Minot State University’s Ann Nicole Nelson Hall will be the site for the seventh annual Recovery Reinvented hosted by North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and First Lady Kathryn Burgum.

Recovery Reinvented, an event dedicated to eliminating the shame and stigma of the disease of addiction, will be held Thursday, Oct. 5 starting at 8 a.m. with registration at MSU’s Old Main and opening remarks in Ann Nicole Nelson Hall scheduled for 9:30 a.m. The event is free and open to the public. Registration is required and is currently open for both in-person and online attendees via EVENTBRITE.

“We are so pleased to be hosting Recovery Reinvented on the MSU campus,” said Minot State University President Steven Shirley. “This is such an important dialogue focused on a subject that can have a significant impact in every corner of the state. As the only campus in the North Dakota University System with a degree in addiction studies, MSU is a natural host as students have been coming here for decades to pursue their studies in areas related to addiction and recovery.”

This will be the first time the event is held in Minot, having previously been hosted in Bismarck three times, once in Fargo, once in Grand Forks, and virtually in 2020. The daylong event will feature state and national addiction and recovery experts who will focus on reinventing recovery through the sharing of stories, creating recovery-friendly cultures in the workplace and community.

“We continue to build on the message that storytelling is one of the most powerful tools we have to end the stigma surrounding addiction,” First Lady Burgum said in a press release. “Bringing this experience to the community of Minot will allow us to lift up more faces and voices of recovery and inspire people to know that recovery from addiction is possible.”

The keynote speaker lineup includes:

• Lipi Roy, an internal medicine physician who is board certified in addiction medicine. Roy is the founder of SITA MED, an addiction/health speaking company, as well as a sought-after international speaker, media personality, and host of the YouTube series “Health, Humor and Harmony.”
• Stephen Loyd, chief medical officer for Cedar Recovery in Tennessee and the current chair of the Tennessee Opioid Abatement Council, appointed by current Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee. Loyd has been in recovery from opioid and benzodiazepine addiction since July 8, 2004.
• Scott Davis, who served as executive director of the North Dakota Indian Affairs Commission from 2009 to 2021, serving three governors and 23 tribal chairs. Davis is 17 years sober.

The speakers’ full bios can be found on Recovery Reinvented’s WEBSITE.

Minot State University’s Ann Nicole Nelson Hall will be the host site for the Minot Area Chamber EDC’s Town Hall with Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari.

“It is a terrific and unique privilege hosting the president of a Federal Reserve Bank, and we look forward to holding the town hall event at Minot State,” said Minot State President Steven Shirley. “We are grateful to President Kashkari for making the effort of seeing all the great things happening in and around Minot, and we are especially honored to have him on the MSU campus during his visit.”

The town hall is scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 10 at 2 p.m. and is free and open to the public. The program will feature a dynamic audience question and answer with Kashkari, who is a voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee, the body of the Federal Reserve System that sets national monetary policy, including interest rates.

The Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank serves the six-state region of the Ninth Federal Reserve District: Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota, 26 counties in northwestern Wisconsin, and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

“As a catalyst for regional economic development, we are grateful for a strategic partnership and relationship with the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis,” said Brekka Kramer, Minot Area Chamber EDC President | CEO. “Federal Reserve Bank President Kashkari works hard to pursue a growing economy and stable financial system that works for us all. It’s great to have him in North Dakota and visiting Minot to discuss key economic drivers for our region.”

Kashkari will give brief remarks, followed by a Q&A with the audience moderated by Brenda Foster, chairman, president, and CEO of First Western Bank & Trust in Minot.

“As a board member of the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank, I am pleased that President Kashkari is joining us in Minot to share what the Fed has experienced this year and discuss the state of our economy,” Foster said. “I look forward to the opportunity community members will have to hear from President Kashkari and encourage you to bring questions for discussion.”

Raised in Ohio, Kashkari earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

In his role with the Minneapolis Fed, Kashkari represents a region that includes North Dakota. He will be in Minot learning about what drives the local economy, and he wants to hear from individuals about what’s working and what isn’t. Since taking over as president of the Minneapolis Fed in January 2016, he has spearheaded several initiatives, including releasing a plan to end the too big to fail problem and launching the Minneapolis Fed’s Opportunity & Inclusive Growth Institute.

For more information, see the Minot Area Chamber EDC Facebook EVENT.

Minot State University has announced a new Academic Excellence Scholarship for incoming freshmen with the opportunity to receive up to $10,000.

“We are so excited to offer a GPA-only based scholarship,” said Michelle Sayler, enrollment services director. “We have seen fewer students submitting their ACT and SAT scores, and this gives a scholarship opportunity to those students who are not taking those tests.”

New freshmen admitted by the University’s priority deadline of Feb. 15, 2024 that meet academic standards are automatically eligible for the award. Dependent on final unweighted high school GPAs, the Academic Excellence Scholarship will award funds every year a student is enrolled at Minot State for a maximum of four years.

“The Academic Excellence Scholarship provides an easy way for new freshmen students to predict their level of eligibility for our exciting new renewable scholarship,” said Laurie Weber, financial aid director.

Total scholarship award amounts are determined by a student’s final unweighted high school GPA, broken into four tiers: $2,500 for a 3.0-3.49 GPA, $5,000 for 3.5-3.69, $7,500 for 3.7-3.89, and $10,000 for a 3.9+ GPA.

The Academic Excellence Scholarship replaces the Automatic 4-Year Award, which was based off final unweighted high school GPA and ACT or SAT score.

Minot State University’s Center for Extended Learning (CEL) is offering four workshops through the Lifelong Learning Institute.

The MSU Lifelong Learning Institute will feature classes from multiple departments throughout Minot State’s curriculum. The four classes offered are: Pickleball 101, Intermediate Pickleball, Capturing Your Own Holiday Photos, and Photographic Editing: Lightroom/Photoshop/Plug-ins.

“The purpose of the Lifelong Learning Institute is to provide programming for everyone as learning never stops,” said Amy Woodbeck, CEL professional and community education coordinator. “It’s exciting to announce these four classes for the fall. We continue to look for ideas and topics to offer new fun and educational workshops in the future.”

The classes have a range of times, dates, and costs. To see the complete list of classes and to sign up to take a class, see the Lifelong Learning Institute WEBSITE. 

Minot State University was recently rated as one of Money.com’s Best Colleges in America, earning the online guide’s four-star rating.

Minot State was one of four North Dakota schools to earn four out of five stars and is one of 736 universities and colleges ranked in the country. Money.com determines its star rating by comparing acceptance rates, affordability, graduation rates, and employment after graduation.

“Minot State has made its priorities clear by embracing our roots and by seizing opportunities,” said Cole Krueger, Minot State marketing director. “Our new Hometown Pride Scholarship and Prairie Rose Scholarship recognize the immense opportunity in our region to prepare the next generation of North Dakota students for fulfilling careers and lives. We are proud to see our commitment to educating today and tomorrow’s workforce reflected in four stars from Money.com.”

The University’s commitment to minimizing student debt is reflected in a total of $2.25 million distributed in academic year 2022-23. The total distribution comes, in part, from endowed scholarships where the MSU Development Foundation reported a record total of 465 in 2022-23. In total, 91% of Minot State’s new full-time freshman class received grants or scholarships.

MSU’s student success chart on Money.com’s page shows the University has the lowest median student debt ($19,610) of all North Dakota University System schools and Minot State boasts an employment or continuing education rate of 96% for its recent graduates compared to a national average of 86%.

View Minot State’s Money.com page HERE and for a complete listing of schools ranked throughout the country, see Money.com’s WEBSITE.

The Minot State University Office of Title IX and the MSU Criminal Justice Club will host an event titled “Human Trafficking… in Our Backyard” on Wednesday, Oct. 11 at 7 p.m. in Ann Nicole Nelson Hall.

The event is free and open to the public.

Sarah Johnston, central navigator from the North Dakota Human Trafficking Task Force, will address human trafficking in Minot and the surrounding communities.

“Human trafficking doesn’t just take place in the oil field or at big sporting events. We see it in our communities big and small,” Johnston said. “I am so blessed to get to work with the community of Minot. The multi-disciplinary team that continues to build has been so welcoming and steps up to the plate every time I call. The task force works in a victim-centered manner to prevent, detect, disrupt, and dismantle human trafficking.

“People ask if human trafficking happens in North Dakota: the answer is yes.”

The presentation will include a snapshot of human trafficking in Northwest North Dakota, misconceptions about human trafficking, along with re-entry of victims and community support.

For more information, contact the MSU Criminal Justice Club by EMAIL.

Come with us on an adventure. The Spring Break 2024 trip to Scotland is now open to all students, faculty, staff, and community members. The application deadline is Oct. 31. If you'd like more information and want to apply, please click HERE. Ye dinnae ken Scotland yet, but you will!

The Cultural and Intellectual Engagement Council (CIEC) and its funding for academic and cultural projects on campus has opened its call for proposals. Applications for the spring semester are due Oct. 15. To learn more, visit the CIEC's WEBSITE. With funding from the office of the vice president for academic affairs and from the MSU Development Foundation, CIEC hopes to engage the campus in projects great and small. What will you do? Bring in a musician for workshops and a performance; organize a conference; bring an artist or poet or theologian to campus; and more. Applicants can apply for up to $3,500 in funding. For more information, visit CIEC’s website or contact the members of the startup group: Sarah Aleshire, Charlie Young, Robert Kibler, Bill Harbort, and Laurie Geller.

Staff Senate invites all faculty and staff to this training by our marketing director, Cole Krueger. In this session, attendees will engage in an exercise to identify and value positive habits. Then, attendees will develop a plan to ALTer or even DELETE negative habits. The session will be in the Westlie Room at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 11. See the event POSTER for more information. 

Join the Minot State Alumni Association for "An A-MAZE-ing Day with MSU at Berry Acres Pumpkin Patch" on Wednesday, Oct. 18 from 5-7 p.m. Free entry for kids 12 and under. Adults pay $6. Free dessert bar under the pavilion: pie, scotcharoos, hot apple cider, and hot chocolate while supplies last. There will be a Corn Maze Race at 6:15 p.m. The winner will earn a free t-shirt! The event is sponsored by the MSU Alumni Association and MSU Staff Senate. Wear your Minot State gear!  For more information, see attached FLIER.

Minot State University is now participating in a new benefit for employees. MSU employees may be eligible to receive a state match for child care expenses through the North Dakota Working Parents Child Care Relief (WPCCR) pilot program funded by legislation passed in HB1540.  This benefit may be available until funds are exhausted.  At this time, we do not have an end date for the program.  

To find out if you, your children, and your child care provider qualify, see attached flyer or click on the link below. Employees can go to the ND Working Parents Child Care Relief website and click on the “Parent” button to see if they qualify. Benefitted employees who meet the above criteria are eligible to participate. Part-time and temporary employees may also be eligible, based on a consistent work schedule of 20 or more hours per week that is expected to cover 20 or more weeks in a year. 

North Dakota Health and Human Services (HHS) is responsible for program administration including the application process, determining eligibility, and payments to eligible participants.  For additional information visit ND Health & Human Services. Also, all questions may be directed to the HHS contact listed on the FLYER, visiting the website, or by scanning the QR code.

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 Tuesday-Friday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Saturday 1-5 p.m., and by special arrangement. It is closed holidays.

• Piotr Szyhalski: Prints from the Labor Camp. MSU NOTSTOCK and the Northwest Arts Center present "Piotr Szyhalski: Prints from the Labor Camp," from Aug. 31 to Oct. 14. Szyhalski is a Polish-born and trained multimedia artist working in the United States since 1990. The Minneapolis-based artist’s wide-ranging practice encompasses an array of media and genres, including poster designs, drawings, mail art, photographs, painted murals, prints, web-based digital art, sound art, large-scale installations, and public performances. His multilayered works explore communication/exchange, extreme historical phenomena, and relationships between the individual, society, history, and time. Among his most recent projects is COVID-19: Labor Camp Report, which forms the foundation of the exhibition at the Northwest Arts Center. On March 24, 2020, Szyhalski embarked on a daily drawing practice responding to the COVID-19 pandemic as it unfolded in real time. 

Flat Tail Press

Flat Tail Press is an educational printmaking studio at Minot State University. 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.-12 a.m.

• Chris Mortenson: Tumulus. Moorhead-based artist brings his poignant series of photographs to the Flat Tail Press Gallery. The exhibition, titled "Tumulus," presents images of people and landscapes from Minnesota’s Mesabi Iron Range. Since its mining beginnings in the 19th century, the area has endured many boom-and-bust cycles, and Mortenson’s images hold a tension between the beautiful, altered landscape and the evidence of human struggle. Mortenson has shown his work nationally and internationally and is an associate professor of art at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota.

Erica Bailey completed her two-part testing requirements for the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf National Interpreter Certification (RID NIC). This certification is the highest level of certification for the profession and is exceptionally rigorous. She handily passed the written exam, receiving her results within a month. The performance exam is a much more complex process and required a trip to Minneapolis for a series of interpreting skill examinations. Bailey joins MariDon Sorum as one of only two NIC interpreters in Minot and the surrounding western part of the state.

A total of $25,548 was awarded to this year’s MSU Small Grants for Faculty Research Awardees. Awards were distributed in May and with work beginning in July. This year’s awardees include:

• Micah Bloom, Art and Professional Communication, Radiosity: Necessary Opponents – Light and Shadow, $3,000.
• Yung-Ju (Ruth) Chen, Teacher Education and Kinesiology, Training Pre-service Physical Education Teachers’ Observational Skills – A Pilot Study, $1,800.
• Penny Craven, Addiction Studies, Psychology, and Social Work, Land of Helicopters and Bubble Wrapped Babies: The Psychological and Practical Effects of Overparenting on College Student Emotional Wellbeing and Academic Performance (continuation), $2,989.
• Kelsey Higginson, Teacher Education and Kinesiology,  Teacher Candidate Perceptions of Using a Set Curriculum to Teach a Homeschool Physical Education Program, $3,000.
• Upul Rupassara, Mathematics and Computer Science, Performance-Based Predictions in the Game of Soccer, $2,759.
• Krystal St. Peter,  Addiction Studies, Psychology, and Social Work, Eyewitness Memory for Criminal and Non-Criminal Events (continuation), $3,000.
• Ryan Stander, Art and Professional Communication, Facing the Self: Trauma Informed Self Portraits, $3,000.
• Ethan Valentine, Addiction Studies, Psychology, and Social Work, Playing at Shopping: Examining the Impact of Gamification on Customer Loyalty in the United States and Taiwan, $3,000.
• Chad Williamson, Biology, Occupancy, Prey Availability, and Habitat Characteristics of Weasels in Western North Dakota, $3,000.

For more information about Small Grants for Faculty Research visit the webpage here. Grant applications are accepted annually each spring.

Penny Brandt, graduate school admissions coordinator, and the Minot State Enrollment Services team are part of an NDUS collaboration working on the implementation of a new online admission application and customer relationship management system, Target X. The entire NDUS team was nominated for this year's Roaming Bison Award for the Governor's Awards for Excellence in Public Service. The NDUS TargetX Implementation Project Team worked on the implementation of TargetX and nine NDUS institutions - Bismarck State College, Dakota College at Bottineau, Dickinson State University, Lake Region State College, Mayville State University, Minot State University, North Dakota State College of Science , Valley City State University, and Williston State College - in partnership with NDUS Core Technology Services.

Aaron Hughes is the August winner of the Staff Senate High Five Award, She is pictured HERE with MSU President Steven Shirley, Staff Senate President Tiffany Pierson, and Vice President for Student Affairs Kevin Harmon. Hughes, MSU's student activities coordinator, has been in her current position for 10 years, worked four years as a work study student in ITC, and worked a short time in publications and design. She and her husband, Jordan, have one son, Graham, who arrived in the middle of Homecoming week eight years ago and two cats named Basil and Parsley. Graham refers to MSU as "Beaver School" and loves tagging along for MSU Life events especially when there are goats, candy, or competitions. While MSU Life consumes much of her time, she does enjoy taking in the various community theater productions - MSU Summer Theatre, Mouse River and Campus Players, and now she now shares the love of theater with Graham, making it to STEAM youth productions. Hughes also owns Hint of Whimsy Photography with MSU alumna Ashley (Gendron) Duchsherer and photograph hundreds of newborns and families each year. Her favorite sessions are when both worlds collide and she gets the opportunity to photograph past students or coworkers new little ones.

Jamie Nicholls is working as the residence life coordinator. She is new to North Dakota, but not to the cold. If you haven’t already met her please stop by and introduce yourself. If you have already met her, then stop by and visit again.

Jaquese Small is our new admissions specialist and Paula Nett is our new admissions counselor. They have been a great addition.

Hannah Frohlich, Antonio Franco, Dimitra Shelton, and Brock Bergrude, College of Business students, have published a senior research project titled "Exploring the Relationship Between Job Satisfaction and Career Optimism in Retail Employees Versus Other Industries" in the Journal of Business, Management, Commerce, & Research. The full-text article is available HERE. Their project was supervised and co-authored by MSU professor Andy Bertsch.

Nerisa Jeong, a College of Business student, has published a senior research project in the Journal of Business, Management, Commerce, & Research. The full-text article is available by clicking HERE. Jeong's project was supervised and co-authored by MSU professor Andy Bertsch. For more information about this article, please contact JEONG.

Upama Thapa Magar was selected as the ASC Student of the Month for September. She has contributed to the Academic Support Center’s programs as a peer tutor and peer review session leader.

Lori Nehlsen, Master of Education candidate and graduate assistant, has been chosen for a prestigious role at the upcoming 29th annual Meeting of the American Association for Teaching and Curriculum – AATC in Louisville, Kentucky, Oct. 5-7. Nehlsen will have the honor of introducing the keynote speaker for this event, none other than the distinguished scholar, Adrienne D. Dixson. Dixson, a prominent figure in the field of education and civil rights, currently serves as the Executive Director of the Education and Civil Rights Initiative at the University of Kentucky. This opportunity to introduce Dixson underscores Nehlsen’s dedication and commitment to teaching and curriculum studies, and it reflects her impressive contributions to the field. We are incredibly proud of her achievements and are confident that she will shine in this important role at the conference.

Siriana Gudino was named the NSIC Goalkeeper of the Week as she back-stopped Minot State to a pair of 1-0 wins on the road last week. The honor is the first for Gudino and the first Player of the Week award for the Beavers this season.  In a 1-0 shutout of host Montana State Billings, she made seven saves for the Beavers to preserve the team’s one-goal advantage. Against Black Hills State played in Billings, Gudino once again was unbeatable as she stopped four shots for her second straight shutout as Minot State scored another 1-0 victory.

Dakota Chamber Music’s Beo String Quartet was featured in an article in Chamber Music America’s Chamber Music magazine (Summer 2023 issue). The Pittsburgh-based ensemble released "Ghosts Revisited," "a 36-minute album of original music by violist Sean Neukom '05 that fuses alternative metal and indie rock with minimalism and neo-romanticism. Since then, Beo has built its own recording studio, started its own label, and recorded two additional albums…Their latest album, 'triggerLand,' is a milestone in their creative development… a real Gesamtkunstwerk that blends music, film, and visual art in an eight-part allegory on the current gun crisis.” "triggerLand" received its world premiere screening in Minot in June at MSU’s Dakota Chamber Music with a standing ovation. The Beo String Quartet appears under management with Lisa Sapinkopf Artists.