Minot State empowers Kennedy’s vision for revitalization

MINOT, N.D. – Encouraged to return to school to advance in his career, Lance Kennedy ’24 found Minot State University and a passion for an assignment close to home.
The Morris, Alabama native is the director of continuous process improvement at Teksouth Corporation. Kennedy's job includes reviewing processes and working on strategic planning, facilitation, documenting processes, and annual reviews of every process they do within the company and their customers. With advice from his senior leadership to pursue a master's in management, he was on the hunt for a school that would accommodate his busy schedule as a full-time employee and family man.
With a bachelor's and master's from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), Kennedy first looked locally.
“Being 100% online was obviously the first thing I needed to have, regardless of where it was actually located,” Kennedy said. “I looked at some (schools) in the state of Alabama, but they weren’t completely online. I found Minot State was completely online, and that worked out well for me.
“What really stood out to me was the availability for class scheduling. It allowed the master’s in management program to be taken one class at a time, but it was not one class per semester. I really liked the eight-week semester option. It really worked well for me to be able to do that and work at the same time.”
Kennedy began classes in the fall of 2022, and even as an online student, he has never felt disconnected.
“I was worried that I would get left behind, forgotten, or that I wouldn't gain as much as I used to because I'm older,” Kennedy explained. “When I went to college for the first time, everything was in person, and that was how I learned everything. And so, I was worried about that difference, but it's been really great. I've been able to learn a lot from all of my instructors.
“They've been very helpful in getting me ready, not just for their classes, but for the next ones.”
Last December, Kennedy completed his program. With the help of his business professor, Andy Bertsch ’92/’02, he was able to find a subject for his capstone close to home.
“Dr. Bertsch was giving general ideas of stuff he's heard about in the past,” Kennedy recalled. “The topic was about urban revitalization, downtown revitalization projects, stuff like that, and Birmingham, the city I'm near, has been going through that for at least the last five to seven years. There are a lot of initiatives that are doing that, and that got me thinking.
“The project had to be something that was personal to you. And so, my initial thought was that the interstate coming very close to my house counteracts a lot of the downtown revitalization that's going on because it's intended to create new suburbs, and so it's going to pull away from the city.”
The initial direction sparked further interest, which Bertsch encouraged Kennedy to refine.
“Dr. Bertsch has been really helpful and supportive in letting me change the direction I want to focus on in my paper. It's really morphed into something that, I think, really is interesting to me, and that's what he really pushed,” he said. “If the right people were able to see this transparency that I'm trying to pull out by looking at different sources, it could change some potential down-the-road practices that the government uses to decide on where to build infrastructure interstates.
“If I had to do some topic that I didn't really care about, this would have been very difficult for me.”
Kennedy’s project then shifted from revitalization to interstate development.
“Part of the problem is they started in 2012 and ran out of funding for a two-mile stretch of this project,” Kennedy explained. “Then they stopped. That was from 2012 to 2014 when they worked on it. They did a reevaluation of the environmental impact but not a new environmental impact study, so almost 12 years have gone by. They've changed a lot of specs on the construction. Both these things raise red flags for me. Now, they're projecting aggressive timelines to still get us close to a 30-year full completion on this project, and the aggressive timelines are not typical.
“I don't think they're even realistic about the federal government or the state government getting projects like this moving forward.”
Kennedy hopes that after his project is complete, he can share his findings with local news stations and grow awareness in the local community.
“So far, the only external audience that I have to see the paper is the Southern Environmental Law Center,” Kennedy said. “They've also done some research on this project, but more from an environmental standpoint. The lead lawyer wants to see the report. She recommended giving my information to a local news station to bring light to this project because the only thing that's been publicized is how widespread the citizen support is for this project, and it's not really true. Then, if they had a person like me to be able to voice that and get a petition or Facebook group and get the information in front of the city, like the mayor of the City of Birmingham. To show that this interstate is only going to hurt the city of Birmingham. Maybe that could grow into going to the state level, congress, and, if possible, federal representatives could make changes.
“If it can get that high, that’s the only way to really change, but you have to start somewhere.”
About Minot State University
Minot State University is a public university dedicated to excellence in education, scholarship, and community engagement achieved through
rigorous academic experiences, active learning environments, commitment to public service, and a vibrant campus life.
Published: 02/03/25