Terrence Leas, Riverland Comm. College

On May 11, Riverland celebrated the end of the academic year and the achievement of 604 students from the Class of 2007. More than 280 of these students participated in our commencement ceremony. The end of the academic year also provides the opportunity to celebrate the past success of our students, employees and the College. I will highlight a few of the many accomplishments enjoyed by the entire Riverland team.

Student success:

Riverland Community College inducted 136 students into the Phi Theta Kappa honor society, Zeta Eta Chapter.

Riverland had five first-place winners in the SkillsUSA Minnesota Championships Conference.

These students will compete at the national championship in Kansas City in June: cosmetology student, Beth Fynbo (Albert Lea), first place in hair; Web design students Patty Stanley (Albert Lea) and Matt Steiner (Brownsdale), first place in Web design; automotive service technology students Vida Hierlmaier (Blooming Prairie) first place in prepared speech and Robert Indykiewicz (Owatonna) first place in job skill demonstration.

DiJon Reese and Tracee Crowley were named Riverland Community College 2006-07 Athletes of the Year. This annual award is given to the male and female athletes who best represent the college in the classroom and in public.

Riverland alum Dr. C. Jerry Nelson, Ph.D., received the 2007 Outstanding Alumni Award from the American Association of Community Colleges. Dr. Nelson, a professor emeritus at the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, University of Missouri-Columbia, is a 1959 graduate of Austin Community College.

Riverland students Ahmed Abdirahman (Austin), Gary Kiekenapp-Higgens (Warsaw) and Stephanie Njos (Blooming Prairie) were named to the 2007 All-Minnesota Academic Team in recognition of their academic achievement, leadership accomplishments and service to their college and community.

Employee/institutional success:

The college awarded five retired faculty members the title of Emeritus Faculty for outstanding and long-term service to Riverland. Recipients included Al Bush, electronics: 1983 to 2004; John Hoeft, electronics: 1967 to 1985 and 1998 to 2003; Robert &8220;Bob&8221; Knutson, carpentry: 1966 to 1991; Leroy &8220;Nick&8221; Kane, accounting: 1964 to 1993; Marty Shepard, counseling: 1975 to 1999 and administrator: 1999 to 2002.

Riverland completed a healthcare simulation lab funded, in part, by a $2.2-million U.S. Department of Labor Community-Based Job Training grant. These federal funds were used to develop and implement a health-science education simulation center for nurses, radiographers, and pharmacy technicians.

The Automotive Industry Planning Council named the Riverland Automotive Service Technology program, led by instructors Roger Panzer and Jason Merritt, a national runner-up of the AIPC Awards of Excellence in the Postsecondary, non-manufacturer affiliated program category.

The Minnesota Job Skills Partnership Board, a program of the Minnesota Department of Employee and Economic Development, funded a $284,000 Special Incumbent Worker Training Program for Viracon employees. Funding to Viracon and Riverland Community College will support the development of the &8220;Employer of Opportunity&8221; training program.

We congratulate our graduates and all Riverland students for their hard work and applaud our employees for their support of excellence in teaching and learning.

Terrence Leas is the president of Riverland Community College.