University of Northern Iowa’s College of Business Administration’s long-running Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program, which allows accounting students to prepare tax returns for low- and moderate-income taxpayers, will not be providing services this spring due to COVID-19 concerns. Taxpayers are encouraged to call the United Way at 211 for help in locating an alternative site in their area or use the Internal Revenue Service’s Free File program. 

Taylor Baltes (Management ’20) combined her interest in data with working for a good cause. It started in the late summer when Baltes was searching for an internship for the fall semester. She stumbled upon an opening for data analytics at the Cedar Valley United Way, a nonprofit organization that distributes funds to various community needs.

The University of Northern Iowa provides a pathway for adults and students to obtain a bachelor’s degree in new and innovative ways. With support from UNI’s College of Business Administration, the Office of Online and Distance Education is recruiting students for a new Managing Business and Organizations Bachelor of Applied Science (MBO BAS) degree, tailored to working professionals to finish a four-year program. 

Travis Steffen remembers the first time he contemplated building a business. An undergraduate student, he was sitting in his dorm room at Dancer Hall, chatting with his two roommates. They wanted to make bed lofts and sell them to incoming students. They calculated a $10,000 profit, life-changing money in college. Although they later found out UNI already contracted with a bed loft company and dropped the idea, Steffen couldn’t shake the potential.

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted life in every sense, particularly for businesses. Offices may never be the same. A variety of data shows that even after the pandemic ends, many companies expect their employees will work from home at least a few days a week. These dramatic shifts could have lasting implications for corporate America. Will competition for office space in urban hubs be less fierce? 

Four former student body presidents and graduates from the College of Business Administration shared the highlights and struggles of their terms across four decades, illuminating along the way the universal struggles of the college experience and the unique challenges brought on by current events.