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DSU PBL Excels at State Competition

Members of Dakota State University’s Phi Beta Lambda (PBL) group earned top honors at the South Dakota Phi Beta Lambda State Spring Leadership Conference.  The select group of student officers and members from Dakota State competed with students from across the state compete to qualify for the national conference in a wide range academic, skill, and performance events. 

The state officer team was led by outgoing SD PBL President Andrea Lindberg, who also serves as DSU PBL President.  She was assisted by Jenny Grabinger, who served as SD PBL Secretary and also serves as DSU PBL Secretary.  Grabinger was elected as the new State PBL President.  She is the first DSU freshman PBL member ever elected to this high office.  This is the fifth time in ten years that a DSU student has held the presidency of the state organization.  Another DSU student, Suzanne Swett was elected as State Historian.

Andrea Lindberg, Dr. Dan Talley, Suzanne Swett, Jenny Grabinger

Every competitor from DSU who attended has earned the right to compete at the National PBL Conference in Chicago this summer.  This is the second consecutive year that 100% of the DSU students who attended have qualified. 

In total, DSU PBL earned fourteen (14) 1st place honors, as well as one (1) 2nd place and one (1) 3rd place honor in competition with other chapters from six universities and institutions.  This included a 1st and 2nd place sweep in Economic Concepts.  This compares quite favorably with a grand total of 37 events for which 1st place was awarded at the conference. 

DSU also won 1st place honors in Computer Applications.  This skills event is a two-part event that requires a two-hour skills test at DSU prior to the conference and a one-hour written examination testing knowledge of computer software at the conference. 

In addition, DSU swept all three performance events in which they competed:  Future Business Executive, Impromptu Speaking, and Job Interview.  These events require an extemporaneous oral presentation in front of one or more judges drawn from the Mitchell professional community.  In addition, the Future Business Executive contest is a two-part event requiring completion of a written test. 

Individual student honors are listed below.

Andrea Lindberg
Departing South Dakota PBL President
1st Place in Accounting Analysis and Decision Making
1st Place in Financial Analysis and Decision Making
1st Place in Human Resource Management
3rd Place in Management Analysis and Decision Making
1st Place in "Who’s Who in SD PBL" award (Second Consecutive Year Recognized)

Jenny Grabinger
Departing South Dakota PBL Secretary 
Elected South Dakota PBL President
1st Place in Business Communications
1st Place in Computer Applications
1st Place in Future Business Executive
Who's Who in SD PBL Award 

Suzanne Swett
Elected South Dakota PBL Historian
1st Place in Economic Concepts
1st Place in Impromptu Speaking
1st Place in Job Interview

Jordan Erickson
1st Place in Marketing Analysis and Decision-Making
1st Place in Sports Management & Marketing 

Nikki Johnson
1st Place in Financial Concepts
2nd Place in Economic Concepts 

Jill Molstad
1st Place in Outstanding Local Historian 2007 

Dr. Daniel Talley
Outstanding Local Advisor 2007 

Lynette Molstad-Gorder, Dr. Orinda Christoph, and Dr. Daniel Talley are the DSU PBL Co-Faculty Advisors.