SDSU Community –
The last two weeks of classes before spring break will be a busy as we continue to get closer to the end of another academic year and commencement ceremonies in May. I would like to thank everyone who attended last week’s Celebration of Faculty Excellence. It was a tremendous honor to be able to recognize the great work of our faculty throughout the university and the impact they have our students and others. It was a wonderful evening.
I would like to offer my sincerest condolences to the family of Bob Bartling, as well as to everyone who knew and is a friend of his. Bob passed away Saturday at the age of 97. He was one of the founders of the Prairie Striders Running Club in 1969 and a longtime South Dakota State University volunteer and supporter of the university and its athletics.
Bob’s family furniture store and funeral home in downtown Brookings became Bartling’s Shoes. He also collected thousands of volumes of books, periodical and newsletters, and race results that were kept in a library in the basement of his running store until finding a permanent home in the Hilton M. Briggs Library in June 2015.
Bob was among the most active volunteers at the library up until his death, earning recognition as a Friend of the Library by the South Dakota Library Association in 2019. We are truly going to miss Bob.
There are some important dates pertaining to our campus master planning process that I would like to share with campus. The consultants have collected several ideas from the Big Idea Workshop and will return to campus March 5-7. During the visit they will unveil three preliminary concepts and engage with the campus community for further input.
The unveiling of the concepts is a critical step in the campus master planning process as it will begin to define the priorities for developing the physical environment of SDSU over the next several years. I encourage everyone to continue being involved in the process. The draft plan will be presented to campus by the consultants from April 23-25.
Questions about the plan and the process can be directed to Jonathan Meendering or David Law in Facilities and Services, or found on the master plan website. Thank you to everyone who has been leading this effort and involved in providing critical input to the plan’s development.
Also, a thank you to everyone who helped host nearly 75 eighth graders from McGovern Middle School last week as part of the Promising Futures Fund. These continue to be very important visits for the students as it is an opportunity for them to begin learning about the possibilities of attending college and what doors higher education can open for them. The group attended an academic fair in the Miller Wellness Center and the Coughlin Room at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium.
Finally, congratulations to the women’s basketball team for capturing a share of the Summit League regular season title this past weekend with wins over Denver and St. Thomas. The women will look to win the regular season conference title outright as the No. 1 seed in the Summit League tournament this week with home games against North Dakota, Thursday, and North Dakota State, Saturday. Saturday will be the final basketball game played in Frost Arena before construction is completed during the next several months on the new First Bank & Trust Arena.
The men’s team will also look to win a regular season title and a top seed in the Summit League tournament when it travels to North Dakota and North Dakota State. Four teams are currently within two games of each other in the Summit League men’s standings, so it should be an exciting weekend of basketball for Jackrabbits fans. Best of luck to both our men’s and women’s teams this weekend.
Thank you for everything you do to make South Dakota State University a premier land-grant university. I hope everyone has a wonderful week.
Go Jacks!
Sincerely,
Barry H. Dunn, President
The campus community is invited to join a SDSU campus projects presentation via Zoom, March 7 at 10 a.m. Facilities and Services will share the project map and discuss the ongoing and upcoming construction projects around campus.
Attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions via the “chat” function during the presentation. Participants can also contact Facilities and Services with any questions before or after the presentation.
The presentation is a good opportunity to hear more about work around campus, impacts in and around buildings, road closures, as well as other interesting and impactful project-related information.
The Coughlin Campanile will undergo a restoration process starting this spring. Work will include repair of the limestone, tuckpointing the brick masonry, and painting doors and window frames.
The last time this process occurred was in 2001. The project will go to bid this week, and the area around the Campanile will be roped off to limit pedestrian traffic immediately adjacent to the structure. The goal is to complete the work this fall, but the progress will be monitored, and the campus community will be updated as the schedule evolves.
The strategic enrollment management planning team is seeking feedback on the goals and strategies that have been formulated as part of SDSU’s next Strategic Enrollment Management plan.
The SEM plan will help guide enrollment efforts for the next five to seven years, aligned with SDSU’s Pathway to Premier strategic plan. The survey link will be active until Wednesday at 5 p.m.
Warrior Wellness Week begins today and concludes Saturday. The week is dedicated to mental health, wellness and self-care and is a campuswide event hosted by University Wellbeing and The Veterans Affairs Resource Center.
The events bring together student leaders, campus partners and community organizations to promote overall wellbeing. The week will kick off today with events being offered both in-person and virtually.
Miller Wellness Center will offer free access for faculty and staff this week so everyone can participate in the wellness events.
Instructional Design Services will host its 2024 Summer eLearning Academy aimed to create, connect and support student success through online communities, fostering a positive and student success-centered eLearning environment.
The central theme of the academy is to emphasize the importance of creating a strong sense of presence and community in the online learning environment. By fostering high engagement with course content, peers, success resources and tutors, we can support and enhance the online learning experience for our learners.
The academy will take place May 9-10 via Zoom and offer two sessions each day from 9 a.m.-noon and 1-4 p.m. Participants need to register by May 3. Space is limited, and registrations will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis.
Additional information about the academy is available on sdstate.edu.
The Bangladesh Student Association will host Bangladesh Night, March 3 from 6-9 p.m. in the Volstorff Ballroom at the University Student Union. The event is a celebration of Bangladesh's cuisine, culture and traditions.
Ticket prices are $12 for students and $17 for adults, and children younger than 5 years old are free. Dinner is included with the price.
Registration is now open for the Undergraduate Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity Day. URSCAD encourages, promotes and recognizes student involvement in undergraduate research and creative activity at SDSU.
All undergraduate disciplines and years in school are encouraged to showcase their work. Top posters will be recognized during the program following the poster showcase.
Students should register by March 8 for the April 2 event. More information, including the registration form, can be found on sdstate.edu.
Faculty and staff are encouraged to complete the Briggs Library survey in an effort to improve library services and resources. The survey is open until March 18 and can be accessed online.
The survey takes no more than 15 minutes. Responses are confidential, and only combined data is reported.
LibQUAL+ is a survey developed by the Association of Research Libraries to measure library service quality and identify best practices. Results from the 2024 survey will be compared with results from previously conducted surveys in 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2020. Library staff will assess where they have made progress or if there are any widening gaps between campus expectations and what services and resources they can provide.
Anyone having difficulty accessing or taking the survey should contact Kip Thorson, head of public services, at 605-688-5572.
Motorpool will change its hours beginning March from 8 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Please contact the office at 605-688-4323 with 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 Wednesday 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 SDSU School of English and Interdisciplinary Studies is hosting the first community read conversation for David Grann’s “Killers of the Flower Moon,” tomorrow 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 Hilton M. Briggs Library.
The Black Student Alliance and the Office of Multicultural Affairs and Accessibility will sponsor Soul Food Luncheon in recognition of Black History Month, Thursday 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, Wednesday 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.
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 Friday.
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.