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.
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 Alumni Association 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 20, 2020.
To nominate a full-time teaching faculty member for the NSU Alumni Association 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 Alumni Association 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 NSU 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 20, 2020.
Award Criteria:
The NSU Alumni Association 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 years as a member of the NSU teaching faculty. Someone who is in their seventh year is eligible; someone who has completed fewer than six 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 Alumni Association.
- Current NSU faculty who already won the Outstanding Faculty Member award (see list below) are not eligible to win the NSU Alumni Association 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 years of full-time teaching service at Northern. 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 two 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 nine, including: four deans (or their designees); the three most recent NSU Alumni Association Faculty Excellence Award winners (or Outstanding Faculty Member award winners) who are still actively teaching at Northern; 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 NSU spring commencement. By tradition, the winner of the NSU Alumni Association Faculty Excellence Award will deliver the commencement address at Northern’s 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 or 605-626-3456.
Recent NSU Outstanding Faculty Member Award Recipients
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
1997 Abid Elkhader
1996 David Grettler
Exponent Seeks Cartoonists/Comic Strip Creators
The Exponent, Northern's student-run news publication, is looking for talented cartoonists/comic strip creators. We accept pen and ink as well as computer-generated comic strips. These are paid positions, and a great way to build your portfolio. If interested, please contact Dr. Elizabeth Haller at Elizabeth.Haller@northern.edu. View the latest online issue of the Exponent here.
Instructional Design: Spring 2020 Smart Classroom Trainings
Instructional Design and Media Services will offer Smart Classroom trainings in the month of February, which will cover how to operate the equipment (e.g. computer, projector, doc cam) as well a demonstration of practical classroom uses (e.g. virtual whiteboarding, wireless presenting). These sessions will be hosted in the specific classrooms and last roughly one hour. To register, please complete the Registration Form using your Northern email login. You will receive an email with reminders and Zoom links (if appropriate) to add your selections to your Outlook calendar.
Smart classroom training topics are listed below:
Gen Two Smart Classroom: Feb. 18; 2 p.m.; Johnson Fine Arts Center 106; Covers the set-up available in JFAC [106, 107, 108, 109, 117, 175, 176]; MJ [145].
Gen Four Smart Classroom: Feb. 19: 10 a.m.; Jewett Science Center 134; Covers the set-up available in
JSC [133, 134, 135, 137, 138, 139, 140, 230, 231, 234, 235, 238, 239, 240]. Gen four training opportunity (1 of 2).
Gen Three Smart Classroom: Feb. 25; 2 p.m.; Mewaldt-Jensen 146; Covers the set-up available in AB [300]; BC [50]; LN [224, 325]; MJ [101, 146, 204, 246, 338, 345]; SP [101]; TC [252, 368]. Gen three training opportunity (2 of 2).
Gen Four Smart Classroom: Feb. 27; noon; Jewett Science Center 133; Covers the set-up available in JSC [133, 134, 135, 137, 138, 139, 140, 230, 231, 234, 235, 238, 239, 240]. Gen four training opportunity (2 of 2).
TRIO Workshop: ‘Show Me the Money’
NSU’s TRIO Student Support Services program offers workshops throughout the semester that are open to all NSU students. Workshops last approximately 30 minutes. This week, plan to attend "Show Me the Money: Personal Finances" on Wednesday, Feb. 19, at 2 p.m. in the Student Center Maroon Room. A representative from Wells Fargo Bank shares how spending habits you develop now will help you in the future. Specific topics include helpful budgeting tips and how to build your credit score.
Noon Forums Continue Wednesday
Spring 2020 Noon Forums take place at noon most Wednesdays in the Williams Library Round Room. Forums are free and open to the public. The schedule is as follows:
- Feb. 19: Justice and the Common Good (Brian Bengs)
- Feb. 26: Extended Realities (Instructional Design Team)
- March 4: Five Essential Films on Death and Dying (Steven Usitalo and Kristi Brownfield)
- March 11 and 18: No Forums
- March 25: The 2020 Legislative Session: What Just Happened? (Julie Johnson)
- April 1: Frodo, Won’t You Be My Neighbor? A Message of Hope for a Cynical Age (Jon Schaff)
- April 8: NSU Business Alumni and General Education: An Assessment of Perceived Relevance (Kristi Bockorny and Hannah Walters)
- April 15: Campus Collaboration Technology (Instructional Design Team)
- April 22: Dueling Ink II (Pen Pearson and Lysbeth Benkert-Rasmussen)
- April 29: The Last Lecture I’d Ever Give (Corey Klatt)
For more information, contact Dr. Art Marmorstein at 605-626-2608 or Art.Marmorstein@northern.edu.
TRIO Day Game Night
National TRIO Day is Feb. 22, 2020! To celebrate, the TRIO Scholar Association is hosting TRIO Day Game Night on Wednesday, Feb. 19, at 7 p.m. All NSU students are invited to attend. Stop by the TRIO Living Learning Community on first floor Great Plains East to grab some snacks and play your choice of games including BINGO, card games, board games and more!
‘She Loves’ Recital
NSU faculty members Drs. Darci Bultema and Audrey Miller will present a recital, “She Loves,” at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 20, in Krikac Auditorium. The event will feature a world premiere by Dr. Christopher Stanichar. Stanichar will assist with the recital, along with Dr. Kenneth Boulton and Molly Royals. The event is free and open to the public.
Gospel Choir Concert
The Sioux Falls Community Choir, directed by Tori Smith, will perform a Gospel Choir Concert at Northern State University on Friday, Feb. 21, at 7 p.m. in the JFAC Jewett Theater! The concert is sponsored by NSU Multicultural Student Affairs in celebration of Black History Month.
Scholarship Invitational
The annual School of Fine Arts Scholarship Invitational will be Feb. 21-22 in the Johnson Fine Arts Center. Registrations for the event, open to high school seniors, are preferred by Friday, Feb. 14; however, applications are accepted at any time, and arrangements may be made for individual student visits throughout the spring semester. For more information, click here, call 605-626-2497 or email Laura.Haar@northern.edu or Jani.Kovach@northern.edu.
Soul Food in the Wolves Den
Don’t miss this year’s “Soul Food” meal in the Den in celebration of Black History Month! This year’s meal will be served on Wednesday, Feb. 26, during the lunch meal time, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Come and enjoy a delicious assortment of foods that represent African-American culture and cuisine, sponsored by NSU Multicultural Student Affairs.
Strategic Action Townhall Meeting
A Strategic Action Townhall Meeting will be held 3:30-5 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 27, in JFAC Room 117. All campus is invited to attend. To keep up to date with Northern’s Strategic Action Team as it works toward our Campus of Distinction Initiative, visit NSU Strategic Action.
NSU Theatre Presents ‘Lasso of Truth’
NSU Theatre will present the play "Lasso of Truth" in the Johnson Fine Arts Center Black Box Theatre. Performances will run at 7:30 p.m. nightly Feb. 27-29 and March 5-6.; and at 3 p.m. March 1. These dates have changed from the original poster. “Lasso of Truth” unknots the secret origins of the world’s most famous superheroine, Wonder Woman. Tickets for the production can be purchased online here or at the JFAC Box Office. Tickets are $18, with a Northern faculty/staff discount of $9 and a $2 discount per ticket for groups of 12 or more. NSU students are admitted free with ID. Box office hours are Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, noon-4 p.m. The box office opens two hours prior to performances. The JFAC box office phone number is 605-626-2900. Please note: This production is for mature audiences due to adult themes and sexually suggestive scenes.
‘Recent Works of Peter Kilian’ in JFAC Gallery
The art exhibition, “The Recent Works of Peter Kilian,” is now on display in the Johnson Fine Arts Center Gallery through Feb. 28. A reception will be held 6:30-8:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 20. The display of recent works by Kilian, NSU professor of art, showcase a dedication to artistic technique and practice. “Plein-aire” paintings dynamically interpret landscapes from the Badlands National Park, where Kilian was the Artist in Residence during his fall 2015 sabbatical leave. Kilian’s artist statement explains, “Many of the landscape pictures in this exhibit were created in response to my study and work there.” The figure and portraits drawn from life emphasize Kilian’s skilled foundation in drawing. The time required to complete the observational drawings vary from 30 minutes to several hours, completed with the following media: graphite, ink, charcoal, pastel and watercolor.
Read Across America
Read Across America, a Dr. Seuss-themed literacy night, will take place Tuesday, March 3, 5:30-7 p.m. at the Aberdeen Mall. The purpose of this event is for elementary aged children to come have a fun educational night! This free event is open to the public but aimed for children ages pre-school through fifth grade. In the mall, there will be interactive literacy booths set up by different education organizations from Northern’s campus and organizations in the Aberdeen community. Some of the booths include fishing for letters, bingo, and a read-aloud station. After visiting every booth, each child who attends will go home with a free book! For more information, contact Dr. Cheryl Wold: cheryl.wold@northern.edu or 605-626-2232.
Instructional Design: Spring 2020 Faculty and Staff Development
Spring 2020 faculty and staff development offered by Instructional Design includes trainings on D2L, productivity tools, multimedia, teaching strategies for the face-to-face and online classrooms, and more. These sessions will be held in the TC 15 computer lab, with a Zoom option for distance faculty, and last roughly 15-20 minutes plus time for questions.
To register, please complete the Registration Form using your Northern email login. You will receive an email with reminders and Zoom links (if appropriate) to add your selections to your Outlook calendar.
Faculty and staff development training topics are listed below:
Virtual Whiteboarding: March 4; 11 a.m.; TC 15; See how to leverage touchscreen technology with classroom projectors to deliver content.
Films-on-demand: March 17; 8:30 a.m.; TC 15; The Northern library offers access to 70,000+ independent films and documentaries for use in the face-to-face and online classrooms. Learn how to access and take advantage of this resource!
OneDrive/Google Drive in D2L: March 26; 1 p.m.; TC 15; Some of your favorite cloud applications are now integrated in D2L. Learn where they are and how to use them to the best effect in your course.
Text Expander: March 30; 8:30 a.m.; TC 15; Save time, and your wrists, by leveraging text expanders to help with repetitive typing.
Basics of Copyright in Higher Ed: April 9; 10 a.m. ; TC 15; This training covers the basics of copyright and what it means for faculty, staff and students.
Small Teaching Strategies: April 17; noon; TC 15; Learn new teaching strategies based on how students are hardwired to learn. Strategies come from several texts focused on brain-based research.
Quizlet: April 23; 9 a.m.; TC 15; Quizlet allows you to organize key terms and facts into virtual notecards, which students can use to study and learn!
O365 Planner: April 28; 11 a.m.; TC 15; Learn about an innovative organization tool that allows for project management, task assignments, discussions, file sharing, and more with O365 Planner.
Submitting Grades in Banner: May 7; 2:30 p.m.; TC 15; Learn how to submit grades in Banner.
For a one-on-one session, please email D2L@northern.edu or stop by TC159.
Alternative Spring Break
This year, Alternative Spring Break is traveling to Denver to work in urban agriculture and food insecurity. All students are invited to apply! For more information, email Megan Frewaldt.
Aberdeen Community Concert Association Presents the Maxwell Quartet
The Aberdeen Community Concert Association will present the Maxwell Quartet at 7 p.m. Friday, March 6, in the NSU Johnson Fine Arts Center Harvey Jewett Theater. Program highlights will include Beethoven, Hayden, Scottish folk music and more. The concert is co-sponsored with the NSU Fine Arts Department, and NSU students are admitted free with student ID! For more information, visit the Concert Association online or call 605-228-0946.
Spring Break Power Outage Planned
There is an essential campus power outage scheduled for the weekend of March 7-8, 2020 (spring break). We ask that you please begin the process of planning for how this outage may affect your individual areas and students. More information on the outage will be shared after the holidays.
Upcoming Faculty-Led Travel Programs
A few spots are still available for faculty-led study abroad programs this semester in Guatemala and Peru. Spend your spring break building a school on a service-learning program in Guatemala with Dominika Blum, Director of International Programs:
- Date: Spring Break, March 6-14, 2020
- This trip is a service learning experience!
- Relax at the Hobbitenango dream village
- Build a bottle school in a municipal of Tecpan
- Learn about the Guatemalan culture, people, history and civil war
- Visit Mayan ruins of Chwa Nim Ab’äj
Travel to Peru, have a once-in-a-lifetime experience and get credit for it with Drs. Erin Fouberg and Steven Usitalo:
- Date: June 3-June 13, 2020
- This program is about the history and geography of Peru!
- Explore one of the 7 Wonders of the World, Machu Picchu
- Experience Peru’s biodiversity with a guided hike and canoe trips through the Tambopata National Reserve in Peru’s Amazon
- Take in the natural beauty and rich history of the Sacred Valley of the Incas
- Explore the Amazon rainforest with a walk across a network of hanging bridges through the forest canopy.
If you are ready to embark on one or both of these incredible adventures fill out the application by clicking here. For more questions about these programs, email studyabroad@northern.edu.
NSU-Primrose Arts and Lecture Series
The 2019-20 NSU-Primrose Arts and Lecture Series will take place Tuesdays from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. throughout the academic year at Aberdeen's Primrose Retirement Community, located at 1701 Third Avenue S.E. Presenters and topics are as follows:
- March 10: "Jazz through the Decades"; presented by Mr. Fritz Hemke, Assistant Professor of Music.
- April 14: "Talkin’ like the Bard: Demystifying Shakespeare’s Language"; presented by Dr. Kane Anderson, Assistant Professor of Theatre.
Sixth Annual Lamont-Rhodes Lecture
The sixth annual Lamont-Rhodes Lecture will be held in the Johnson Fine Arts Center on Tuesday, March 31. The event begins at 5:30 p.m. with a social, and the lecture starts at 6:30 p.m. This year’s speaker is Damian Mason, a businessman, agriculturist, speaker, podcaster, writer and consultant. Tickets for the March 31 event are $20 per person or $125 for a group of eight. Register online or RSVP to the NSU Foundation at 605-626-2550 or nsualumni@northern.edu.
Undergraduate Competitive Research Grant
Northern State University is now accepting applications for the 2020 Undergraduate Competitive Research Grant. Students can receive up to $2,500 toward their independent research project for the 2020-21 academic year. To increase research engagement across campus, our new format now creates an option for multiple awardees. Students from all majors and disciplines are encouraged to apply. Applicants must design a formal research project under the mentorship of a faculty member. The deadline for applications is 5 p.m. Monday, March 30. For details on how to apply, please download the “Request for Proposal” by visiting myNSU -> Academics -> Undergraduate Research. For questions, please contact our undergraduate research coordinator at andrew.russell@northern.edu.
Undergraduate Research, Scholarship and Creativity Forum
The annual NSU Undergraduate Research, Scholarship and Creativity Forum is scheduled for Wednesday, April 22, in Beulah Williams Library. All students participating in scholarly activity are invited to participate. Submissions of abstracts are due April 15. For more information about presenting your scholarly activity and submitting abstracts, visit the NSU Undergraduate Research webpage or email Dr. Andrew Russell.
College Days at Salvation Army
Wednesdays are college days at Aberdeen’s Salvation Army! Bread, sweets and fresh produce are available with a college ID. Please swing by the Salvation Army at 1003 Sixth Ave. S.W. and stop by the window.
Volunteer Opportunities with Avera
Current volunteer openings at Avera St Luke’s include:
ICU: Tuesday, 9 a.m.-noon; Thursday: noon-4 p.m. Duties include: Sit at the volunteer desk in the ICU waiting room. As visitors come, you press a button to allow the visitors to unlock the door to visit the patient. This is a good station that allows you to study or read while volunteering.
West Information desk: Thursday, 8 a.m.-noon; Thursday, noon-4 p.m. Duties include: Direct visitors to different areas of the hospital.
Cancer desk: Monday, 8 a.m.-noon; Tuesday, 8 a.m.-noon. Duties include: One volunteer is stationed at the front desk in the southeast lobby to meet and greet patients and visitors and direct them to different locations in the hospital. The other volunteer assists back in the Cancer Center. These duties consist of offering snacks, beverages and blankets to cancer patients; restocking the blanket warmer; stocking the coffee stations; escorting patients back to the infusion center; picking up dietary trays; and cleaning chairs/beds after patient use. These two volunteers can alternate job duties throughout the shift.
Surgery Waiting Room: Thursdays, 11 a.m.-3 p.m.
Medical/Surgical Floor: Monday, 9 a.m.-noon or noon-4 p.m.; Tuesday, 9 a.m.-noon; Wednesday, 9 a.m.-noon; Thursday, 9 a.m.-noon or noon-4 p.m. Duties include: Sit at the volunteer desk by the elevator and waiting room. As visitors come, you greet visitors and director them to the room they are locating. This station allows you to study or read while volunteering.
Avera is also looking for any individuals who would like to be “on-call” and not have a weekly schedule. These individuals will cover for any volunteer who cannot cover their shift due to illness or being out of town.
As a potential new volunteer, you are always welcome to shadow a volunteer for a couple of hours to determine if you enjoy a particular work station prior to committing to a certain volunteer location.
Current volunteer openings at Avera Mother Joseph Manor include:
Ice Cream Parlor: Sundays, 1:15-3 p.m. Duties: Dish and serve ice cream to residents and visitors.
Reading to Residents: Anytime in the morning or from 3-4 p.m.
Visit with Residents: Any time during the week.
Happy Hour: Fridays 1:30-3 p.m. Duties: Serve wine or beer to residents in the dining room.
Play piano: Anytime during the week.
Visit with residents one on one: Anytime during the week.
Recital, Art Exhibition Forms
Students: If you have a senior recital or art exhibition coming up, please fill out a form so NSU Communications and Marketing can help you promote your event. A link to the art exhibition form can be found on the art department webpage, and a link to the recital form can be found on the music department webpage. For any questions, please email communications@northern.edu.
Faculty/Staff Ticket Pricing:
NSU Athletics offers the following ticket pricing for Northern faculty and staff:
- 50 percent off single-game general admission ticket (price varies with each event)
- Buy one at regular price, get one free general admission season ticket (soccer, volleyball, football, wrestling, men’s and women’s basketball are all ticketed)
- Regular price: $300
- 50 percent off reserved season tickets (section A only – chair back seats for basketball)
- Regular price: $400
- Faculty/staff price: $200
- You will receive a Wolves Club season ticket book with individual tickets for each game!
- Faculty with children can have adjacent chair back seats (in section A) reserved for their kids upon signing them up for Wolves Buddies - $40 per child, $99 for three or more kids.
Contact Austin Hieb at 605-228-9514 or wolvesclub@northern.edu, or stop by the Barnett Center to sign up and select your seats – automatic payroll deduction is available!
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.
Wolves Helping the Community
Don’t forget: If you’re volunteering in the community or elsewhere, click here to submit your volunteer hours!
Upcoming Wolves Events
Check out upcoming Wolves events at the NSU Wolves Game Day webpage or athletics calendar.