The Minot State University College of Business has launched a new program, the Prior Learning Assessment, empowering individuals to exchange real-life skills for college credits.

Work experience, military experience, and professional development may make persons eligible for college credits, accelerating the time it takes to complete a degree while simultaneously reducing costs.

“Adult students have significant knowledge obtained through non-academic means; we want to recognize this learning and assess its value toward college credit,” said Linda Cresap, Minot State University College of Business Master of Science in Sports Management program director and business information technology professor.

The program offers three ways to earn credit: credit by experience, challenge exams, and certifications.

To earn credit by experience, individuals will create a digital portfolio, under the guidance of a faculty member, for each course in which they seek credit. The course faculty will then review the portfolio and determine the credit award.

The challenge exam option enables currently registered students to receive credit by examination for courses for which they have not already been enrolled.

Finally, earning a professional certification may present the opportunity to earn college credit.

Minot State University welcomed back alumnus Scott Bintz, E-commerce entrepreneur, author, and founder of RealTruck.com, for an Alumni Speaker Series presentation Thursday at the MSU Student Center Conference Center.

Bintz, a 1993 MSU graduate with a degree in economics, related multiple stories of how he went from a “poor kid” to building multiple successful companies, including lessons he learned while at Minot State.

“At Minot State, I learned a couple key things,” Bintz said. “First, I learned how to learn. You have to be able to do that. And, I learned how to learn fast. I’m a last-minute guy. When I was younger, I would hate myself for it, but like all things, curses can also be blessings. When you wait to the last minute, you can be highly efficient. If I have a month to do a paper, it will take a month. When I have two hours to bust out 50 pages, I’m highly efficient because I don’t have time to mess around.”

He founded RealTruck.com in the basement of a duplex in 1998, growing the company to a $100 million E-commerce super store. RealTruck. com has been consistently recognized as a Top Place to Work by ND Young Peoples and Prairie Business Magazine and earned other recognitions like Bizrate Platinum Circle of Excellence and Internet Retails top 300 mobile and top 500 E-commerce companies.

Minot State University is expanding its language courses in Spring 2021 with the addition of LANG 299: Ojibwe. The online course will be taught by Alex Decoteau ’19, Minot State University adjunct professor.

“The desire to make this course came while I was studying for my Master of Education at MSU,” said Decoteau. “I heard a lot of talk about the need for more college courses in Ojibwe from people who wanted to learn; I see a need in the school system where children are not getting the right to learn their indigenous language and culture because there are no certified teachers. For all these reasons and more, I thought MSU could be a promising platform to launch an Ojibwe language program that would successfully address those needs.”

Decoteau, who is a member of The Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, teaches native language, tribal government, and tribal history at the Turtle Mountain Community High School on the Turtle Mountain Chippewa Reservation.

While there are a handful of second language learners currently learning Ojibwe, the numbers are slight. Knowing only one fluent elder on his reservation, Decoteau wants to help keep the language alive.

Multiple Minot State University departments are sponsoring The Green Bandana Project, a campus-based initiative designed to spread awareness of resources for those with mental illness.

MSU’s Green Bandana Project is primarily supported by the MSU Student Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC), MSU Life, and the Minot State Residence Hall Association, with additional support from various departments and clubs across the campus. The Bandana Project started at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and is now on 42 campuses across the United States and Australia.

Individuals with the lime green bandanas on their backpack, bag, purse, or office door are showing a sign of stigma-free, quiet solidarity. This also indicates they are safe to approach with mental health-related issues and know where resources are, such as MSU Student Health and Counseling Services and MSU Lutheran Campus Ministries.

The North Dakota Center for Persons with Disabilities was awarded funding from the North Dakota State Council on Developmental Disabilities for the ND CREATE-ACT project.

According to Malinda Kragh, project director, this funding will be used to have the current ND CREATE Customized Employment curriculum reviewed, modified, and certified by the Association of Community Rehabilitation Educators. ACRE is a national member organization for trainers in the field of employment who share a mission of advocacy through education to improve the quality of employment services for people with disabilities.

“We are excited to establish a standardized Customized Employment curriculum across the state of North Dakota with the value-added component of providing nationally recognized ACRE Certificates of Achievement to each of the Employment Specialists that complete the training” Kragh said.

Minot State University announced today there will not be a Commencement ceremony held this fall celebrating either the December 2020 graduates or those who graduated with the 2019-20 class.

Minot State canceled the 2020 Commencement Exercise in May due to the completion of the Spring 2020 semester online. MSU held a virtual GRADical Week celebrating the 2019-2020 class with online acknowledgements, contests, prizes, and multiple speakers. The expectation, at the time, was to hold a ceremony for those graduates sometime in this fall.

That idea will be pushed to Spring 2021 as MSU plans to celebrate both 2019-20 and 2020-21 classes at its May 2021 Commencement Exercise.

North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and the North Dakota Department of Health moved Ward County to “Risk Level High” on Friday, Oct. 30, greatly limiting large gatherings.

The Minot State University Art Department is proud to announce the Harvey and Arlone Twyman Scholarship application process is now open for the 2021 academic year.

The scholarship is available to incoming freshmen and transfer art students and recipients will be awarded up to $2,000. Scholarship awards are determined by the quality of the application and the portfolio. Additional requirements include current art major status and a minimum 3.00 GPA.

Applications are due Monday, Feb. 15. All scholarship awards are granted by the scholarship committee made up of art department faculty.

For more information and to fill out an application, visit the Minot State Art Department SCHOLARSHIP website or see attached FLIER. Questions can be directed to Minot State art professor Micah Bloom by EMAIL. All applicants must also fill out the general Minot State scholarship form, available HERE. Deadline for the general scholarship application is Feb. 15.

Minot State Staff Senate is excited to add a new way to recognize departments/teams on an ongoing basis for their remarkable contributions. Please use this FORM to recognize departments/teams; all departments that receive a shoutout will be honored on Staff Senate Shoutout page. Additionally, department heads will receive a copy of the comments for their department/team. You can submit a Shoutout at any time and they will be distributed monthly.

If you are looking to recognize an outstanding Staff member, please continue to do so through the HIGH FIVE NOMINATION PROCESS.

Tune in to Minot State's THE LOOKOUT: EPISODE 12. The Lookout interviews with students, faculty, staff, and others who are in some way part of our community and doing something of interest. Samuel Stinson from the English department is host, and Lee Johnson from broadcasting is the producer. For more information, contact Robert Kibler, via EMAIL or extension 3876, or host SAMUEL STINSON, extension 3871.  This episode's guests include Alison McAfee, broadcasting and professional communication instructor, discussing her 20 years' experience in the industry and Thorpe Halloran, biology assistant professor, talking about his research and recent trip with students to West Texas.

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. The Arts Center is open on adjusted hours this fall, Tuesday through Saturday, 1-5 p.m. and by special arrangement. It is closed holidays.

Hartnett Hall Gallery
The gallery provides exhibition space for students, faculty, and community artists, and is located on the second floor on the west side of Hartnett Hall in Room 233. The Hartnett Hall Gallery is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays.

Flat Tail Press
The gallery is located in the landing space on second and third floor of the Minot State Student Center, west entrance. It is open Monday-Friday, 7 a.m.-1 a.m.

• Print Day in May: Hosted by Flat Tail Press, this is the sixth annual Print Day in May for Minot State. The exhibition includes 11 (student, faculty, or alumni) artists who each delivered a unique approach to the challenge: create an edition of 11 x 15-inch prints. The result includes screen prints, lithographs, wood cuts, giclée, cyanotype and letterpress prints.

Christina Paxman, broadcasting and professional communication, provided six presentations at the National Communication Association virtual conference in November 2020.

Ernst Pijning, history, published a chapter in the book, "Assinaturas e Intermédiarios. Algumas evidências de mulheres no Atlântico setecentista," in: Carmen Alveal and Thiago Dias eds., Espaços Coloniais. Dominios, Poderes e Representações, (São Paulo: Alameda Casa Editorial, 2019) 191-205.

Ernst Pijning, history, published a scholarly article "The Sweet Attraction of One’s Native Land: The Sephardic Community in Surinam and the Calls to Return to Portugal and Brazil, 1798-1814," Portuguese Studies Review, 27:1 (2019) 115-133.

Ernst Pijning, history, published a book review Migrating Merchants: Trade, Nation and Religion in Seventeenth-Century Hamburg and Portugal, Berlin: Kenneth Kronenberg, 2019, in: European History Quarterly, (2020) 50:1 (2020), 178-179.

Ernst Pijning, history, gave a lecture at an online conference (in Portuguese) titled "Uma Casa Roubada? Queixas, Denunciações e Governança no Rio Setecentista," presented at III Seminário Virtual Internacional de História Moderna – Disputas políticas e relações de poder nos mundos ibéricos da Época Moderna, Online, November 26, 2020. (LINK)

Ernst Pijning, history, presented two papers at conferences.

• “The Ungodly Inspectress: Monopoly and Womanhood in the Beginning of Pombal’s Reign,” paper presented at the 50th annual meeting for the Association for Spanish and `Portuguese Historical Studies, Barcelona, Spain, July 11, 2019.
• "How the King became the Smuggler," paper presented at the 3rd meeting of the Lusophone Studies Association, Évora, Portugal, June 28, 2019.

Praise Okunbor was selected as the ASC Student of the Month for October. She has contributed to the Academic Support Center’s programs as a New Student Program Leader and Peer Mentor.

Native American Cultural Club selected its 2020-21 Executive Board:

• President: Kenzie Jerome, Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians
• Vice president: Kajia DeCoteau, Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians
• Treasurer: Kayleigh Cain, Mandan Hidatsa Arikara Nation
• Secretary: Austin Stensby, Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians
• Social media officer: Rachael Leon, Pima-Havasupai-Hopi

Teresa Loftesnes, director of marketing, recently became a director for Magic City Discovery Center board.

James Tiffany, facilities management, was named Minot State University Staff Senate's October High Five Award winner.

Global Sights Photo Contest Winners Announced
Winning shots from this year’s photo contest are listed below. Visit the contest webpage to see the FULL GALLERY.

Students

• People’s choice: “Prairie Paradise” taken in Melfort, Saskatchewan, Canada by Lexi Beuker, exercise science & rehabilitation
• First place: “55 days” taken in Florence, Italy by Tessia Samuelson, art education
• Second place: “Moraine Lake” taken in Alberta, Canada by Taylor Stangeland, communication disorders 
• Third place: “Gardens by the Bay” taken in Singapore by Amber Nguyen, communications sciences & disorders
• Honorable Mentions:
  • “ALIVE!” taken in Iceland by Sheyenne Schmidt, marketing, management, entrepreneurship
  • “Canadian Waterfall” taken in Banff in Alberta, Canada by Isabella Penner, communication disorders
  • “Prairie Paradise” taken in Melfort, Saskatchewan Canada by Lexi Beuker, exercise science & rehabilitation
  • “Grassi Lake” taken in Canmore, Canada by Mikayla Woodward, international business
  • “Praha at Night” taken in Prague, Czech Republic by Brenna Tschetter, business administration and management

Faculty, staff, alumni, and retirees

• People’s choice: “El Acueducto Romano” taken in Segovia, Spain by Mary Elizabeth Gamas, criminal justice alumna
• First place: “Bovoletti!” (or) “Snails for Sale in an Open-Air Market” taken in Treviso, Italy by Emerson Eads, director of choral activities
• Second place: “Backup Boys” taken in Kyoto, Japan by Micah Bloom, art department
• Third place: “El Acueducto Romano” taken in Segovia, Spain by Mary Elizabeth Gamas, criminal justice alumna
• Honorable Mentions:
  • “Holbox, Mexico Reflects Magic in the Sunset” taken in Holbox, Mexico by Teresa Loftesnes, director of marketing
  • “Before Japan Awakes” taken in Tokyo, Japan by Michele Burney, NDCPD research associate
  • “Hội An Lanterns” taken in Hội An, Vietnam by Bethany Andreasen, social science/history department

Special thanks to this year’s contest judges: Aaron Hughes, student activities coordinator; Rick Heit, marketing and internet content assistant; Roxi Mathis, publication design specialist; and Saeko Yamada, International Programs student employee.