Alum Tackles New Challenges

Shotwell Leads North Iowa Transition Center

By University Copywriter Dan Silvia

Brian Shotwell does not shy away from a challenge. He completed his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration of Technical Studies at Bellevue University in 2002, and followed that up with his Master of Business Administration at the University in 2004. With the later degree, he knocked out three classes in his final term, while on active duty with the Air Force at USSTRATCOM.

Brian Shotwell (Photo:  Arian Schuessler/The Globe-Gazette)

“I started taking one on campus course per term.  Then I stepped it up to one on campus and one on-line.  My last term I took the plunge and took one on campus and two online while on active duty in the Air Force at USSTRATCOM,” he said. “I wouldn’t recommend three classes and full-time employment to anyone.”

Shotwell is continuing to take on challenges, most recently as the executive director of the North Iowa Transition Center, a position he’s held since late January 2013. The Transition Center is a private, non-profit organization that helps people with serious mental illness transition back into society.

“I feel that people ought to have a chance. They ought to have an opportunity to do the best that they can,” Shotwell told the local newspaper, the Globe-Gazette.

Filling open positions with qualified employees is one of the challenges Shotwell is tackling.

“All too often, I find myself reviewing applications with insufficient education levels.  As the baby boomers begin to withdraw from the work force, there will be a vacuum to fill and the two ways to bring an application to the top of the stack is with advanced education and extensive work history,” he said. “Graduating with an advanced degree, while contending with everything else that life throws your way, is an indicator of future success.  I’ve been there and I know what it takes, so when I see applicant with similar experiences that application automatically its way to the to-be-considered pile.”      

Read the Globe-Gazette Article