Annual Recognition Awards for 2024-2025

• Board of Regents Faculty Achievement Awards
• Board of Regents Staff Achievement Awards
• Retirees
• Years of Service
• Staff Senate High 5 Recipients
• Academic Advising Awards
• Distinguished Lifetime Educator Awards
• Degrees/Certificates Earned

Minot State University honored its 2024-25 Board of Regents Faculty and Staff Achievement Awards award winners at the conclusion of the academic year.

Faculty Achievement Awards
This program was established in 1985 by the Burlington Northern Foundation. In 1990 the Board of Regents established a second award and now solely supports the awards to recognize outstanding university teaching. The intent of the award is to recognize, reward, and motivate excellence in teaching, scholarship, and service.

Rebecca Daigneault
Excellence in Teaching - Behavioral Sciences & CJ

Rebecca Daigneault has been a faculty member in the special education department since 2014 and during that time has consistently demonstrated excellent teaching. She has good rapport with her students, uses a variety of teaching techniques, and inspires them to be involved in the community. She strongly believes students need to be held to a high standard of learning to become competent social workers.

Daigneault has respect for students, values them as competent learners, and has high educational and behavioral expectations for them. Along with teaching courses, she is the field education director for the social work program. She provides administrative oversight of the student’s field experiences for the Minot, Bismarck, and Fargo social work program sites.

Daigneault is actively engaged in service to the community and the university. She has worked on projects with Access Services, served on the Diversity Council, and served on faculty senate committees. As advisor to the student social work organization, she assists with various community projects such as Freezin for a Reason, Take back the Night, and the Social Work Students’ spring symposium.

Rebecca’s excellence in teaching, dedication to Minot State University and its students, and her persistence for continual improvement make her a model of a great teacher at the university level. She is certainly a worthy recipient of the Faculty Achievement Award in Teaching.

Kelsey Higginson
Excellence in Service - Department of Science

Dr. Kelsey Higginson began her career at Minot State University in 2020 in the exercise science & kinesiology department. She is actively involved in campus and community activities that support community needs, enhance quality of life, and promote continued development of teaching, scholarship, and learning.

Dr. Higginson wrote and received a grant to start a Homeschool PE program that has been very successful and impacted children and their parents who homeschool them along with the MSU students teaching classes for the program. The program started with 46 children ages 5-16 and has grown to 66 children. She has also worked with MSU Wellness Center staff to develop an exercise program for parents while their children were in their PE classes so our students could get practice leading that population as well. This is the first time a homeschool PE program has been available in Minot, and it has made a significant impact for this population while providing great teaching practice for MSU students.

Dr. Higginson had an idea for a bike path that would make three loops around the area near the MSU Facilities building. She worked with Val’s Cyclery to mow the paths and establish the trail system. This has been embraced by students, campus members, and the community at large.

Dr. Higginson provides a great deal of service on campus and in the community serving on many committees and serving in various roles in her church congregation. She is more than deserving of this award in recognition of her service.

Joe Pettit
Excellence in Scholarship - Department of Science

Dr. Pettit has been teaching biology classes since 2020 and during that time, he has involved multiple students in various research projects. His students have conducted work involving how temperature affects the reproductive capabilities of plants. He has investigated how to grow plants in soil from Mars in conjunction with the ND Space Consortium and other colleagues in the department. He has studied toxin-producing plants in the greater Minot area to learn how toxin tolerance has evolved, which has led to collaborations with other faculty at MSU as well as UND and NDSU. He has involved students in identifying endangered species of bats in the area with the goal of aiding in conservation efforts with the ND Game and Fish Department.

Dr. Pettit has taken students to numerous conferences where they have given oral and poster presentations, the most recent being the Wildlife Society’s conservation work on bat identification to other bat ecologists in ND. These experiences are vital for students to get hands-on experience with networking and learning how to properly disseminate scientific information.

Dr. Pettit has been the singular faculty member in the department who has found funding for students every semester of every year, who had students in research every semester, and who has put the most effort into pursuing scholarships with students.

He has been an excellent asset to MSU for the students and their experiences in scholarship.

Staff Achievement Awards
The Board of Regents Staff Achievement Award was established in 1991. The Board of Regents established the award to recognize university staff members for outstanding service to the University and the community.

Tonya Critz
Financial Aid

Tonya began her career at MSU as the administrative assistant for the College of Business and now serves as Senior Financial Aid Counselor. She assists with the annual high school counselor workshop and has been a presenter for student orientation events. She took on the important and challenging role of FAFSA Verification Coordinator for the financial aid office, which requires both financial aid and federal tax return expertise.

Tonya is a sought-after member of the office staff. Many students and parents seek her advice year after year. Her professional and ethical approach to these interactions builds trust with our students and their parents. She has built trusting relationships with many families who specifically ask for her regarding financial aid questions.

Tonya genuinely cares about our students and wants to see them succeed. She assures that student employees and MSU are in compliance with the Federal Work Study program.

She is an active volunteer in our community and represents MSU well within the state-wide financial aid organization.

Tonya is not a person who seeks the spotlight, but she consistently serves MSU and our students in an exemplary manner providing first-class service to all. She is truly an asset to MSU.

Aundrey Livingston
Security

Aundrey began his career at MSU in 2013 after retiring from the US Air Force attaining the rank of Master Sergeant. He served MSU security on the overnight shift and provided security for the campus and assisting students.

In 2019, he was promoted to the position of MSU Security Operations Supervisor and Clery Compliance officer. He is responsible for scheduling officers to provide service to the campus 24/7. He assists in training and supervision of officers to ensure a professional response to different types of incidents that occur on campus.

As the Clery Compliance officer, he is responsible for identifying and training faculty and staff in identified roles as Campus Security Authorities. He provides assistance to the Security Director to meet the requirements of the Clery Act.

Aundrey volunteered to become an Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate (ALICE) instructor. An ALICE instructor provides classroom and hands on instruction to small groups regarding proper and safe response to an active shooter situation.

Aundrey consistently demonstrates positive core values and a long-term commitment to service the needs of the campus. His enthusiastic and friendly engagement with students and employees demonstrates a heartfelt concern for others and an ongoing commitment to excellence in service.

Doug Tiedman
Center for Extended Learning

Doug started his career at MSU in 2016 and is currently the Assistant Director for the Center for Extending Learning and serves in the role of instructional design in the office of instructional technology. He is an integral part of the development of new courses and assists faculty during the process to make sure that there is ADA compliance and that the course follows the policies of MSU.

He values every student on campus the same as those who are remote and often spends many days past his office hours to assist students and/or faculty members. He makes sure that there is a resolution to whatever the issue is and will work to fix it whether it is a computer or Blackboard problem. He is always patient with those that are challenged technologically, and he is always respectful and professional.

Doug is a very active staff member on campus. He has served on staff senate, volunteered for Rec Fest, worked security at hockey games, and serves on committees as needed. On a community level, he plays in the Minot Symphony Orchestra, serves on the Zion Lutheran Church board, and has worked at the Class B State Basketball Tournament.

He is a positive person that Minot State is lucky to have whether guiding faculty through changes in the Learning Management System or helping students through unique computer problems. Doug is respected for his work and is invaluable to MSU.

Years of Service

Retirees

Staff Senate High 5 Recipients

Distinguished Lifetime Educator Awards

Academic Advising Awards

Degrees/Certificates Earned

• Evan Borisinkoff, Education and Inclusive Services
  • Special Education Director Credential
• Daniel Duarte, Athletics
  • Master of Science in Sports Management
• Deb Haman, Student Health
  • Leadership Studies Certification
• Erin Heit, Student Health
  • Certificate and Concentration in Spanish
• Mark Lueders, Science
  • Ph.D. in Environmental Science
• Courtney Olson, Communication Sciences & Disorders
  • Clinical Doctorate in Speech-Language Pathology
• Savannah Wateland, Fine and Performing Arts
  • Bachelor of General Studies