SDSU Community –
A short week on campus is a busy one, and it starts today with the the Celebration of Faculty Excellence. Thank you to everyone that will be participating, and congratulations to those that will be receiving awards today.
The event begins with the David Fee Memorial Lecture at 3 p.m., followed by the Sewrey Colloquium at 4 p.m., both in the Hobo Day Gallery. The faculty showcase and reception will begin at 4:30 p.m. followed by the awards banquet at 6 p.m. in the Volstorff Ballroom. It certainly is a wonderful day as we recognize the tremendous work of our faculty. I hope to see you there!
Also, the Strategic Enrollment Management Planning Team is requesting feedback on the goals and strategies that have formulated as part of SDSU’s next Strategic Enrollment Management plan.
The SEM plan will help to guide enrollment efforts through the next five to seven years and will be aligned with our strategic plan, Pathway to Premier. All faculty and staff are encouraged to provide feedback on the enrollment management plan’s proposed goals and strategies. The survey link will remain open until Feb. 28. I look forward to your feedback and thoughts on this very important initiative.
Thank you to everyone on campus who was involved with our most recent risk management process. We submitted our report to the state and received a very favorable response for how we are handling our risk mitigation. Like all audits, there are a few items we still need to address, and a continued culture of risk mitigation is important to our success.
I would like to also thank Dan Madigan for his work on the audit. Dan is our university’s risk management coordinator and this was his first time conducting the audit. If you have any questions about the audit, please do not hesitate to contact Dan.
Finally, thank you to Office of Multicultural Affairs and Accessibility for hosting yesterday’s annual MLK Rally and Marade, an event the was rescheduled from Martin Luther King Day due to inclement weather. It was well attended, and I enjoyed meeting Rev. France Davis, who was part of yesterday’s event and provided an inspirational message. Davis not only marched with Martin Luther King from Selma to Montgomery, but he also had a long career in higher education including serving as a faculty member at the University of Utah and as a member of the Utah Board of Regents.
I hope everyone has a wonderful week and enjoys the warm winter weather. Thank you for everything you do to make SDSU a premier university.
Go Jacks!
Sincerely,
Barry H. Dunn, President
Sodexo is seeking feedback from students, faculty and staff about Jacks Dining via an online survey. The purpose of the survey is to help improve the dining experience at SDSU. Prizes will be given to eligible participants of the survey.
South Dakota State University’s marketing firm of record, Click Rain Inc., will host a webinar — “Marketing Today’s Prospective Students” — from noon-1 p.m., Wednesday.
All faculty and staff are invited to attend the presentation in the Lewis & Clark Room (262A) of the University Student Union, or virtually using the Zoom link with the following meeting ID (841 4043 1408) and passcode (779655).
Click Rain will share insights on marketing fundamentals, our recruitment marketing funnel and partnership, and look at how digital marketing can align with the specific marketing needs of colleges and departments. Afterward, feel free to join Click Rain staff in the Lewis & Clark Room (262A) of the University Student Union from 1-1:45 p.m. to discuss opportunities or ask questions.
Nominations are now open for SDSU’s Professional Advisor Awards. The awards include the Professional Advisor Award for Excellence in Advising or the Emerging Professional in Advising Award.
Any professional academic advisor or student success advisor who meets the criteria is eligible. Details about the award, including the nomination process, selection criteria and a link to the nomination form can be found on the academic advising page on InsideState.
Nominations are due by 5 p.m., March 12. The recipient will be recognized at an awards ceremony in May. Questions may be directed to Jody Owen.
The 16th annual Summit League Food Fight will run through Feb. 28 this year. The event is a great opportunity for our student-athletes, campus community and fans to connect and compete in a competition among league member schools to collect monetary and food donations that will help feed those in need in our Jackrabbits and Brookings Community.
The monetary and food donations our student-athletic advisory council collects this year will go to Jack's Cupboard, the Brookings County Food Pantry and to the Brookings Backpack Project. Our Jackrabbits SAAC takes pride in this competition each year and looks forward to helping restock the shelves of the food pantry and serve those in need in our community. A goal of $5,000 in monetary donations has been set for this year.
Full-time undergraduate students will receive an email in the near future from Qualtrics that includes a survey. The data collected will be used for evaluation, research and planning purposes, along with other information to determine the extent to which SDSU is effectively accommodating the athletic interests and abilities of its students. The university may use students' survey responses in considering whether to add additional teams to its intramural, club/or intercollegiate athletic programs.
The campus master plan continues to be updated. The campus community is encouraged to continue along with its progress.
The SDSU School of English and Interdisciplinary Studies is hosting the first community read conversation for David Grann’s “Killers of the Flower Moon,” Feb. 27 at 7 p.m. in Rotunda D.
The event is facilitated by SDSU English professors Sharon Smith and Jason McEntee, and it coincides with Grann’s public lecture at SDSU on April 5. Several copies of the book are available for check-out at the SDSU Hilton M. Briggs Library.
The Black Student Alliance and the Office of Multicultural Affairs and Accessibility will be sponsoring Soul Food Luncheon in recognition of Black History Monday, Feb. 29 from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. in the Multicultural Center of the University Student Union. Students, faculty and staff are welcome to attend.
The Office of Multicultural Affairs and Accessibility is hosting one of its four CommUNITY Meetings, Feb. 28 from 3 -4:30 p.m. in the Campanile Room of the University Student Union
Won’t You Be My Neighbor: Embracing Difference While Creating Community Belonging is an interactive session that looks at what it means to be a good neighbor in a cultivating and inclusive community.
The Division of Research and Economic Development is hosting a training series to learn about some of the key federal funding agencies for research, scholarship and creative activity during the spring semester.
The informational sessions are to help faculty and staff learn more about the agencies and how to prepare for funding. Sessions start in February and run monthly into April. Dates, times and locations are available on sdstate.edu.
Los Angeles actor and playwright Deb Hiett will be in Brookings to celebrate the collegiate premier of her play “The Escape Thingy,” Thursday through Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Feb. 25 at 2 p.m. in the Fishback Studio Theatre in the Oscar Larson Performing Arts Center. Public dialogue will take place with Hiett after Friday’s performance.
In “The Escape Thingy,” two very different couples meet in an escape room game night, each needing very different types of escapes. The clock is ticking as they attempt to solve the puzzles, distinguish facts from alternative facts and weigh the risks of unlocking the door to the dangerous world outside.
Tickets for the event are $22 for adults and $20 for seniors, military, SDSU employees and children. SDSU students are free with student ID. Tickets can be purchased anytime online. The Oscar Larson Performing Arts Center box office will open for in-person sales one week prior to the opening performance. Tickets may also be ordered by calling 605-688-6045.
Graduate students have been added to the ConnectState platform and will be able to use ConnectState this spring. Information on InsideState provides details about plans for spring 2024 use, how to pull lists for only undergraduate or only graduate students, how academic information is presented in ConnectState profiles, login credentials and how to request access or report errors.
Questions can be sent via email or through the Help button on InsideState.
Applications are now open for select summer undergraduate research programs at SDSU. Students can submit one application for research support from a variety of different funding sources, including the Joseph F. Nelson Mentorship and the Honors College Undergraduate Research Fund.
Faculty and staff should encourage students from all disciplines to submit their research interests for possible funding. Awards will be competitive and based on the design of the proposed studies, quality of the application and potential for project success.
Completed applications, including a mentor assessment of the applicant, must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. March 5. More information, including the application, can be found on sdstate.edu.
Faculty and staff should encourage senior undergraduate students from all disciplines to submit their scholarly or creative projects for consideration. Awards up to $2,500 per winning student will be awarded at the end of the academic year.
The deadline to submit a paper for the Schultz-Werth award is March 1.
The Monday Message appears weekly during the academic year and less frequently during the summer months and holiday breaks.
Information for the Monday Message, including nominations for Above and Beyond, can be submitted online through the submission form.