The Difference - May 2024

Alum serves his Southern Colorado community through new role as president of CSU Pueblo

Born and raised in Southern Colorado’s San Luis Valley, CSU Pueblo President Armando Valdez has always felt a deep connection to the region – and for good reason. He can trace his family’s presence in Southern Colorado and Northern New Mexico back 16 generations to the late 1500s.

Throughout his career – whether as an academic, administrator or entrepreneur – President Valdez has felt a responsibility to Southern Colorado and the people who live there. When he became president of CSU Pueblo earlier this year, he saw it as an opportunity to serve his community in a new way.

Family construction business is fueled by passion for building healthy company culture

Chris and Patrick Elder’s business is construction, but their true passion lies in building something more intangible: a healthy company culture that prioritizes teamwork and community. The Elders, twin brothers and College of Business alumni, run the business alongside their childhood best friend, Austin Dodder.

Alum’s lifelong love of entrepreneurship spurs him to support new Institute for Entrepreneurship program

Chase Stockon first caught “the entrepreneurship bug” in his teens. Now, nearly four decades into a successful career defined by entrepreneurship, he’s funded a program at CSU designed to get students from outside of the College of Business involved in entrepreneurship-focused programming.

QS ranks Online MBA No. 9 for employability in U.S.

Great news, Biz Rams! We’ve long known that Online MBA graduates make great hires, and now QS Quacquarelli Symonds confirms it: The program received top marks for employability, placing No. 9 nationwide and No. 12 worldwide.

The employability ranking was calculated using responses from 61,005 employers over five years, with the College’s Online MBA scoring 85.7 out of 100 possible points, well above the global mean of 49.4. Shoutout to all of our alumni for standing out in the workplace and making a difference!

If you're an alum of CSU's Fort Collins campus who's interested in the Online MBA, don't forget that you're eligible for a 15% tuition benefit!

World-Class Programming

Challenge yourself to do more and be more with the College's Evening MBA

When you enroll in our Evening MBA, you will meet on campus in Fort Collins with professional peers from various industries to immerse yourselves in leadership studies with a focus on real-world application. Over the course of 21 months, Evening MBA candidates learn from each other and from world-class faculty to acquire the skills and confidence to emerge as leaders ready to inspire.

Learn to evaluate IT weaknesses and make recommendations for improvement

Our Graduate Certificate in Cybersecurity teaches the knowledge and skills necessary to face the dynamic, high-demand and ever-evolving need for information management and digital Information security. You’ll learn how to identify enterprise-and-IT-related risks and vulnerabilities for organizations and evaluate potential impact.

Research for a Better World

Lowered frequency in provider pain monitoring leads to higher readmission rates for Black patients

Medical professionals have long known that helping patients manage pain increases the likelihood of successful treatment and that checking in with patients about their level of pain is a critical component of pain management. New research, however, finds that healthcare workers monitor Black patients’ pain levels less frequently than those of white patients. These disparities are linked to higher readmission rates for Black patients.

Lip service or living it out? Research clarifies how businesses seek purpose beyond profit

As consumers grapple with brands saying they care about the planet, CEOs recognize their organizations’ responsibilities to society and employees seek meaning beyond the bottom line, companies are evolving to incorporate purpose into their identities.

Unexpected changes to daily workload linked to anxiety, burnout

“Giving the gift of time” by cancelling a meeting at the last minute may not be the boon to workers it appears to be. Unexpected changes in employees’ planned workloads can drive feelings of anxiety that stretch beyond the end of the workday and ultimately contribute to burnout, recent research finds.

Four alumni join the CSU Department of Accounting Hall of Fame

The Department of Accounting inducted four accomplished alumni into its Hall of Fame during its annual Accounting Awards and Recognition event in April. Tom Kenning, Tammy Rivera, Andy Weidman and Cheryl Zimlich all received the Distinguished Department of Accounting Alumni award.

Share your Business for a Better World story with us

We love learning how our alumni are using business to build a better world! That's why we created a new online form so you can share your impact story with us and potentially be featured in a future alumni newsletter.

Upcoming Alumni Events

Oct
12

Open to All

College of Business Networking Tailgate

11:00 AM - 1:00 PM MST

Oct
26

Open to All

College of Business Homecoming Tailgate

11:00 AM - 2:30 PM MST

Dec
13

Graduating Students, Family and Community Members

Fall 2024 Commencement

1:00 PM - 3:00 PM MST

See All Upcoming Events

Stay Connected!

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Whether you graduated last semester or it’s been a while, we want to stay in touch. Please visit our Community Engagement page to learn more about how you can make a difference in our community.