Report to State Board of Higher Education October 2015
President’s Column
Tisa Mason, Ed.D.
On Oct. 13, 2015, Valley City
State University turned 125—
that’s 45,655 great days to
have been a Viking!
In honor of this special
occasion, I am pleased to
share the script below from
the “Making a Difference:
Yesterday” inaugural video created by Greg Vanney,
director of marketing and communications, and Mark
Potts, media communications specialist. (All three
videos, as well as the complete inauguration ceremony,
may be viewed online at www.vcsu.edu/inauguration.)
“‘The State
Normal School
at Valley City
opened its
doors on Oct.
13, 1890, with
one professor,
less than 25
students, and no
building of its own.’
“That description, from Donald Welsh’s Cornerstones,
the centennial history of VCSU, describes the
university’s modest beginnings.
“The 1889 North Dakota Constitution had placed a
normal school in Valley City, and the governor approved
a bill on March 8, 1890, establishing the school to
produce teachers for the state.
“But the legislature had
appropriated no money
for the institution,
so it was left to the
people of Valley City
to raise funds, secure
a principal, find a
location, and begin
operating the Normal
School.
“The school first
opened in the high
school and moved to
two other downtown
locations. In many
respects, the local community gave birth to what is now
Valley City State University—town begat gown. Without
local support, one can only speculate as to the viability
of the institution in its early days.
“State support
later came from
a $10,000
appropriation
in March of
1891; in 1892
the present site
of the school’s
central campus
was secured,
and in December of that year, classes opened in Main
Building (now known as McFarland Hall).
“A footbridge over the Sheyenne River, which linked the
campus to the town, was also completed in 1892. That
link, replaced by a steel suspension bridge in 1901, has
been tested over the years by weather and floods, but it
still survives, a symbol of the bond between Valley City
and the college that has never been severed.
“The Normal
School went
through changes
and challenges,
evolving from
an institution
granting one- and
two-year teaching
certificates to a
Teachers College
granting four-year bachelor’s degrees. The school was
challenged by wars, economic depression, drought and
dust, but it survived.
“A host of institutional leaders—including Presidents
McFarland, Allen, Lokken and many others—worked with
community members, local government officials, key
alumni and friends to keep Valley City State, the Viking
ship, sailing on waters both calm and turbulent.
“Through thick and thin, the college played a key role in
preparing teachers and educated citizens. Young men
and women came to Valley City to live and play, to learn
and grow—to go forth into the ‘real world.’
“In the current generation,
Presidents Charles House,
Ellen Chaffee and Steve
Shirley led Valley City State
to where it is now by striving
for financial stability, adding
academic and cocurricular
programs, and adapting to
changing times. With their
efforts came recognition and
renown, enrollment growth, and
technological innovation.
“President House helped fight off efforts that might
have changed Valley City State to a two-year school,
and he laid the groundwork for the college to become
a leader in innovative teaching
and the use of technology.
He led the institution through
challenging times, helping
unite and calm the campus,
and insisting on quality as a
hallmark of a VCSU education.
“Under President Chaffee’s
leadership, VCSU became
a laptop campus in 1996,
solidifying the university’s
position as a leader in technology in education.
Cooperative efforts for technology-based economic
development in the area enhanced the bonds between
the local community and the university. In her tenure,
VCSU first received U.S. News recognition as one of
the nation’s best colleges, and in 2005, the university
added a graduate program and began offering master’s
degrees in education.
“President Shirley led VCSU to
significant gains in enrollment
and the establishment of the
Great Plains STEM Education
Center and the Prairie Waters
Education and Research Center.
He helped keep the university
afloat during the disastrous
flood of 2009, and in fall
2013, he cut the ribbon on
the renovated and expanded
Rhoades Science Center, VCSU’s
first new academic construction in four decades. In that
same year he played the lead role in establishing the
North Star Athletic Association, a conference home for
Viking athletics.
“Presidents House, Chaffee and Shirley built on the
efforts of those who had come before them, and they
helped cement the firm foundation on which we build
today.
“Their work was never without challenges, yet those
challenges were always met with the support of faculty,
staff, alumni and the townspeople of Valley City.
Progress has been made with great effort from those
who dared to make a personal difference, the Valley City
difference. Those difference makers, those individuals,
are far too many to mention, but their good work will
never be forgotten.
“Thank you to those who have come before us—from
yesterday has
come today; as
the past has
become the
present, so, too,
will the present
lead to the
future.”
Happy birthday,
VCSU! It’s a
great day to be
a Viking!
Staff Senate report
Faculty Senate REPORT
VCSU Staff Senate is deep in
the academic year already.
When senators are admission
staff who are on the road in the
fall for recruiting and coaches
who are in season, it is hard
to keep schedules and goals
on track, but we have still
managed to do a lot in the last
month.
Midterm is always a busy
time for faculty, and the leadup to it this fall has been
especially eventful. On October
1, the campus celebrated the
inauguration of Dr. Tisa Mason
as the 13th president of VCSU,
and we welcomed Chancellor
Hagerott, State Board Chair
Neset, and dignitaries from NDUS institutions.
The inauguration ceremony of Tisa Mason, VCSU’s new
president, on October 1, was a success gauging from
staff comments. Many staff members had only positive
things to say after the personal, formal yet very real,
and incredibly “VCSU” event. It was a shining day for the
Valley City State University campus amid Homecoming
week and the 125th Celebration. Staff Senate is happy
to welcome this supportive, positive, and passionate
new president to our Viking Family.
From the faculty perspective, ceremonies like the
inauguration and commencements are both important
milestones and reaffirmations of the roles we play in the
institution.
Kaleen Peterson
Twenty-four staff members participated in the Secret
Viking activity we held over Homecoming. Participants
were assigned one colleague to buy gifts for or write
encouraging notes to each day. Despite the incredibly
busy week, everyone stepped up and had a lot of fun
with it, and we received positive feedback. Feeling part
of this campus community and building Viking Pride…
it’s working.
Speaking of Viking Pride, VCSU Staff Senate created
a Viking Pride subcommittee which has spearheaded
three main efforts recently. They purchased thunder
sticks (also known as boom whackers) emblazoned with
the motto “We All Row” to help our crowd make noise at
football games. Staff, faculty, and students were able to
buy cardinal-colored Viking Pride and We All Row shirts,
with a small discount given to employees to encourage
a purchase. And we are currently in the midst of a
Professional Dress clothing sale, offering VCSU-logo
items that are harder to find, such as button-up dress
shirts, quarter-zip sweaters, and more.
The 2015–16 academic year is flying by, and Staff
Senate still has a lot we want to work on. We have an
engaged and eager group, and we are seeing such
positive things on our campus. VCSU truly is an exciting
place to be right now.
Anthony Dutton
The regalia and ritual confer a solemnity on events that
are clearly celebratory, but which also reflect the deeper
currents of an old and meaningful tradition.
Our participation in these ceremonies conveys that a
key source of the legitimacy of the institution lies in
its faculty, who bear responsibilities for the education
of the students, representation of the academic
disciplines, and advancement of the interests of the
university. Perhaps it is the historian in me that relishes
this symbolism, but I am also grateful that Dr. Mason
saw fit to commission a university mace as tangible
embodiment of that authority, to be carried at official
functions by faculty.
On less flowery but nonetheless important matters, the
Faculty Senate is overseeing working groups examining
faculty workload and the distribution of committee
assignments. We intend to establish a measure of the
duties outside of instruction that make up a portion of
our responsibilities and to document whether those
demands have been growing in recent years. The sense
of most faculty is that they are, but without a study, the
discussion is purely anecdotal.
On the committee assignment front, the objective is to
identify areas of imbalance or inequity in responsibilities.
One area of concern that junior faculty have expressed is
difficulty in earning committee positions that allow them
to demonstrate service to the university. Meanwhile,
other faculty find themselves stretched thin to cover
commitments to very demanding committees.
It is early-going for both of these working groups, and the
driving purpose behind their assignments is to look for
ways to improve the efficiency of faculty in fulfilling their
key commitments to the university.
Student Senate report
Madelyn Zane
We recently held elections for
our new members from the
freshman class. We’ve also
been reviewing the various
student organizations on
campus to make sure they’re
meeting institutional guidelines.
We’ve collaborated with the
University of Jamestown Student Senate and organized
reciprocal visits. They’ll come to Valley City to meet with
us and observe one of our senate gatherings, and we’ll
travel to Jamestown to do the same. We’re excited about
this opportunity.
I’ve recently been elected vice president for
communication and outreach for the North Dakota
Student Association (NDSA). This statewide group, which
represents the 11 North Dakota University System
schools, meets monthly on the various campuses.
VCSU will host the January 2016 NDSA meeting in Valley
City; we’ll start planning soon for that event.
Kilgore, Halvorson
do soils research in
Boundary Waters
Susan Kilgore, Ph.D., assistant
professor in the Department
of Science, and VCSU student
Michaela Halvorson traveled
to the Boundary Waters Canoe
Area Wilderness in northeastern
Minnesota Sept. 9–15 to
participate in an archaeological
project with the U.S. Forest Service.
The two helped analyze a prehistoric site on Saganaga
Lake by sampling and describing soils throughout the
site. They also assisted with the excavation of a 2 squaremeter unit that produced hundreds of lithic artifacts.
Kilgore plans to conduct additional analyses of several
soil samples in an effort to learn more about the geologic
history and former lake levels at the location.
Van Gijssel attends EMGS meeting
Hilde van Gijssel, Ph.D., professor in the Department
of Science, attended the 46th annual meeting of the
Environmental Mutagenesis and Genomics Society
(EMGS) in New Orleans Sept. 26–30. Van Gijssel was
responsible for organizing the poster and platform
presentation judging; she also co-hosted a keynote
presentation by Mina Bissell, an internationally
recognized breast cancer researcher.
EMGS focuses on the interaction of chemicals in the
environment, effects on the human genome and adverse
outcomes such as cancer and germ line mutations.
A new topic at the meeting was the influence of gut
bacteria on diseases and the effect of probiotics on
disease prevention.
Wirth article published
in DPI STEAM newsletter
“What is STEM Education?,” an
article by Jamie Wirth, Ph.D.,
director of the Great Plains STEM
Education Center and assistant
professor of mathematics at
VCSU, appears in the August/
September 2015 issue of the
STEAM newsletter published by
the North Dakota Department of
Public Instruction.
In the piece, Wirth advocates a comprehensive
methodology definition of STEM education, integrating
hands-on, inquiry- and project-based learning in all
curriculum areas, rather than the acronym definition
of science, technology, engineering and mathematics,
which tends to limit thinking about STEM to just those
four disciplines.
The newsletter is available online at www.nd.gov/dpi/
uploads/1232/AugSept15.pdf.
Da Vinha coauthors chapters in Wildland
Fires book
Luis da Vinha, Ph.D., assistant professor of geography
and political science, coauthored three chapters in the
recently published book “Wildland Fires: A Worldwide
Reality.”
Edited by António Bento-Gonçalves and António Vieira
of the University of Minho (Braga, Portugal), the book
provides 11 contributions from 8 countries (Portugal,
Spain, Greece, Israel, Algeria, Russia, Lithuania, and
Chile) outlining the different perspectives regarding
wildland fires, mega fires, wildland-urban interfaces, and
their impact on ecosystems.