The Southwest Minnesota State University Enactus club (formerly SIFE) finished in the top eight at the national competition in Kansas City, Mo., on Thursday, May 23.

It was the highest finish ever for Enactus, a campus group with an emphasis on entrepreneurship. The group had finished in the top 20 nationally two out of the past three years.

The team qualified for nationals earlier by taking its 10th straight regional competition, held this year in Minneapolis.

A presentation team of four SMSU students competed, led by club president Ben Tiensvold, a senior Speech Communication/Public Relations major from Sioux Falls, S.D.

 David Vikander, Southwest Minnesota State University Financial Aid Director, has been honored by the Minnesota Association of Financial Aid Administrators (MAFAA).

Vikander has been elected president of the MAFAA, and was presented its Distinguished Service Award.

MAFAA is comprised of 632 financial aid professionals from Minnesota’s public and private colleges. Vikander was president-elect last year, will serve as president this year, and as past-president next year.

He began his duties on May 10.

 An Associate of Arts (AA) degree has been approved for Southwest Minnesota State University, an offering that will benefit students and give them more options as they pursue their educational goals.

The AA degree was recently approved for SMSU by the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) system office. It will be offered at SMSU starting in the fall semester 2013.

According to SMSU President Dr. Ron Wood, offering an AA degree has two primary advantages. “First, we have an option for students who have been here for a period of time but have had to leave for any number of reasons. If they have a certain set of courses that meet the AA degree requirements, they don’t leave empty handed due to events out of their control.

“Second, as the relationship between K-12 and the MnSCU institutions grows stronger, the need to provide learning pathways becomes greater. The AA will provide us with such a pathway as the gateway to higher education while in high school.”