Mar 14th, 2016
This week’s Hotline! includes the following articles: • President’s Column
• Gjovik recognized in ITEEA’s 2016 Leaders to Watch
• VCSU faculty attend AACTE Conference
• VCSU group attends ITEEA conference in D.C.
• Dieken attends Fargo conferences
• Viking sports update
• What’s happening at VCSU and around Valley City…
• March birthdays President’s Column by Tisa Mason, Ed.D., CAE
Valley City State University President
VCSU: A Learner-Centered Organization
One of the many aspects I love about VCSU is that our focus is not only on students, we are also focused on being a learner-centered organization. It’s about each of us—students, administrative assistants, service workers, staff, professors, and president—becoming better versions of ourselves while contributing to a better VCSU every day.
A learner-centered organization focuses on a culture which respects inquiry, risk-taking, and experimentation while embracing the notion that the best thinking happens in community. I love Benjamin Franklin’s quote “If everyone is thinking alike, then no one is thinking.”
Learner-centered organizations are also focused on the creation of new knowledge and on innovation, a core value at VCSU. Because we expand our capacity as learners, new fields emerge and new majors are created to respond to those emerging new careers. In fact, the U.S. Department of Labor indicates that 65 percent of today’s school children will eventually be employed in jobs that have not even been imagined! To prepare future students for a career which has not even been created is a daunting task which will require nimble, innovative, learner-centered universities like VCSU.
I learn every day by paying attention and listening to students, staff, and faculty. Learning is not necessarily one-directional. I know faculty will tell you that they learn from their students constantly and that students learn much from their peers, not just from professors.
Here are several other examples of learning in action at VCSU: Two faculty members are working with a group of students to create a unique honors program called SAIL: Support for Advancing Impassioned Learners. Through their collaborative work they are researching and creating a new model for gifted students that breaks barriers and creates new learning opportunities.
Andre DeLorme, Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Science; Casey Williams, Ph.D., assistant professor; and Louis Wieland, lab manager, along with 16 VCSU fisheries and wildlife science students, attended the 2016 annual meeting of the Dakota Chapter of the American Fisheries Society (AFS) in Spearfish, S.D., from Feb. 1–3. The annual meeting provides an opportunity for professors to keep current on fisheries science issues and provides learning and networking opportunities for students.
Facing a serious budget cut of more than $1.6 million, VCSU responded by engaging in a series of cascading meetings involving many people to help us strategically and responsibly respond to the cuts while protecting our core. That took listening, trust, and collaboration.
Erin Klingenberg, Ph.D., LPCC, NCC—VCSU director of counseling services—attended the North Dakota Counseling Association (NDCA) mid-winter conference in Bismarck, N.D., Feb. 14–16. She presented “Ethics and the Law for the Professional Counselor in North Dakota.” Additionally, Erin serves as ethics chair for the NDCA and the North Dakota Mental Health Counselors Association.
Each year students are invited to participate in our SOAR (Student Opportunities for Academic Research) program. Students selected for the program work with a professor on a project that typically draws from multiple disciplines. These impressive faculty-student collaborations not only create new knowledge and strengthen relationships, the students also receive a $1,000 stipend!
This fall I met monthly with the presidents of the faculty, staff, and student senates to read and discuss the book The Advantage: Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything Else in Business. Those discussions helped me think both differently and more deeply about leading VCSU.
Our students often engage in community service projects. When those experiences are tied to a learner-centered approach, students enter the project with a deeper understanding of the issue the service project is designed to address and then follow-up the activity with more profound conversations on what they learned. That learning process develops “engaged citizens prepared to lead in an increasingly complex and diverse world”—VCSU’s mission.
Last week university leaders spent time thinking and talking about how we lead together—what we do well and how we can improve both individually and collectively. Those conversations took courage and authentic communication. I learned a lot about myself and about the team.John F. Kennedy once said “Leadership and learning are indispensable to one another.” I agree, and I’m excited to discover such a learner-centered approach thriving at VCSU—another reason why it’s a great day to be a Viking!
Gjovik recognized in ITEEA’s 2016 Leaders to Watch Peder Gjovik, chair of the VCSU Department of Technology and co-director of the Don Mugan CTE Leadership Center, was recognized in the March issue of Technology and Engineering Teacher magazine as a 2016 Leader to Watch.
The International Technology and Engineering Educators Association (ITEEA) noted that “Those who have contributed to the technology and engineering education field for many years are known for their teaching, written work, presentations, research, and recognition received from professional groups.” The award is conferred on individuals who have “…shown outstanding leadership ability as educators early in their careers.”
VCSU faculty attend AACTE Conference Kathleen Bennett Zaun, Al Olson and Gary Thompson of the VCSU School of Education and Graduate Studies attended the 68th annual American Association for Colleges of Teacher Education (AACTE) conference held February 23–25 in Las Vegas, Nev. They joined more than 2,000 educators in attendance at the conference.
Bennett Zaun and Olson both presented at the conference.
Bennett Zaun presented on a panel with educators from Minnesota State University Mankato, the University of South Dakota, and St. Cloud State, with a moderator from FHI 360 in Washington, D.C., in a session titled “Mentoring and Induction: Continuing to Support Teacher Candidates after Graduation.” The panel members discussed how their universities are working to extend support beyond student teaching into the graduates’ first years of teaching.
Olson presented on a panel of education assessment coordinators from NDSU, Minnesota State University Mankato, the University of South Dakota, Winona State, and Concordia University St. Paul, with a moderator from FHI 360. The presentation was titled “Common Metrics: Strategies for Teacher Preparation Survey Use in Accreditation and Program Improvement.”
VCSU group attends ITEEA conference in D.C. For the third year in a row, VCSU was well represented at the International Technology and Engineering Educators Association (ITEEA) conference March 4-6 in Washington, D.C.
The annual conference provides a unique opportunity for technology and engineering educators to gain comprehensive professional development and networking experiences, choosing from dozens of interest sessions, workshops and social events.
James Boe ’91, VCSU associate professor and director of graduate studies, transitioned off the board of directors after his three-year term as president and was recognized for his service. During the conference, he hosted the association strategic planning sessions and the governance session.
He also recognized outstanding individuals at the Spirit of Excellence and Program Excellence breakfasts and the Special Recognition and International luncheons. At the board of directors meeting, Boe was appointed to continue his role as supervisor of the strategic planning task force committees during 2016–17.
VCSU Department of Technology faculty members Lana Fornes, M.Ed. ’09 and Peder Gjovik ’77 co-chaired the ITEEA Teacher Excellence Awards. Fornes was unable to attend the conference, but Gjovik and fellow VCSU faculty member Ron Holten facilitated the 2016 Teacher Excellence Awards, recognizing technology and engineering educators selected within their state or province. VCSU alumni Tracy Foss ’14, who teaches at Central Valley Public Schools in Buxton, N.D., and Mariano Buttita ’14, who teaches at North Brunswick Township High School, N.J., received this award.
In addition, programs from across the nation received Program Excellence Awards recognizing outstanding programs in technology and engineering education. VCSU alumnus Justin Foss ’10 was recognized for his outstanding program at Hatton–Northwood (N.D.) public schools.
Holten and Gjovik participated in several workshops pertaining to the ITEEA Engineering by Design curriculum. Holten attended workshops on Foundations of Technology, Inventions and Innovations, and Technological Design. As North Dakota’s affiliate representative, Gjovik attended workshops on Focal Points, Advanced Design Applications, and Technological Systems.
Misty (Ross) Lindgren ’91 attended as a representative of the VCSU Graduate Program. She met with prospective students and promoted the graduate concentrations during the exhibitor sessions and assisted with the Teacher Excellence Awards ceremony.
Attendees with ties to VCSU in Washington, D.C. included (front, l to r) Peder Gjovik ’77, Natalie Boe ’07, James Boe ’91, Justin Foss ’10, Andy Rohwedder ’77; (back) Ron Holten, Don Fischer ’79, Cory Booth ’10, Tracy Foss ’14 and Darwin Potter ‘11. Also attending but not pictured were Blaire Booth ’10, Brian Drelick, Shaun Downey ’13, Jean Melton-Koch ’09 and Aleksandr Sadwnyk ’14.
Dieken attends Fargo conferences Karri Dieken, assistant professor of art, attended the Adobe Creative Suite Conference in Fargo, N.D., March 4.
The conference covered updates in InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, Lightroom, and Bridge; and new apps for both the iPad and Apple computer that sync with the Creative Cloud. Updates were also provided on the enhancement of 3D object techniques, working across platforms and how to use smart phones in the classroom. Smart phone apps included Capture, Comp CC, Lightroom for mobile, Fix, Mix and Slate.
Dieken also attended the Arts in Action Conference March 7 at the Plains Art Museum in Fargo. Accompanying her were VCSU students Megan Fuller and Megan Trautman, who received grants to attend the event as student art representatives.
Hosted by Arts North Dakota, the conference focused on how to advocate and bolster the arts in communities throughout the state with the goal of building relationships and advancing the role the arts play in the overall success of the state.
Conference presenters included Ryan Taylor, USDA rural development director, and Christopher Zimmerman, Fargo-Moorhead Symphony conductor. Attendees also heard from legislators, learned more about Arts North Dakota’s efforts to advocate for the arts and networked with colleagues from communities throughout North Dakota.
Viking sports update Men’s Basketball
March 10: No. 23 VCSU 65, No. 12 Tennessee Wesleyan 64 (NAIA National Tournament , Point Lookout, Mo.)
March 11: Indiana University East 81, No. 23 VCSU 69 (NAIA National Tournament, Point Lookout, Mo.)
The Valley City State men's basketball team won its first round game at the NAIA National Tournament last week before bowing out in the round of 16. The national tournament victory was VCSU’s second national tournament win in men's basketball history. The Vikings end the year with a 22-11 record.
Baseball
March 12: St. Cloud State 5, VCSU 1
March 13: VCSU 6, Central Methodist 2; Northern State 11, VCSU 4
The Viking baseball team is off to a 1-2 start on its spring trip to Tucson, Ariz., and is now 4-13 overall. VCSU will play seven more games this week in Tucson.
Softball
March 12: Mount Marty 7, VCSU 2; VCSU 5, Michigan–Dearborn 4
March 13: VCSU 13, Minnesota–Crookston 5; VCSU 11, Robert Morris 4
The Viking softball team has won three of its first four games in Tucson, Ariz., and is now 10-2 overall to start the season. VCSU will play 10 more games this week in Tucson.
What’s happening at VCSU and around Valley City ... Monday, March 14
Spring Break week
Region 2 High School Instrumental Music Contest on VCSU campus
Tuesday, March 15
Pay day
Wednesday, March 16
Thursday, March 17
St. Patrick’s Day
9 p.m. FCA/CRU meeting, Skoal Room
Friday, March 18
Saturday, March 19
Sunday, March 20
First day of spring
Palm Sunday
Monday, March 21
Tuesday, March 22
Wednesday, March 23
Thursday, March 24
Men’s and women’s track & field @ Black Hills State Invitational, Spearfish, S.D.
9 p.m. FCA/CRU meeting, Skoal Room
Friday, March 25
1 p.m. Viking softball @ Presentation College, Aberdeen, S.D. (doubleheader)
2 p.m. Viking baseball @ Waldorf College (doubleheader)
Saturday, March 26
12 noon Viking baseball @ Waldorf College (doubleheader)
1 p.m. Viking softball @ Presentation College, Aberdeen, S.D. (doubleheader)
Sunday, March 27
March birthdays 17 Bonita Roswick
17 Caroline Walters
18 Jerzy Bilski
18 Jody Klier
18 Loren Lemer
20 Joseph Munowenyu
25 Paula Larson
26 Leslie Kalmbach
27 Laurel Westby
29 Jason Kremer |
