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Jim Schmidt
Winona, Minnesota

Schmidt graduated magna cum laude from Winona State University in 1986 with a degree in political science. While in school, he served on the Student Senate and was vice president during his junior year. As a senior, he became the first student member of the Minnesota Higher Education Coordinating Board and was State chair of the Minnesota State University Student Association. Schmidt was also the first president of the National Student Roundtable, representing the interests of more than six million students and lobbying before Congress.

After graduating from Winona State, Schmidt served as a congressional aide in the Washington, D.C., office of Congressman Tim Penny, before returning to Minnesota to become director of financial aid at Austin Technical College and later at Minnesota Riverland Technical College, following the merger of three south-central Minnesota technical Colleges.

In 1993 he earned the Master of Business Administration degree from the University of St. Thomas, in 1995 he became Dean of Students at Austin Community College. When that institution merged with two other colleges in 1996 to form Riverland Community College, Schmidt was named Vice President of Student Affairs, overseeing a number of departments including admissions, registration, financial aid, government relations, financial aid, cultural diversity, athletics, student activities, the career and advising center, and marketing and public relations.

Schmidt has also maintained his ties with Winona State University by serving on the Alumni Society Board of Directors and as president of the Alumni Society from 1994-95.

Schmidt also has a record of community involvement, serving as a City Council member in Austin, Minn., and as vice chair of the Housing and Redevelopment Authority commission in Austin. He also served on the Austin/Mower county Law Enforcement Center Commissions and the Austin/Mower County Planning Organization, and is the chair of a four-county Welfare Reform Task Force.

He served as a board member of the Austin Convention and Visitor's Bureau and the Mower county Child Abuse Prevention Council, and was involved in fund raising activities with the Austin Public Education Foundation, Minnesota Public Television, and The Minnesota State University Student Association's Penny Fellowship Board of Directors. Schmidt is enrolled in the Leadership Academy at the University of Minnesota in the Doctoral Studies in Higher Education Administration program, and expects to complete his doctoral degree in 2001.

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