Friday and Saturday in Portland. For their showing, the team made up of Jonathan Hill, Jenna Strong and Craig Johnson brought home $1,500 in prize money.
The team’s advisers are John Glerum, director of the Boise State TECenter business incubator, and Kent Neupert, professor in the College of Business and Economics.
The business plan for the venture was developed as part of their course in the Boise State MBA program. The MotiFleet product is an advanced vehicle fleet information management system that uses GPS tracking, route optimization and automated information capture in an online subscription model. The team competes next in the Moot Corp global business plan competition at the University of Texas-Austin, April 30-May 3 for a $100,000 award package.
INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS
Spring Newsletter Issued
International Programs has just issued a second spring newsletter with updates on a number of internationalization efforts on campus.
HUMAN RESOURCES
Students Place at Collegiate HR Competition
Boise State’s Human Resource Association student organization, coached by Decateur Reed, adjunct instructor in the Department of Management, placed seventh out of 13 teams in the Pacific West Human Resource Collegiate Competition April 4-5 at California State Long Beach. Boise State’s team placed first among non-California teams and beat the eventual champion, California State Fresno, in dual competition. Boise State holds the top spot in the Northwest. The collegiate championship event features Jeopardy-style games that test knowledge of human resource management. The Human Resource Association of Treasure Valley (HRATV) donated $1,000 to the club for the HR Collegiate Competition.
HEALTH, WELLNESS AND COUNSELING
Unleash Your Inner Chef – Vegetarian Style
Hilary-Horton Brown, campus nutritionist, and Eric Fulkerson, University Dining’s executive chef, will conduct a free presentation (and samples) on vegetarian cooking from 6-7:30 p.m. April 24 in the Lookout Room of the Student Union Building. Vegetarian diets are popular for a variety of personal, philosophical, ecological and economic reasons, and a vegetarian menu can be a powerful and pleasurable way to achieve good health. Class size is limited. Contact Wellness Services at ext. 6-5686 or wellness@boisestate.edu to register.
WOMEN’S CENTER
Take Back the Night April 18
The Women’s Center at Boise State, along with a number of community groups, will present “Take Back the Night” from 6-10 p.m. Friday. The event is designed to raise awareness about sexual violence during national Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
Activities will get started with the Rally for Change at 6 p.m. on the Boise City Hall Plaza. Dignitaries will discuss the impact of sexual violence on a variety of levels — individual, campus, city, county and state — and will issue a call to action. Speakers include State Rep. Nicole LeFavour; Gary Raney, Ada County Sheriff; Tina Perkins, Boise Police Department; Michael Laliberte, Boise State Vice President for Student Affairs; and Wanda Viento, Boise State Women’s Center coordinator.
Participants are then invited to march from City Hall Plaza to the Anne Frank Memorial, where there will be a brief pause to remember those who have been affected by sexual violence. The march will continue to the Centennial Amphitheater on the Boise State campus where guest speakers who have survived sexual violence will share their stories. Participants will be invited to break into small groups and share their personal stories, if they wish, and trained professionals will be on hand.
For more information about any of the events, call the Boise State Women’s Center at ext. 6-4259 or visit the Web site at http://womenscenter.boisestate.edu.
Take Back the Night rallies are held across the world to raise awareness of the attitudes, beliefs and behaviors that perpetuate violence. The main focus of the rallies has been on ending sexual violence.
SELLAND COLLEGE
Applied Technology Students Earn Medals in State-level SkillsUSA Competition
Eight Selland College of Applied Technology students earned gold, silver and bronze medals for outstanding career and technical job skills in the state SkillsUSA competition held this past week in Boise.
SkillsUSA is a national organization that prepares America’s workers for careers. It provides quality educational experiences in leadership, teamwork, citizenship and character development to more than 265,000 students nationwide each year.
About 25 students from the Selland College at Boise State competed in various events from culinary arts to electronics. The winners are:
- Ryan Watson — gold medal, Precision Machining; gold medal, CNC Milling; silver medal, CNC Turning; and bronze medal, related technical math
- Eric Dahlen — gold medal, CNC Turning; gold medal, Related Technical Math; and silver medal, CNC Milling
- Matthew Wald — gold medal, Internetworking
- Daniel Baumann — gold medal, Technical Drafting
- Marc Orton — gold medal, Extemporaneous Speaking
- Suzan Linn — bronze medal, Technical Drafting
- Chris Leininger — silver medal, Architectural Drafting
- Dallon Pond — bronze medal, Automotive Refinishing
Gold medal winners will advance to the national competition in Kansas City, Mo., in June.
TACO BELL ARENA
Irish Supergroup Celtic Woman to Play April 22
The Irish group Celtic Woman — named the No. 1 world music artist by Billboard magazine — will play at 7:30 p.m. April 22 at Taco Bell Arena. Celtic Woman performs Irish standards, classical favorites and contemporary hits. Their popularity in the United States is thanks in part to their first PBS special in March 2005, which has aired more than 3,400 times on 316 PBS stations to date. Since then, they have been seen by millions on subsequent PBS specials, including “Celtic Woman — A New Journey,” filmed live from Slane Castle in Ireland, and “A Christmas Celebration: Live from Dublin.” This is their seventh U.S. tour since the release of “Celtic Woman,” their platinum CD and DVD debut.
Tickets are $32-$57 through ext. 6-1766, all Select-a-Seat locations or online at www.idahotickets.com. A $5 discount is available for groups of 10 or more and Boise State students with ID.
BOOKSTORE
Senior Salute Graduation Fair Scheduled April 21-22
The Bookstore will host a Senior Salute Graduation Fair from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. April 21-22 for the graduates of 2008. Graduates can find all of their graduation needs including caps and gowns, announcements, class rings, diploma frames and stoles of appreciation. The Alumni Association, Campus Recreation Center and the Career Center will be offering students information, as well as other vendors who will also be participating, providing information regarding insurance and loan consolidation.
Bike Locks for Sale at Bookstore
As the weather improves and more people choose to commute with their bicycle, the number of bicycle thefts increases. One of the best ways to avoid having your bicycle stolen is to use a heavy-duty bike lock. Bicycle locks are available at the Bookstore including a U-lock for $21.50 and a Masterlock cable lock for $14.95. Visit the Bookstore or order online at www.boisestatebooks.com.
