Minot State University will offer a third option in its chemistry major starting in the Spring 2019 semester focusing on extraction, purification, and analysis of compounds from plants.

The option, called Medicinal Plant Chemistry, will enter the academic catalog in Fall 2019, but students can begin work within the chemistry department starting next semester. Medicinal Plant Chemistry joins Professional Chemistry and General Chemistry as a third option for the Bachelor of Arts degree.

“Minot State University has a strong history of excellence in the sciences,” Minot State President Steven Shirley said. “This new rigorous academic option in chemistry further solidifies that tradition by ensuring the next generation of graduates entering new and emerging fields have the knowledge and skills required to succeed.”

The unique chemistry option is the first of its kind in the state of North Dakota and the upper Midwest region, and just the second such program at a four-year university in the United States.

While pursuing coursework in chemistry, biology, physics, and calculus and completing a capstone research project, students will earn over 600 hours of laboratory experience while focusing on the extraction, separation, and analysis of compounds and chemicals from plant material. Students will learn theory, skills, and techniques necessary to work in the medicinal cannabis, hops, botanical supplements, and food science industries. Hands-on laboratory experiences will prepare individuals for extraction, quality assurance, and quality control roles after graduation.

The Minot State University College of Business has added entrepreneurship as a degree starting in the current Fall 2018 semester. Students will have the opportunity to earn a Bachelor of Science in Entrepreneurship, a minor, or a Certificate in Entrepreneurship.

“This is a hands-on, real-world degree that will not only help our current and future business students, but also students from all across campus,” said Tracey Mays, Minot State assistant professor of entrepreneurship. “Students are required to write a business plan and have a final project that will demonstrate they know how to start and grow a business.”

Students will engage in activities that focus on product or service development, start-up funding, purchasing and distribution issues, and client-based development. They will complete an entrepreneurial project and develop an entrepreneurial portfolio as part of the curriculum.

The degree programs will work with the Severson Entrepreneurship Academy, created in 2010 as a result of a milestone gift to Minot State by Clint Severson and Conni Ahart. Severson Entrepreneurship Academy supports entrepreneurship students with scholarships, an Entrepreneurship Club, and other resources.

Minot State University director of choral activities Emerson Eads has released an updated version of the University’s Alma Mater, with lyrics from a poem by one of Minot State’s original 12 faculty members, Huldah Lucile Winsted.

The Minot State University Alma Mater made its debut at the Board of Regents Fall meeting in September, and Eads hopes it will be performed at multiple Minot State events.

“We plan to sing it at the end of each of our vocal performances with alumni encouraged to sing along,” Eads said. “The hope is that it will eventually be sung during multiple events, especially at athletic events. I believe it is an important part of the school, it’s talking about the school, the alma mater. It stirs the heart.”

Winsted was one of the original 12 instructors hired at the Normal School at Minot, Minot State’s first name. She became the first librarian after donating much of her collection to form the first library, taught geography, served as the registrar, class adviser, and dean of women. But it was her penchant for writing, including four books – one on geography and three poetry collections – that earned her the title of poet laureate. Her “North Dakota Land of Sky and Other Poems” was published in 1927 and includes 82 poems devoted to subjects ranging from North Dakota landscapes to the progress of women in the arts. Winsted is also credited with choosing the university’s red and green colors based off the beautiful red geraniums blooming outside her office window.

Minot State University’s Humanities Department hosted a Campus and Community Dialogue to discuss legalizing marijuana in North Dakota on Oct. 24.

“In these forums we mean to inform, engage, and activate campus and community interest and knowledge about topics important to us all, and to do so in a light civil forum,” said Robert Kibler, professor of literature and humanities and chair of the Division of Humanities. “This was the third Campus Community Dialogue and it addressed the upcoming vote on Measure 3, which would legalize (recreational) marijuana use in North Dakota.”

The panel consisted of David Owen, who is the author of Measure 3, and Minot attorney Andrew J. Schultz, candidate for Ward County State’s Attorney. Alexandra Deufel, professor of biology at Minot State, moderated the discussion.

Sessions for the Connect GATEKEEPER training will be offered monthly on campus at Minot State University with dates, times, and location below:

• Nov. 26 – Monday, 2-4:15 p.m., Westlie Room
• Dec. 21 – Friday, 10 a.m. to 12:15 p.m., Westlie Room
• Jan. 15 – Tuesday, 11 a.m. to 1:15 p.m., Westlie Room
• Feb. 27 – Wednesday, 9-11:15 a.m., Jones Room
• March 14 – Thursday, 11:30 a.m. -1:45 p.m.,  Jones Room
• April 10 – Wednesday, 1-3:15 p.m., Westlie Room
• May 3 – Friday, 8:30-10:45 a.m., Westlie Room
• June 10 – Monday, 2-4:15 p.m., Westlie Room
• July 25 – Thursday, 10 a.m. to 12:15 p.m., Westlie Room

Pre-registration is required. Contact Andy Heitkamp, Veteran's Center director, via email at andy.heitkamp@minotstateu.edu or by phone at 701-858-4002 for more information or to pre-register for the class.

Northwest Arts Center
The gallery is located on the lower level of the Gordon B. Olson Library, with its own entrance on the south side of the library. It is open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and by special arrangement. It is closed holidays.

• Bashful Vessels: Ceramic sculpture by Wansoo Kim, Americas 2017: All Media Best of Show winner. His art is on display Oct. 19-Nov. 21.
• Energy and Flow: Paintings by Hooshang Khorasani, on display Oct. 19 - Nov. 21.

Lesley Magnus, professor in communication disorders, was a co-presenter in the Nancy McKinley annual series webinar with SpeechPathology.com. Evaluation and Enhancing Children’s Phonological Systems was presented in a webinar Oct. 1-4. Magnus’ section was on Phonological Systems of Special Populations. Over 600 speech language pathologists were registered and logged in for the continuing education opportunity.

Magnus was an invited presenter at the Speech and Audiology British Columbia annual conference in Victoria, British Columbia, Oct. 19 and 20. Eighty-five speech language pathologists, assistants, and audiologists were able to participate in a day-long seminar on Phonological Systems of Highly Unintelligible Children.

Terry Eckmann, chair and professor in teacher education and kinesiology, and students Michael Chance, Bryanna Christensen, Katie Clark, Katie Eckmann, Liz Gallardo, Eduardo Gomez, Alicia Feehan, Nicole Hanson, Krystal Heth, Jameson Hayden, Liam Hayden, Maddy Lodoen, and Sheyenne Schmidt, traveled to Bangkok, Thailand this October to participate, present, and earn awards at the Asia Fitness Conference. 

Minot State University Division of Humanities English faculty presented the following peer-reviewed academic papers: Eric Furuseth, "The 18th Century 'Nature of Lord Byron's Vision: Byron's Tragedies and Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France," at the Conference of the Midwestern American Society for Eighteenth Century Studies hosted by the University of South Dakota in Sioux Falls, S.D. Robert Kibler, "The London Evening Post of 1739 and the Rising Age of Information," at the Conference of the Midwestern American Society for Eighteenth Century Studies hosted by the University of South Dakota in Sioux Falls, S.D. Cathryn Halverson, "Juanita Harrison and Black Internationalism: A Literary and Cultural Biography," at the Western Literature Association 53rd Annual Conference, St. Louis, Mo. 

Tricia Houmann, payroll and benefits technician, was named Minot State University Staff Senate's September High Five Award winner. Houmann will have worked in the Payroll Office for 10 years this February. She is married to Tanner and they have three kids: Carter, Aiden, and Natalie. They also have three dogs: Gabby, Ammo, and Lucy. Tricia loves to read and hang out with friends and family. Her family also loves camping in the summer.

Lindsey Benson, assistant financial aid director, worked in partnership with Town & Country Credit Union, NDSU Extension, and KMOT to organize the ninth annual $MRTZ Financial Education event for area high school students that brought about 200 area high school students to Minot State on Oct. 23.

Laurie Weber, financial aid director, began serving a one-year term as the Vice President of the Rocky Mountain Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (RMASFAA) in October. Her responsibilities include chairing the association’s Finance and Audit Committee.  RMASFAA is a regional association of student financial aid professionals from the Rocky Mountain region which includes Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming.

Weber co-presented with Karrie Huber, financial aid director at University of Mary, and Scott Lingen, financial aid director at Bismarck State College, a session titled Professional Judgment at the at the Fall 2018 RMASFAA Conference in Fargo, N.D. on Oct. 8.  

Aileen Cheong was selected as the CETL Student of the Month for September. She has contributed to the Center for Engaged Teaching and Learning’s programs as a new student orientation leader, welcome weekend leader, and CETL office assistant.

Kassie Sandborg took ninth individually for FFA Nationals Vet Science. Sandborg and her California team took first place in the FFA Nationals for Vet Science. She plans on possibly adding biology as a second major and plans to apply for Veterinary school when she graduates.

Arnikka Thompson, along with professors Dianna Anderson (accompanist) and Charles Young (teacher), won the Young Artist Woodwinds category in the Music Teachers National Association competition Oct. 20.