Lakeland College

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Beth Busscher '06

This week, we meet another one of our alumni ambassadors, Beth Busscher, Major Gifts Officer, Mayo Clinic

Beth Busscher is one of those dedicated individuals who earned her degree from Lakeland College entirely online. She studied while working fulltime at Marshfield Clinic, earning a bachelor's degree in business administration in just four and half years.

Initially, Beth, a Marshfield native, received an associate degree from Mid-State Technical College in Marshfield, WI, in supervisory management. She accomplished this while working fulltime and raising her children, Andy and Katie, who are both grown now and starting families of their own.

During her tenure at Marshfield Clinic, she held a variety of positions, first managing different research departments and then the development office.  "After getting into development work, I realized that being a major gift officer would be a very rewarding career so I returned to school to pursue my bachelor's degree," she said. "My children were off to college, so it was a good time for me to finish as well."

As an online student, Beth only visited the campus once. Despite missing face-to-face personal interactions with fellow students, she valued the online option and felt that it was a great fit for her particular situation. "...it allowed me to complete my homework anytime and continue to work full-time. My online experience provided the foundation on which I have built my professional career."

Beth remembers a writing class that helped shape her thinking about her chosen career field. "For my final paper, I wanted to make it pertinent to my development work, so I read many different books on fundraising and interviewed a group of my current benefactors. My paper was titled 'Giving is a Way of Living'. It highlighted people's reasons for giving and how it benefits them socially, personally and financially."

Since January 2008, she has been following her passion as a major gifts officer in the Department of Development at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. Beth's significant other, Rob, has been a great friend and advocate for her to pursue her career at Mayo Clinic.

She finds the work and the associated frequent travel exhilarating and challenging. "I feel so fortunate to work at the best health care institution in the country...It is a great privilege to work with our friends and benefactors to help them align their philanthropic goals to Mayo Clinic's mission. I'm also fortunate to work in a great department where my colleagues are not only highly experienced, but also very dedicated in their development roles."

As far as advice to new graduates, Beth says, "In light of the economy, pursue many different venues for employment. Be persistent, create networking opportunities with fellow graduates, faculty and others and find ways to continually motivate yourselves. Feel confident that Lakeland College has prepared you for a bright and successful future." You can reach Beth at busscher.beth@mayo.edu.

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