Education for Service Honoree Bids Farewell to BVU
Keith Schmidt, whose time at BVU spans 35 years, filled multiple roles with the Beavers from coaching to facilities management. Schmidt ends his career at BVU with an honor reserved for the top BVU staff member each year.
For 15 years, Keith Schmidt served Buena Vista University as Head Coach for the cross country and track and field programs. For the past 20 years, Schmidt has served as Director of Facilities Management for BVU.
As he departs into retirement this month, Schmidt leaves as the reigning Education for Service Award winner, an honor presented annually to the top staff member at BVU.
“It caught me by surprise,” Schmidt says of the award presentation during BVU’s Employee Recognition Celebration in Schaller Memorial Chapel. “I’ve attended so many of those events through the years and have enjoyed them all.”
Maybe this one is a bit more special, given the fact this 35-year BVU employee was on the receiving end of a standing ovation.
“We always give standing ovations,” Schmidt says with a smile. “But, yes, it was very nice.”
Schmidt, son of the late Don and Marge Schmidt, who farmed near Emmetsburg, was a North Central Conference Champion in a pair of events for the University of Northern Iowa in 1975. He set a UNI standard in winning the league in the pole vault, then was part of a school-record championship effort in the 4 X 100-meter relay. Both records, he notes, have long since been surpassed.
“[Keith Schmidt's] enthusiasm and energy are contagious, and people enjoy working for and with him.”
Suzette Radke, Vice President for Finance and Administration
Following one year as a graduate assistant at UNI, a year spent earning his master’s degree, Schmidt taught and coached at stops in Sac City, Belmond, and at Illinois State University, where he toiled as an Assistant Track and Field Coach. He arrived at BVU in the fall of 1986, eager to build his own NCAA Division III men’s and women’s program in cross country and track and field.
In his 15 years at the helm, the squad grew from 17 members to 55. The Beavers crowned four national champions during a tenure in which Schmidt coached 25 all-Americans and earned conference coach of the year honors twice. His former student-athletes are now teachers, doctors, administrators, financial professionals, coaches, and more.
“Being a coach at the NCAA Division I level, I found myself on the road so much of the time,” he reflects. “As a coach at the Division III level, the interactions with student-athletes are more frequent. You grow closer, I think. I’m still in touch with many of our athletes from 20, 25 years ago.”
Schmidt served as BVU Associate Athletic Director for one year. In 2001, he transitioned to become Director of Facilities Management, a role he observes until May 27, his last day on the job. At age 68, he’s retiring. He’ll do so by leaving a litany of successful projects in his wake: a recent pair of Siebens Forum renovations, the Pierce/White Residence Hall project; the Social Sciences & Arts building remodel; Lamberti Rec Center construction; multiple renovations of Dixon-Eilers Hall; the remake of the baseball/ and softball diamonds BVU shares with Storm Lake High School; renovations of the suites; a pair of renovations at J. Leslie Rollins Stadium; the installation of FieldTurf on Peterson Field, and many, many more.
Suzette Radke, BVU Vice President for Finance and Administration, announced Schmidt as the Education for Service recipient, quoting nominations that noted how Schmidt acted like the Energizer Bunny, “never slowing down, always there to lend a hand to get a job done.
“His enthusiasm and energy are contagious, and people enjoy working for and with him,” Radke read.
In addition to the brick-and-mortar improvements on campus, Schmidt helps direct a 30-member staff in caring for, maintaining, and presenting the buildings and grounds across 60-some campus acres. Building space totals more than 800,000 square feet, for example. There are five miles of sidewalks on campus.
Schmidt and his crew two weekends ago squeegeed and dried every chair put in place on Peterson Field after rains fell between Commencement exercises.
“We didn’t want any of our graduates or their guests to sit down on a wet chair on the field,” he says. “So, we got to every chair.”
That extra effort, that attention to detail, is the kind of example that brought coworkers to their feet with the announcement of his receipt of the Education for Service award.
“I’ve got so many close friends at BVU, along with the alumni and people in this community,” he says. “The Storm Lake contractors and business community have been great to work with through the years. I’ve loved being part of a team effort in so many projects on campus.”
Schmidt plans to remain in Storm Lake with his wife, Marcia, a retired Storm Lake Elementary School teacher. The couple plans to spend more time with one another while watching their three grandchildren. A fourth grandchild is on the way this fall.
“We will also watch the Beavers, and will remain close to the University,” he says.
Marcia has a place picked out in their home for the Education for Service Award, an honor endowed by BVU’s former Vice President for Enrollment Services, John Klockentager, and his wife, Connie. The Klockentagers were neighbors of the Schmidts when both couples arrived in Storm Lake in August 1986. Their daughter, Laura Klockentager, watched the Schmidt children (Stacy and Angie) and competed for Schmidt and the Beavers in the 1990s.
“The Education for Service award is a testament to our staff,” Schmidt says. “When I went from coaching into my current position, I told our staff that I would rely on them. They joked with me and said, ‘Don’t worry, we’ll make you look good.’”
Schmidt considers comments shared by guests, who almost daily remark how beautiful and well-kept the campus remains, year after year, a natural beauty by the lakeshore kept in near-pristine condition by BVU employees.
“My staff was very supportive,” Schmidt concludes. “And, yes, they made me look good.”