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 Update: Event Cancellations
Several upcoming events at NSU have been postponed or canceled due to COVID-19 virus precautionary measures, including: Bach’s Lunch, Spring Jazz Concert, Jewell art reception in JFAC Gallery, Study Abroad Fair, Lamont-Rhodes Lecture, NSU Opera performances, Sail On Beach Boys Tribute Concert, National History Day and Science Fair. For more information and updates on this ongoing situation, please visit the NSU COVID-19 Resource Page.
SBAC Request Forms for FY2021
The Student Budget and Allocations Committee (SBAC) is now accepting Request forms for FY2021. Hearings for SBAC are scheduled for April 6-7 from 5 to 9 p.m., with executive session taking place after. Sign times for hearings are available outside of the Student Government Association office, located in the Student Center. Any organizations or groups that are interested in receiving a Budget Request form or have any questions can contact SGA President Harrison Bruns, SGA Vice President Patrick Minihan or SGA CFO Molly Kueter. Request forms and any other additional forms needed for presenting are due three days before an organization plans on presenting.
Instructional Design: Spring 2020 Faculty and Staff Development
Instructional Design’s spring 2020 scheduled trainings for faculty and staff development will be canceled for the time being and will be rescheduled at a later date.
Northern Edge Award
The Northern Edge Award is a new funding opportunity starting in spring 2020. This award was designed to augment existing funding sources for undergraduate scholarship at NSU. It is especially intended to aid student projects in under-represented disciplines and/or projects that may not be eligible/competitive for other funding opportunities on campus (i.e. student travel grants, or the Competitive Research Grant). Faculty-mentored projects may receive up to $1,000 that can be used for traditional research expenses or discipline-specific costs such as travel for performances/exhibits. The application process is more stream-lined, but still requires a budget detail and narrative. The application deadline is 5 p.m. March 30. For more information on how students can apply for this award, please visit myNSU->NSU Student->Academics->Undergraduate Research. For questions, contact NSU Undergraduate Research Coordinator Andrew Russell.
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 20, 2020.
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 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 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 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 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 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 Foundation 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 Foundation 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
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.
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. The next presenter and topic is as follows: April 14; "Talkin’ like the Bard: Demystifying Shakespeare’s Language"; presented by Dr. Kane Anderson, Assistant Professor of Theatre.
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.
AUCS to Present ‘Wizard of Oz’
The Aberdeen University-Civic Symphony will present “The Wizard of Oz” on April 25 at 7:30 p.m. and April 26 at 3 p.m. in the Johnson Fine Arts Center Harvey and Cynthia Jewett Theater. The performance will feature the original music of Harold Arlen and Herbert Stothart. The classic compositions will be performed live by the Aberdeen University-Civic Symphony, directed by Christopher Stanichar, with the re-mastered film projected on the big screen alongside the AUCS performance. Tickets will range from $15-40 with sales beginning at noon on Mar. 2. Tickets are available online here or at the JFAC Box Office. Box office hours are noon-4 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Thursday; phone number is 605-626-2900, email nsuboxoce@northern.edu. The box office opens two hours before show time on performance nights. For more information about the AUCS or tickets for orchestra concerts, contact the NSU Fine Arts Office at 605-626-2497 or visit Aberdeen Symphony online.
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.
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.