1 day Ago By Carrie McDermott
School: Dakota State University Degree: Bachelor of Business Administration, marketing; minors in entrepreneurial studies and management Graduation: May 2025 Career Path: marketing or advertising specialist Dakota State University’s strong business program and innovative technology emphasis are what drew Sadie Oltmanns to attend the four-year university in Madison, South Dakota. She’s about to graduate with a Bachelor of Business Administration and has minored in entrepreneurial studies and management. ADVERTISEMENT “The reason I went into this is because one of my good friends from back home is a physician’s recruiter at Avera Health in Mitchell (South Dakota), and I really liked what she did there.
I didn't realize how interesting marketing was until I started taking my classes,” Oltmanns said. An interest in communication, recruiting and learning about others also helped spur her decision to study marketing. She hopes to become a marketing or advertising specialist.
She credits Associate Professor and Undergraduate Coordinator for Business Deb Tech, Ph.D., for teaching her “everything about marketing.
” Associate Professor Michael Roach, Ph.D., College of Business and Information Systems, was also cited as a favorite instructor and mentor for entrepreneurship, leadership and management.
“I was kind of scared of him at first because he’s very blunt. But the more I’ve had classes with him, the more I’ve learned. I’m pretty sure I’m his favorite,” she said, jokingly.
Oltmanns said she learned to emphasize her strengths and to think highly of herself to land the job she wants. In addition to taking her courses, she’s worked as a teacher’s assistant with I-CORPS, an entrepreneurial training program that helps scientists and engineers commercialize their research. The program is run by the U.
S. National Science Foundation. “It's basically helping people who don't know anything about business and want to start their own business,” she said.
She worked as the go-between with the instructor and entrepreneurs, helping them start their business models, creating executive summaries and customer discovery work. Much of the clerical work was her responsibility, such as handling Zoom meetings, creating virtual breakout rooms and proofing slideshow presentations. ADVERTISEMENT Oltmanns interned at Lake Herman State Park as a naturalist, though she says her job duties were more that of a youth program coordinator.
“I would go through and get together what I was going to teach the kids, or what we were going to do for an activity. And then I would give a survey and ask them questions like, OK, if you're from South Dakota, what did you learn? Did you know this before? And then go in and put it all on the South Dakota state website for the logistics so they kind of knew how many kids were coming and stuff like that. I also ran their Facebook page over the summer, too,” she said.
She appreciates the welcoming atmosphere on the DSU campus, and because it’s a tight-knit school, she felt comfortable. Instructors know their students by name and students are encouraged to reach out to them. “I come from such a small town (Alexandria, South Dakota) that I wanted a small campus to come to.
I didn't want a big university, like at SDSU, where they're huge and I wouldn't know anybody in my classes. I will see my DSU professors and they'll stop and talk to me. Even professors from my freshman year will still come and talk to me and say 'hi,'” she said.
Outside of her classes at DSU, Oltmanns has two jobs. She works 20 hours a week at Valiant Living and also works as a youth coordinator at United Methodist Church. Admitting she wasn’t a serious student in her freshman year, she advises potential DSU students to be diligent about attending classes and getting homework done on time.
Communication with instructors is crucial if a student needs extra time for an assignment, she said..
