Erin Neumann, Interim Executive Campus Dean, Boone Campus, April 03, 2026

Today we are taking time to visit with Erin Newman. Erin is now serving as the interim executive director on the Boone Campus of Des Moines Area Community College. We placed Dr. Alan Goben. Thanks for coming in. Yeah, thanks for having me. Great to see you.

And just what, twice in like two or three months here. Yeah, it's nice to be that quickly. She came back a lot faster too. Also is director at DMACC Student and Community Resources in Boone Student Services. Yes. Busy time on the Boone Campus.

So actually all DMACC campuses actually. It's been kind of a busy time with a lot of, well, we know who the new president's gonna be now and everything else.

And yeah, after the, all of a sudden where people were dropping out before and now we had all four candidates were on there and came and all offered different ideas. But I think Dr. Sudeck, I think is her name. So, are you Sudeck? Yeah, four great candidates. Dr.

Sudeck is joining us, I think June 15th and we're excited to have her come to DMACC. I think she'll do great things. And Dr. Wee, who's been our interim president has been wonderful for us as well. So, looking forward to that.

And of course, last time we had Charles Irwin filling in and he let us know that we're gonna have a celebration for Boone Junior College too. Yeah, we will.

There's a very active, excited committee at the Boone Campus who's just starting to, has been talking about and plans are taking shape for one of the different ways we mark this huge accomplishment and occasion for, not only for DMACC and the college, but for the community.

So, there'll be more to come and certainly some community events to help us celebrate that 100th anniversary. I know, he put out the call. If people live memorabilia or things like that, he said, we got a lot of the written stuff but memorabilia would be nice. It would be nice.

In fact, just the other day, I think someone had a handful of yearbooks from years past. So, things like that, yearbooks, photos, anything like that would be helpful because we really wanna mark this in one way with a history wall, kind of talking about that 100 years of history.

So, yes, I'm anticipating there would be some of those things in the community. We would love to work with people on those. Well, we've had the busy time we've been talking about out there. First of all, we have had, we're into transition on sports.

But, both the men's and women's teams at national tournament did not quite do what we wanted, but they were there. They were there, which is a huge accomplishment. So excited, the players and the coaches worked so incredibly hard.

And we have a wonderful support here in the community. But yeah, the men's basketball team, their final national ranking was number two. Their record was amazing. It was 33 and three and they were 20 and 0 in conference play.

They were conference champions, region champions, district champions. They went into the national tournament as the number one seed. And their final place in the national tournament was sixth. So, and it took a conference team to stop the run, actually.

Yeah, they played just very hard, yep. And the women's team, first time. Yes, that was wonderful to see as well. They were out in North Carolina representing us and representing DMACC. And yeah, very exciting. Their final national ranking was 24.

So again, both teams are in the top 24 in the nation. So their record was 26 and nine and they were 14 and eight in the conference. They were also regional champions and district champions. And like you said, it was the first time they had ever gone to the national tournament.

So that was extra special. There were several people out waving them on and celebrating them as they got, got onto the bus to head out. It was great to see. And I know that I got called, Jim, tell them the bus is coming back and come on out. So anyway, that was good.

And now baseball softball. Well, mother nature cooperates. Yeah, baseball and softball in particular are the ones that often have to shuffle and constantly be changing because we're always at the whim of the weather. But yeah, there's been some changes.

We do have some games coming up that we'd love to see people at. So actually this Sunday at 3 p.m., baseball's gonna be playing and that's a game that had to shift because of the nice rainy weather that we've had.

And then baseball and softball are also home this coming Monday at 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. So some time's coming up very soon to cheer on the Bears baseball and softball teams. It's pretty easy. You don't have to pay to get in. No, you can just come cheer us on, yeah.

Find a place and you got a pretty good group of people that follow them. Yeah, we have great community support, yeah. Keep up with that. One of the things that we, yeah, because I know that what is golfing out there too, I think, they're doing something.

But the track or cross-country, which kind of morphed into doing some track as well. Yeah, so we've had cross-country for a number of years and then we have started a track program then kind of from that. And this is one of our first semesters doing that.

But men's indoor track is up and going. And speaking of cross-country, we always want to mention that the men's team finished ninth in the nation. And one of our students in particular, Eli Page, was the first ever DMACC track and field All-American. So that's exciting too.

Lots of things to celebrate. One thing I notice is that we also get the chance to see, as the seasons wrap up, how they did academically. And we have been very good. Excellent. It's always amazing to see the GPAs or things that come out when we're done with our seasons.

We know our students are hard workers on the court and also, or the field, and also in the classroom. High GPAs, high achievers, really setting themselves up not only for continued success in sports, but also academically, like if they're planning to transfer or go elsewhere.

So yeah, we're very proud of their academic accomplishments as well. When you watch them with the coaches, recruit and stuff, we tend to see some very good students, valedictorians a lot of times, some that are going into the honors program and things like that.

They are academically some of the leaders too. They really are. And I think it's just notable that you see this leadership and these high grades, considering all the things in addition to the coursework that they're doing with their training and their competition. Okay.

So tell me about the recent Knights of Columbus Free Throw Championship. Did we have some information on that? Yeah, so that was a recent event that DMACC hosted. We love to have the community. We have lots of involvement in the community.

So in March, DMACC hosted the state of Iowa, Knights of Columbus Free Throw Championship. They were coming from all over the place. All the place. So all 99 counties were represented, which is exciting. This included boys and girls from grades three to eight.

So a pretty wide range of ages and skill sets. Yeah. That's pretty impressive. And they all got a chance to see our Boone campus. They did. And that's important too. You like that, especially with all the field house and everything in there now.

It's nice to be able to show that off and everybody goes, this wasn't here. Yeah, that happens frequently, right? This wasn't here when I was here, but it's so interesting how often people in the community, but also from other parts of Iowa, visit us.

And they often have a story about, you know, I actually went here, or I actually graduated here. I went here after high school. So it's interesting how far reaching that impact is or that connection is across the state.

Well, if we've had this, you know, this long, you had the school this long, you get a lot of them spread out all over. Yeah, you do. It's great. Let's talk about a couple other things that are going on out there. Again, we got a lot of dedication things coming up too.

I know trees were removed in the front of the campus. And I know you're looking at doing some plantings coming up and I'd heard a little bit about that. So how are we progressing on that? Yeah, absolutely.

I would love to say about the tree, something I think that's very interesting. We're actually working with DMACC's horticulture program.

So some of those students and their instructor are gonna be coming up to the Boone campus from Ankeny and really evaluating our whole area because we have lost a lot of trees over the years from the ash diseases and things we have and wind.

And so those DMACC students are gonna be kind of creating a multi-year plan for how we replace some of those trees. So I'm excited to work with the horticulture programs there. But yeah, for Earth Day in particular, we are going to be replacing and dedicating a tree.

There was a tree that was planted there on the first Earth Day in 1970. And unfortunately, it didn't survive some of those things that we talked about. So there's gonna be an Earth Day tree dedication, which is Wednesday, April 22nd at 9 a.m.

And it's gonna be outside door one, which is along our Hancock Drive area in the southern part of the building. Okay. Yeah, so we'd love to see people there. And in Earth Week, we're gonna have some other events going on as well if I could share those too. Sure, yeah. So Dr.

Tim Bergen is a biology professor, does a great job of spearheading Earth Week for us. So we have events on Tuesday, April 21st, Wednesday the 22nd, and Thursday the 23rd.

So there's going to be student exhibits related to the Earth and the environment on display on those days from 9 to 11 in our Quarter Center, which is that main student center area, the tree dedication that we mentioned.

And then there's also gonna be some speakers throughout the week. There's going to typically be someone from the Boone County landfill or recycling who comes and speaks. Sometimes we even have some guests, reptiles, and animals coming that week as well.

So those events are free and open to the public. So we would love for people to visit us then too. Well, Tim's doing them. Yes, there are gonna be some reptiles there. Yes, of course, and that's a great one to see, yeah. So again, that'll be good.

That's gonna be a whole week full of activities going on. That's another thing too. The Quarter Center restaurant cafe. You're saying, come on out. Yeah, if you're visiting the Boone Campus, taking a look at our cafe is a great option as well. They serve breakfast and lunch.

They have breakfast and lunch specials every day that were Monday through Friday. And their hours tend to be about 7.30 to 1. So, yeah. Fits right in. And you have different crowds of people. It is a regular form. Regular stop to come in for coffee. Yeah, I love to see it.

We have a growing number of community people who will stop by. I think more and more people are using that space maybe to have like a coffee group or a check-in or a discussion with each other.

So there's lots of students and employees there but a lot of community members as well which is ideal as a community college. I've seen some of them that come for that coffee group. Is that the table of knowledge over there that we call that or something? Right.

Something like that? Let's talk about some of the other things up. Well, next week, really. National Crime Victims Rights Week. And DMACC always, I mean, these are things that you put out for students who really let students get involved with a lot of things.

We do and this is National Crime Victims Rights Week. April is also a domestic violence, or I'm sorry, Sexual Assault Awareness Month. So, DMACC District-wide marks National Crime Victims Rights Week in April. And so this year we're marking that next week.

We have some different things happening on campus. Some of them are things that people could come take a look at, the displays as they have time. And some are more related to speakers and things like that. So one of our main events for that is next Wednesday, which is April 8th.

We'll have a couple of different things going on. So from 10 to noon, again, in that quarter center, we're gonna have some organizations tabling. And we're going to also have some cookies and stickers and buttons and things like that to mark National Crime Victims Rights Week.

And then we also have a speaker that day at 12 o'clock in our auditorium. And I really wanna mention that that's free as well and open to the public. That speaker's name is Cheyenne Hanson. So she's coming to DMACC and presenting at Ankeny and Boone.

So she's speaking from 12 to one. And she is a survivor of 14 years of sexual and domestic abuse. And she actually has a book, a memoir called Hidden Scars, where she talks about her journey. And so we really would love people to join us for that as well.

So public welcome to come up with that. Okay, and that's gonna be on Wednesday the 8th and noon? Wednesday the 8th at noon in our auditorium. Okay, big enough space. You can park in the front, you can park in the back and come in through the quarter center.

Yes, there'll be lots of signage and there'll be lots of people around to help you find that if you're needing help finding that.

Those are things that we sometimes miss or you don't get to hear about, but there are several opportunities to have, I mean, you know, speakers like this that come, you know, they might be appearing on a couple of different campuses, but be able to have them come here to the Boone campus and easily accessible, and anybody's welcome.

Anybody's welcome.

I think one of the great things about her visiting us too is I think part of her story that she'll share is the fact that she was a college athlete and that plays into her path and her life, so that's very relevant to many of the students and just the culture of our campus, so I think that's a great fit for the Boone campus to host her.

All right, well, one of the things that happens, it's short, only a few hours long. You never know what's gonna happen there if there's gonna be open flame or not, but it's the STEM Festival and it's gonna be mid April.

Yes, mid April, it's Saturday, it's April 18th from 9 to noon, and we've been doing this for a number of years. We have employees who are incredibly dedicated who put this together. It's a huge event.

It's wonderful for families, for anybody, but families often come with children, it's free, there's lots of hands-on activities, and the STEM event is encouraging, you know, growth and experience with things like technology, engineering, science, and math, and really, everyone tends to enjoy it.

It's very hands-on.

We have lots of organizations who come out and have different things at each table with information, so actually, I'd like to talk about the fact that, of course, we love people to visit, right, any of those times, but also, if there's an organization out there who's listening who would like to be part of that, right, to have an interactive sort of STEM activity at the festival, it's a great time to interact with many, many people, and get the word out about your organization, and also share STEM skills or STEM knowledge.

Yep, so that's, the event is April 18th. If someone's interested in tabling or having a table, if you check out our Facebook event page on the DMACC Boone page, there's a Facebook event, and so if you could register by Friday, April 17th.

So we can accommodate you even up to the day before, which we'd love to welcome people to that. We've had a lot of, actually, a lot of business, like Landis probably, will be in line to come in because of some of the technology and things that they are doing.

I know they've been there in the past. I know Bayer's been there in the past. We've had Corn Growers Association sent a trailer. Firemen are out there, too, so. There's all sorts of things. It's very hands-on, yep, you can go.

The firemen did make them quit doing the gas-powered hoverboard, though, that was. That was a no-go. That was not, you said, not inside, though. I see. It was one of those. That makes sense. Grandson's got to do it, though, before they got out. Before that change.

Yeah, and then I have the hard time getting him past the e-sports group. Oh, okay. Because they usually have some things set up out there and people don't realize all the technology that. Oh, yeah, everything's very engaging.

I took our daughters a few years ago and that was very much the case. We couldn't get through the whole thing because there were so many things they wanted to do, which is a nice problem to have. And again, really, folks, it's only a few hours. It's gonna be on the 18th.

Come on in and come and go as you please. Grandparents, bring their grandkids. Yeah, absolutely. And there's usually a few from Iowa State that show up. I mean, who knows? Maybe we'll hear more about the Artemis. Maybe so. That's timely, yeah, absolutely.

So we got a lot of those things going on. Did have Shawn Taylor on, talking about the In My Boots. This has become, well, it's gonna be the 12th year. Missed the pandemic, but it is coming up. And as he told us, might be the last one. We're not sure.

But really wanted to make this a community event this year and focus on raising funds for the Boone Area Veterans Center. Yes. It's gonna be out at McCose Park. McCose Park, yep, Saturday, April 25th.

So the week after the STEM Festival, you can come join us for, yep, In My Boots. In My Boots. And whether you register or not, he said, come on out, we'll have pancakes and- Yeah, live music, I think, yeah.

And also he was talking about, oh yeah, the reserve unit that was attacked in Kuwait. They've already got some people that have signed up to run. And they were gonna be recognizing them. That was gonna be their- That's extra special, yeah. Big, big thing for them.

Anyway, folks, it's easy enough that you just go to get me registered and you can find out DMACC or In My Boots and do that too. Yeah, we'd love to see you there. You know graduation? Like a month? Graduation, yeah, graduation is a month away, right about a month. Yeah, May 8th.

So Friday, May 8th at 10 a.m. is our commencement at the Boone campus, which is one of the best days of the year, in my opinion. But we have over 100 graduates participating in the ceremony. We have more than that graduating, but over 100 participating.

It's a great event in our auditorium. And that's at 10 o'clock that day. And then we wrap up with a reception in the quarter center too. So we would love to see people join us there, especially if they have people who are graduating that they wanna cheer on.

Sure, come on out for that. I was gonna say, again, while all this is going on and everything we've kinda talked about, you are still getting ready for summer and even next fall. Yes. You direct a lot of those other parts of this too. But that's part of what the staff has to do.

You gotta constantly be looking ahead. Yeah, that's such a good point. Yeah, all right, academic advising staff and student services staff are actively registering people for summer classes.

So we do have, DMACC has a variety of summer classes, whether that's in person or online or a combination of things throughout the district. So summer is a great time if someone's thought about taking a course or looked into a short-term training.

Summer could be the time to maybe do that depending on people's schedules. And then we are now registering for fall as well. So you're right, we're always working in the current but moving ahead as well, yeah. We gotta take care of all this and up here too.

And I know there were a few outdoor projects that were gonna be done like around the apartments. I think there was gonna be some outdoor volleyball or what were they doing? Yeah, we're still kind of discussing that.

There's lots of opportunities and I think we really wanna make sure we're continuing to listen to what students are requesting.

But one of the things that I think a lot of feedback that we've gotten about that is that students in the apartments really could benefit from some outdoor social space or space where they can just be together whether they're chatting or whether they're working on a course on a nice day.

So one of the things that we've talked about is having some nice Adirondack chairs and tables and things that are lovely to look at and weather resistant and welcoming to students to. So they could spend some time outside. Yeah, spend some time outside, yeah.

So that's definitely something that we would be looking at as we head into the fall. And I know what the outdoor area on the, would it be on the west side where the soccer field area is right now?

Because you have all these people from the community coming out there to play soccer. Yeah, we love to see them out there. But that one patio area was gonna be getting a little bit of work done too.

Yeah, and they've done a great, the employees who have been working on that, who planned it and who made it happen are really seeing now the fruits of their labor. So that west little patio area was not utilized much and now it's utilized much more.

With some of the similar furniture, the Adirondack chairs, kind of the welcoming, comfortable spaces. And it does look right out onto the soccer field so that is a nice connection. If you don't wanna be out there in the heat in the sun, come in the shade of the building.

Come into the shade, yeah, absolutely. Aaron Newman's been our guest on our program today. Once again, interim executive campus dean on the Boone Campus Des Moines Area Community College. As always, people can check online or that Facebook. Easy way to do it.

Yeah, Facebook is a great way to reach us for any of our events and if people have questions about advising or registration or anything like that. In addition to social media, people can also just call the campus too.

If that's something they'd like to do, I can give you that phone number if that's helpful. 515-432-7203. So if you call that number, whatever your question is, we'll get you connected to who can answer it. And our presenter on April 8th, noon in the auditorium.

Noon in the auditorium. We would love to have people join us for that event, for the speaker event for National Crime Victims Rights Week. Alrighty, no reason you can't stop out there. That's what it's all about. It's a community college, right? It's a community college.

We're here for the community. Oh, and check the cafe too, really. You got to. We have a good crowd out there for that. Thanks so much for joining us. Thank you. Erin Newman's been our guest on our tuned in program today on KWBG.