Welcome to the NSU News Update - providing information on events happening on campus or involving NSU students, staff and faculty.
To submit a news item, send it via email to NSUNews@northern.edu by 5 p.m. Thursday of the week before the announcement should run.
COVID-19 News
- Current Self-Reported Case Count: Total active cases: 2 (1 students; 1 faculty/staff). Total students quarantined or isolated: 9 (2 on campus; 7 off campus). (Numbers as of Feb. 26, 2021; please note: those in quarantine/isolation aren’t necessarily confirmed or symptomatic cases)
- Mask Level: NSU is at Level 3, which requires face coverings in all public indoor spaces on campus. Learn more about the SDBOR Face Covering Protocol here.
- Webpage Updates: Northern has updated its COVID-19 Webpage, now including various FAQs for students, faculty and staff.
- Requesting Supplies: To request COVID-19 supplies from NSU Facilities, please work with your supervisor to determine the proposed needs for your entire department and submit an order using this online form.
Prescription Medication Takeback Event
Northern State University Prevention Services in partnership with the Aberdeen Police Department will be hosting a Prescription Medication Takeback event on Monday, March 1, and Tuesday, March 2, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. in the NSU Student Center first floor mall area. This event will provide an opportunity for students, staff, faculty and community members who have accumulated unneeded prescription medications to dispose of them in a safe, confidential way. Officer Angela Senger will be present to receive and dispose of medications. Dispose RX packets will also be available for safe disposal of medications at home. More than half of people who misuse prescription medications obtain them from a friend or family member. Safely disposing of prescriptions that you no longer need is the easiest way to keep others safe.
Instructional Technology Trainings
Instructional Technology is offering the following trainings this week in MJ203 and via Zoom. The intended audience for both trainings is faculty and staff.
· Monday, March 1, at noon – Introductory Panopto
· Friday, March 5, at 1 p.m. – Panopto Tips and Tricks
For more information on upcoming trainings, please see our training schedule. To register, please see our registration form.
Upcoming CETL Programs
- Wednesday, March 3, at 4 p.m., please join CETL and host Dr. Amy Dolan for a discussion about proctoring software and student assessment. A free snack of spinach dip and chips will be provided to those attending in person. Please join us in MJW 203, or via Zoom. (Passcode: K6rBW0)
- Thursday, March 25, at 2 p.m., visiting scholar, Dr. Stephanie Kerschbaum, will lead an interactive discussion on disability in the classroom in LIB 117, where attendees will enjoy a free nacho bar. Dr. Kerschbaum is an Associate Professor of English at the University of Delaware; her work focuses on theories of difference and disability. If you plan to attend the event in person, please send your RSVP to CETL@northern.edu. You can also attend via Zoom (Passcode 236eLBP).
Miller and Netzer Faculty Recital
Drs. Audrey Miller and Travis Netzer will perform a Faculty Recital at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 4, at Northern State University. Miller, assistant professor of clarinet, and Netzer, adjunct professor of tuba and euphonium, will perform in the Johnson Fine Arts Center’s Harvey and Cynthia Jewett Theater. Admission is free. Masks are required, and attendees are asked to follow appropriate social-distancing protocols. Miller will perform the clarinet quartet “Divertimento,” by Alfred Uhl accompanied by John Patzlaff and Sarah Suko, clarinet, and Molly Royals, bass clarinet; “Arabesque,” by Germaine Tailleferre; “Pink Ribbon for Susan,” by NSU’s Dr. Christopher Stanichar. Dr. Stanichar will accompany Miller on piano. Netzer will perform “Norwegian Dance No. 1,” by Edvard Grieg; “Romance,” by Amy Beach; and “Capriccio,” by Krzysztof Penderecki. He will be accompanied by William Wieland on piano. They will finish the concert together with the duet “Little Suite for Winter for Tuba and Clarinet,” by Peter Schickele.
Webinar for Students
Through the Healthy Homes Partnership, students are invited to participate in a one-hour webinar that focuses on actions students can take in their residence to maintain or improve indoor air quality for optimum respiratory health. The webinar will be offered on the following dates and times (Central Time): March 16 at noon; March 18 at 6 p.m.; March 29 at noon and 6 p.m.; April 1 at 6 p.m.; April 5 at noon; April 9 at noon; April 12 at 6 p.m.; April 20 at noon; and April 22 at 6 p.m. Students are asked to register for the webinar at this link.
Annual Enrollment Reminder
Just a reminder for all benefits eligible staff: Annual enrollment for your insurance is right around the corner – May 3-17. You should be receiving regular emails and mailings at home from the South Dakota Bureau of Human Resources regarding the changes to the plans this year. All staff will be required to log into the annual enrollment site in May to enroll in your benefits as your current elections will not roll over due to the significant changes to the plans. Please log into the benefits website here for further information and updates.
Nominations for Outstanding Faculty
Northern State University is committed to excellence in teaching and learning. To recognize our faculty’s commitment to excellence, we are pleased to announce nominations are open for two outstanding faculty awards:
- NSU Foundation Faculty Excellence Award
- NSU Outstanding Early Career Faculty Award
We invite you to nominate faculty members for these awards. Nominations are welcome from any member of the Northern community, and letters may be written by an individual person or a group of individuals. Nominations from students are always welcome. All nominations are due by 5 p.m. (CDT) Friday, March 19, 2021.
To nominate a full-time teaching faculty member for the NSU Foundation Faculty Excellence Award or the NSU Outstanding Early Career Faculty Award, please send a compelling letter of nomination to Judy Lapka in Academic Affairs (judy.lapka@northern.edu).
In the letter, please indicate the specific award for which you are nominating the person and the specific reasons for the nomination.
- Please save the file name in this format:
Award[Excellence or EarlyCareer]_FacultlastnameFacultyfirstname_Nominatorlastname
For example, a nomination for faculty member Katherine Watson for the NSU Foundation Faculty Excellence award written by nominator John Keating would be: Excellence_WatsonKatherine_Keating
- Email the nomination letter as a file attachment (PDF or Word) to Judy Lapka (judy.lapka@northern.edu).
- Nominations must be received from the Northern State University email address of the nominator. Nominations from email addresses other than the nominator’s will not be accepted.
- The deadline for the receipt of nomination letters for both awards is 5 p.m. (CDT) Friday, March 19, 2021.
- The Provost’s office will notify faculty who are nominated for either award by Monday, March 22, 2021. The letter(s) of nomination and name(s) of the nominator(s) will not be shared with them unless they are selected as 2021 recipients of one of the two awards. Nominated faculty will be asked to provide the provost’s office with an updated CV in support of their nomination by 5 p.m. (CDT) Friday, March 26, 2021.
Award Criteria:
The NSU Foundation Faculty Excellence Award recognizes faculty for excellence in teaching and learning, a sustained commitment to faculty service, and achievements in research and creativity within their discipline.
- Nominees may be at the rank of professor, associate professor, instructor, or lecturer and must have served a minimum of six (6) years as a member of the Northern State University teaching faculty. Someone who is in their seventh (7th) year is eligible; someone who has completed fewer than six (6) years of teaching service at Northern is not.
- Nominees must have a stellar record of teaching and advising, must have been significantly and consistently involved in a variety of service roles through department, college/school, university, and/or community service activities; and need to be meaningfully engaged in research and creativity in their discipline.
- Any full-time faculty member who has not received this award (or the formerly named outstanding faculty member award) previously and who meets the number of years of service requirement is eligible for this award.
- In addition to a monetary award ($1,000), the recipient receives a commemorative award from the NSU Foundation.
- Current NSU faculty who already won the Outstanding Faculty Member award (see list below) are not eligible to win the NSU Foundation Faculty Excellence Award.
The NSU Outstanding Early Career Faculty Award is presented to an early career full-time faculty member who demonstrates a strong record and commitment to excellence in teaching, research, and service.
- Nominees must be at the rank of assistant professor, associate professor, instructor, or lecturer who has between two and six (2 and 6) years of full-time teaching service at Northern State University. Someone who is in their sixth year is eligible; someone who has already completed six years of service is not. Please make sure the individual you are nominating for the NSU Outstanding Early Career Faculty Award is eligible.
- Nominees must have a strong record of teaching and advising, begun contributing to the research and creative activity in their discipline, and will have demonstrated a commitment to service in the department, college/school, or university.
- In addition to the monetary award ($1,000), the recipient receives 2 Wolves Club tickets to NSU athletic events for the next academic year (Wolves Club tickets cannot be resold and are not transferrable).
Selection Process:
A committee of 9, including: three (3) deans (or their designees), the four (4) most recent NSU Foundation Faculty Excellence Award winners (or Outstanding Faculty Member award winners) who are still actively teaching at Northern State University, the Vice President for Academic Affairs, and the Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs, will review all nominations and select the recipients of both awards as a committee.
Winners of both awards will be recognized at the Northern State University spring commencement. By tradition, the winner of the NSU Foundation Faculty Excellence Award will deliver the commencement address at the Northern State University winter commencement. The winner of the NSU Outstanding Early Career Faculty Award will deliver the Wolf Talk during new student orientation in August. If either recipient is not available to deliver said address, the other recipient will be invited to do so.
Questions? Please direct questions to Dr. Erin Fouberg, erin.fouberg@northern.edu, 605-626-3456.
Recent NSU Outstanding Faculty Member Award Recipients
2020 Jon Mitchell
2019 Greg Blair
2018 Peter Ramey
2017 Courtney Waid-Lindberg
2016 Anthony Wachs
2015 Sara Schmidt
2014 Sara Christensen Blair
2013 Alyssa Kiesow
2012 Daniel Yurgaitis
2011 Erin Fouberg
2010 Robin Rosenthal
2009 Peter Kilian
2008 Gayle Bortnem
2007 Paul Everson
2006 William Wieland
2005 Jon Schaff
2004 Jon Lim
2003 Jeff Jay
2002 Grant Manhart
2001 Lysbeth Benkert-Rasmussen
2000 Ken Blanchard
1999 Connie Geier
1998 Ric Dias
- Abid Elkhader
1996 David Grettler
NSU Outstanding Early Career Faculty Award
2020 Kristi Brownfield
American Indian Circle Program Cultural Education Time
NSU is dedicated to the recognition of tribal traditions and ceremonies that complement the holistic well-being of American Indian and Alaska Native students. The first Tuesday of every month from 12:15-12:30 p.m., we come together and have cultural education time to talk about what smudging is, the importance it symbolizes in Indigenous culture and a time of reflection. For the spring 2021 semester we ask that you mask up and meet on the campus green in front of Spafford so that there can be social distancing. The American Indian Circle Program would like to invite the campus community to come and participate in our monthly Smudge. Everyone is welcome!
Online Tutoring Sessions
The NSU Tutoring Center offers free online sessions to any Northern student for all general education courses and most upper-level courses. The sessions are conducted via Zoom, which allows real-time interaction between students and tutors. For more information or to set up an online tutoring session, students can email nsututoringcenter@northern.edu
Employee Assistance Plan
Benefits eligible staff: Please keep in mind that your benefits plans include free use of our Employee Assistance Plan. Every eligible staff member has five free visits available with a counselor. If you need assistance, please utilize this wonderful benefit, found at this link; the password is southdakota.
Name Tag Orders
NSU Communications and Marketing orders name tags for employees once a month. To request a name tag for the next campus-wide order, fill out this online form.
Staff Member’s Book at Wolf Shoppe
NSU staff member Elissa Dickey has written a novel, “The Speed of Light,” which releases Monday, March 1, from Lake Union Publishing. The book is now available at the NSU Wolf Shoppe at a 20 percent discount, for a cost of $11.96 plus tax.
Wolves Athletics
Stay up to date with NSU Wolves news on the athletics webpage.