The A.C. Nielsen Center External Advisory Board is a highly involved group of senior level executives who serve as the voice of industry and help guide the development of program curriculum and networking for job opportunities. The board is led by an executive committee elected by the board. More than 30 board members come to campus twice a year to meet with faculty and students. They also sponsor workshops, guest lecture in classes, and offer site visits to their companies. Each student is assigned two mentors within the external advisory board to assist in their career development.
The A.C. Nielsen Center’s Executive Committee was established with the creation of the center in 1990. The first chair of the executive committee was Bob Drane. Bob has been an active member of the board and engaged mentor to A.C. Nielsen Center students for more than 20 years. Executive committee members are nominated and elected by their fellow board members each spring. At each fall board meeting the torch is passed to the new committee chair. Diane Surette is the current chair of the executive committee and Tanya Schooley joined the committee this past fall.