There’s always something to do on any DMACC campus on any given day. If a student wants to know what that is, all they have to do is read the DMACC Student Daily.
One man writes that email, and one man covers the events for it. That man is Dan Ivis, and he is indeed a very busy person.
Ivis didn’t start his life knowing he was going to be a reporter. He wanted to study math.
“I’ve always enjoyed working with numbers and thought about pursuing that, but the love of journalism kind of [wistful pause] got in the way,” Ivis said.
During his junior year at ISU, he took a journalism class to fill elective credits. He enjoyed it so much, he kept signing up.
“If I keep doing this, I could do a double major, and indeed that’s what happened,” he said. He doubled in statistics and broadcast journalism.
His career began in radio, first at KCCQ-Ames right out of college, and then WHO Radio producing news for the early morning drive time.
His career at DMACC began 25 years ago. He writes news releases and takes a lot of photos covering all the events as the media liaison.
His favorite part of the job is learning while he does his job.
“I get to learn so much from different speakers and presenters, covering events – three, four, five a day – just soaking up that information,” Ivis said.
With thousands of new students attending the college every year, it’s easy for Ivis to keep his perspective fresh.
“I see six induction ceremonies at Phi Theta Kappa each semester. After 25 years, I can almost recite the oath verbatim. But the students are the ones that get to raise their right hand and take it. This is their first and only time, and it’s exciting,” he said.
Ivis is incredibly busy. Once, early in his career here, he recalled, he was almost caught up with his work for the week, and Hilary Clinton decided to drop in to talk about then-president Clinton’s health initiative.
“You’re never ever actually caught up, something else can come up and you’ve got to change your plans,” he said.
Knowing in general what is going to happen helps keep Ivis on track, and the unexpected things keep him on his toes.
“I’m never bored and boredom is just your own choosing. There’s always something.”
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