BEMIDJI—Listening and learning has been the No. 1 priority for Faith Hensrud, the new president of BSU and NTC.

Hensrud, previously the provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Superior, said her initial experience in Bemidji has been positive, as she’s been welcomed by the institutions and the community. Classes start Monday.

“I’ve enjoyed getting to know the people who’ve been around in the summer time and now I’m excited to finally meet faculty and the students,” Hensrud said. “I’m looking forward to welcoming the students and their families. I have two kids that I’ve sent off to college myself, I know what a parent can be going through, and I also know what a kid’s perspective is.

“So helping them know that they’re welcome and that this is a really great place that they’re coming to and that the parents can feel comfortable sending their son or daughter here is the goal.”

Along with building connections and hearing from students, Hensrud has also been listening to both the needs from institutional leadership as well as the regional financial and industrial sectors.

“One of the first things I did was some transitional work, learning both opportunities and challenges of the two institutions and spending time with the deans and vice presidents,” Hensrud said. “I’ve also joined the Greater Bemidji (Economic Development) board and have gone to a meeting. I’m trying to get an understanding on the economic development perspective to learn how the two institutions can better serve the community.”

Additionally, Hensrud said she organized a meeting with tribal college leadership from the White Earth Band of Ojibwe, the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, the Red Lake Band of Chippewa and the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. Her goal, Hensrud said, was to build connections to help recruit and retain Native American students.

“That was a key meeting—it’s an area of focus I have for student success,” she said.

In the immediate future, Hensrud also plans to organize listening sessions with multiple business leaders to better understand the needs of industries.

“We know healthcare is always a growing demand area. It’s clear that we need to see how we can do more to provide the trained professionals they need,” she said.

“We’re also looking at determining what is needed here and how we can help with that, whether it’s from a customized training perspective or from certificate program perspective.”

Student success, increasing enrollment

While her present agenda is focused on community meetings, the overarching goal of her presidency, Hensrud said, is boosting enrollment at both BSU and NTC.

“From a financial standpoint, we’re quite healthy and we need to continue attracting and retaining students to maintain that health,” Hensrud said. “Our biggest challenge remains enrollment. We have a 1 percent enrollment growth this year and we’d like to see more students that we’re able to attract.”

Hensrud said initiatives already were underway before she came on board. Those will continue.

“One of the things that has been done, prior to me getting here, was a full revamping of our curriculum for certain programs. One of them is mass communications and we’ve also had a revamping of the facilities for mass communications,” she said. “That includes making it much more digital than it had been in the past.”

Technology wise, Hensrud said BSU and NTC are working to implement “active learning” strategies, representing a shift in classroom education.

“It’s really about engaging the students in learning. Years ago and even today, students come to a class and hear a lecture about a topic. Active learning gets them more engaged with hands-on, experiential learning where they’re able to better learn from one another,” Hensrud said. “They get the same types of experience they would in the workforce and also get to use technology that will be very beneficial to them when they graduate.”

For retention, Hensrud said the institutions are also working to better aid students who are having difficulties, as well as make transferring between NTC and BSU smoother.

Hensrud said she plans more talks with faculties at both campuses to better understand challenges and create new strategies for improvement.

“We are related institutions, under one president and shared administration. It’s really critical for us to help strengthen both institutions, we as a community will be stronger for it,” Hensrud said.