Welcome back to campus, and for new students, welcome to Northern! This is an exciting time to be part of Northern. I hope you sense the excitement and energy around campus.
We’ve had a productive summer, filled with construction and a lot of progress. A quick update on the campus improvements:
Great Plains East and West are now open and home to more than 250 students.
The Athletic and Recreation Fields recently opened in time for football and soccer practice. The turf fields look amazing and will be used for intramurals, student recreation and a future site for South Dakota School for the Blind and Visually Impaired students to run and play.
As I’m sure you have noticed, Jerde Hall has been demolished. The former Jerde site will soon become the new SDSBVI (scheduled to open fall 2019); the South Dakota Board of Regents recently approved the new SDSBVI facility plans.
The Regional Science Education Center remains on track to open next fall. The 50,000-square-foot facility will have a huge presence on campus.
Finally, design concepts for the proposed on-campus Regional Sports Complex continue to evolve. We will soon officially ask the city of Aberdeen to consider vacating a 1 ½ block section of 15th Avenue Southeast. This would allow Dacotah Bank Stadium to connect with the Barnett Center and create a comprehensive sports complex. The new design also improves the safety for our students and eventgoers, and provides parking and tailgating for more than 400 vehicles.
We have scheduled an Aug. 23 community forum to provide the community a project overview.
Governor Daugaard recently announced a $2.5 million grant for the SDSBVI, and this summer we announced the campaign now has pledges exceeding $33 million. We’re hopeful that our next governor will consider matching the $2.5 million, which would bring non-legislative funds for the campaign to $10 million, including the $5 million pledge from the city of Aberdeen. We announced these intentions last fall at Northern Night and we’re pleased our plans have received support from local and state officials.
The safety around all construction areas remains our top priority. Please use extra care around construction areas, especially when driving through campus and by May Overby Elementary. We’re are working with city officials, the police department and public school officials to alleviate traffic and ensure we provide a safe area to pick up and drop off elementary students.
I’d like to welcome the new Board of Regents Executive Director, Paul Beran. I look forward to working with him and the other presidents on important items such as needs-based scholarships and salary competiveness for employees.
Finally, here are some upcoming events that I encourage campus to attend:
- Sizzlin’ Summer Nights downtown concert: Friday, Aug. 24 (free to attend)
- Nashville Unplugged on-campus concert: Saturday, Aug. 25 (free for NSU students – tickets available in the Student Affairs office)
- COLLEGEpalooza: Tuesday, Aug. 28 (free to attend)
- Upcoming Wolves Athletics home events: Volleyball pre-season scrimmage, 6 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 18; soccer vs. Presentation College (exhibition), 6 p.m. Monday, Aug. 20; and soccer vs. Concordia Moorhead (exhibition), 4 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 22; men’s and women’s cross country Roe Granger meet, Aug. 31; soccer vs. Black Hills State, 7 p.m. Sept. 1
So much is happening around campus and in our community. It’s truly an exciting time to be at Northern! I look forward to seeing everyone around campus – getting to know our students, faculty and staff is one of the most rewarding parts of leading our institution.
Have a great start to the semester. Remember: #NeverDone
Go Wolves!
President Downs